Sun made a mistake in not endorsing Mary Washington

I was pleased that you were endorsing the new progressives who want to represent our troubled city in Annapolis until I came to my own district, the 43rd. Your editorial does not mention Sen. Joan Carter Conway’s performance in our district, and you appear not to have contacted her constituents.

In the last 22 years I have been on the board of one neighborhood association and an officer with two others. In spite of invitations, we have never seen Ms. Conway at one of our meetings, in contrast to Dels. Mary Washington and Maggie McIntosh. With her close ties to the liquor industry our senator has made it more difficult to dispute dangerous bars, and her lack of attention to neighborhood interests in Northwood and other areas led us to encourage Mary Washington to run for the Senate seat.

Unlike the incumbent, Delegate Washington is an innovator: She came up with the idea of creating a “lock box” to ensure that casino funds actually benefit our children’s education, while Senator Conway merely copied the idea and used her “pivotal role” to block the delegate’s bill. Senator Conway has said she was tired of her position and started to pack up her office mid-session, as The Baltimore Sun has reported. I doubt how much help she will provide to our city’s schoolchildren.

We need a senator who is hard working, eager to serve and who cares for all the neighborhoods in the 43rd District. I think you made a mistake in not endorsing Mary Washington to be our next state senator.