"I'm still not sure today what the problem was," state Sen. James N. Robey told the crowd at Deep Run Elementary.
"You never really know what forces are working against you," Senate Majority Leader Edward J. Kasemeyer told the crowd in the stuffy school cafeteria. "It's possible someone worried that it had statewide application."
Both senators, along with Del. Steven J. DeBoy, all Democrats, pledged to work for the bill's passage again next year, whether as a local Howard County bill or a statewide measure.
"We will work very hard in 2009 to try to bring a successful bill out," DeBoy said.
Cynthia Marshall, an organizer for the Industrial Areas Foundation, PATH's national parent group that was founded by the late community organizer Saul Alinsky, said a bolder political strategy is needed.
"We need a powerful ally," she said, explaining why the group wants to talk with O'Malley.
"This is a really good time for us to go to Governor O'Malley because his approval ratings are very low," Marshall told the group. Backing the mobile home bill would help him win more public support, she said, and it has the added political benefit of not costing the state anything.
Marshall said she has been working recently in Montgomery County, where apartment renters already have the right to come together to try to buy their buildings before any sale to a developer. Mobile home residents in Delaware and other states also have the right to buy their parks in the same way, she said.
