Adjunct prof running against Howard for delegate seat
Anne Arundel CC’s Buiniskis has pursued community work
Though running for the District 30B seat in the Maryland House of Delegates to unseat Republican Seth Howard would technically be Democrat Courtney Buiniskis’ first foray into politics, she said helping those in need in her neighborhood is something she has been doing for years.
“I’m all about community,” Buiniskis said. “This is something I have already been doing for years. This is nothing new. I am just trying to bring it to a different platform.”
The Shady Side resident said she started seriously considering running for the office representing south county against Howard, who filed for reelection in November, after she found state government unresponsive when trying to help a family in need.
She said a student of hers at Anne Arundel Community College who has dwarfism lived with and was cared for by his grandmother. But, when his grandmother got sick and had to go to the hospital for several weeks, he was unable to live on his own, Buiniskis said.
“It was me and his old school aide taking care of this man for like four weeks teaching him life skills like how to use the bathroom, how to shower yourself, connecting him to [the Division of Rehabilitation Services] and Meals on Wheels and things like that,” she said.
Buiniskis said she contacted several state politicians and only heard back from one: state Sen. Sarah Elfreth.
“I had reached out to a couple of leaders in the county for help and not even an email back,” Buiniskis said. “After not getting a response from a couple people, I started looking into things myself and asking why I wasn’t getting a response and why no one was replying. And when I began to ask around, that just seemed to be a theme, the lack of constituent help in our community.”
Buiniskis said helping people is a role she took on without really realizing it as she would interact with students experiencing homelessness, food insecurity and other issues over her five years as an adjunct professor.
“Of course I want to be a delegate but, for me this is so important because this is what I do in real life. If I can do this at my kitchen table and at my small office at the college, I know, with a bigger platform and bigger resources, I can help a lot of people,” she said.
In addition to making services for people with disabilities more accessible and efficient, Buiniskis said her other priorities include increasing teachers’ pay, protecting the Chesapeake Bay and creating more resources for those experiencing domestic violence in the state.
“For me, collective bargaining rights are so important because it’s all of our voices, being able to bring that to the table to fully represent what we need and what we want,” Buiniskis said. “The pay of teachers right now is despicable. It’s absolutely horrible. If I told you what I made as an adjunct … it’s not good and it needs to change. We are training the future workforce of Maryland.”
Buiniskis said, if elected, she’d also work toward helping preserve the Chesapeake Bay and increasing public access to it.
“One thing for me is water access. We have the most [potential] access to water down here but not water access for the public. That’s something important to me,” she said. “Sound environmental and energy programs are important to me.”
As far as what those programs would look like, Buiniskis doesn’t quite know yet. But she said she’s been talking to environmental experts to help formulate a plan.
In terms of helping residents experiencing domestic violence, Buiniskis said she would work toward creating and funding long-term programs.
“Shelters are great, but shelters are temporary,” she said. “We don’t have individuals staying in shelters long term. It’s just a first step. What I want to do is follow through on each step to make sure they are getting the help they need to have a good, enriching life.”
And her recent experience with her student with dwarfism helped open her eyes to flaws in social services systems in the state as well.
“Because the young man I was helping was 23, he was cut off from certain access because of his age, but he still has the same disability,” she said. “Nobody would come. They sent a police officer out to check on him, not a social services person because he was 23.”
She said she saw simple ways that could make these programs more effective for the people who need them.
“That would be one thing, to work on that red tape, to work on programs that actually help benefit the disabled because some of them can’t even fill out the paperwork or make it to doctor’s appointments because they don’t drive or have support,” Buiniskis said.
Buiniskis said she thinks the perspective she’s gaining by working with so many different types of people in the county makes her the ideal candidate for the District 30B, which cover the southern portion of Anne Arundel.
“I see the things that are going on in the community with our students and adults,” she said. “What I want to do is just bring it to the forefront.”