News Archive

Affordable Housing Remains a Dispute in Columbia Rezoning

By Larry Carson

The Baltimore Sun, January 21, 2009

[...] The Tuesday night hearing also dealt with a citizens' commission's recommendations for modest pay increases for the county executive and council members elected in November. The commission, required by county charter, suggested raising council members' pay $500 plus annual inflation adjustments, with the chairman's differential increasing from $1,000 to $2,500 more per year. The new executive would get $2,500 more per year plus inflation. That would mean the executive who takes office in December would start at $162,698, and council members would get $53,900, though current members have donated a portion of their pay due to the recession. The council can accept or reduce the recommendations, but not add to them.

Only one person, Republican candidate for the House of Delegates Ed Priola, spoke on the bill, opposing any pay increases. Questioned by Chairwoman Courtney Watson, Priola said he'd like to see council salaries cut in half, to about $26,000.

"This is a position many people would serve in for $1 a year," he said. [...]

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Three Republicans Near Decisions on County Races

By Larry Carson

The Baltimore Sun, December 13, 2009

[...] Ed Priola, a Republican running for the House of Delegates in District 13, said he feels the energy while waving signs and knocking on doors in the district.

"I think the point is, we've got the wind at our backs," he said. "There's very much an anti-incumbent mood." [...]

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Ehrlich Leads Pep Rally for County Republicans

By Sarah Breitenbach

Howard County Times, October 28, 2009

Hoop skirts and powdered wigs were among the fashions on display at a Tuesday evening rally in Ellicott City hosted by local Republican clubs.

During the “Common Sense Town Rally,” an extension of the national Tea Party Movement, former Gov. Robert Ehrlich encouraged local conservatives to gear up for the 2010 elections. [...]

Ed Priola, a Columbia Republican running for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 13, said many local GOP candidates have already hit the pavement in their campaigns.

“Here we are a year in advance, we’re prepared to outwork the other team,” he said.

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Howard Pols Turn Out for Muslim Food Drive

By Larry Carson

The Baltimore Sun, October 25, 2009

[...] Priola, 55, of Owen Brown launched his campaign Oct. 15 at Nottingham's in Columbia. A three-year resident, he's public information officer for the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation based in Washington. High unemployment and lower taxes are two of his big issues, he said.

"The party in control with such bad indicators [as high unemployment] is not going to stay in control," he said.

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Two GOP Candidates Name Tax Hikes in Top Concerns

By Sarah Breitenbach

Columbia Flier, October 1, 2009

Two Republicans are running for the Maryland House of Delegates to represent Howard County. [...]

Edward Priola, a Columbia Republican, is running for a seat representing District 13 in the Maryland House of Delegates.

Priola, who lives in Owen Brown, is public affairs director for the Victims of Communism memorial foundation, a nonprofit education organization in Washington.

He said he is concerned about tax rates in Maryland and Howard County.

"It's not fair to pass the poor management on the backs of civil service employees," he said. "Furloughs are just the wrong way to balance the budget."

Priola called Maryland state government an "effectively dysfunctional system" and said he believes more common sense is needed within the legislature.

"I think the real problem is that, for the most part, lawmakers are not doing their homework, not reading the laws they pass at any levels," he said.

Priola said he will officially launch his campaign Oct. 15. [...]

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"Trojan Horse" Holds Modern Protest

By Christopher Baughman

The Baton Rouge Advocate, August 16, 1994

It's a sure bet the ancient Greeks didn't fret meter maids the night they left their wooden horse outside the walls of Troy.

Ed Priola should have such luck.

"I darned near got a parking ticket in New Orleans this morning," Priola said, rushing Monday to pump change in a parking meter on Main Street to pay for the 22-foot-long, 10-foot-high wooden horse he hauled to Baton Rouge.

Priola, field director for the National Taxpayers Union, and Dwight Williams towed the 1,500-pound horse here as a symbol of protest of President Clinton's health-care plan....

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Alaska Group Seeks Initiative to Limit Congressional Terms

By Ian Mader

The Associated Press Political Service, August 10, 1993

ANCHORAGE (AP) - A voters group on Tuesday applied for petitions for a statewide initiative to limit the terms of Alaska's congressional delegation.

...

Ed Priola of U.S. Term Limits, a Washington, D.C.-based umbrella organization for initiative drives in various states, was in Alaska the last week of June and gave radio interviews to drum up support for the drive.

"We've got a 98.6 retention rate in Congress, and we want to return it to a citizen legislature like we had in the 18th and 19th centuries. They had a 50 percent retention rate," Priola said in a interview from Washington.

"We need people from all walks, not just the political ruling class that never lives under the laws they pass for other people."

Public disgust with perceived congressional abuse, such as last year's scandal involving representatives bouncing checks at the House bank, have helped fuel the nationwide movement, Priola said....

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