Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant was evicted from his office in the municipal building by members of his city council. (Amanda Voisard/For the Washington Post)
Among those witnessing the swearing-in of Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Wednesday was Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant, who gained infamy last year after being evicted from his office in the municipal building.
Grant’s tiff with his city council centered on allegations that he had mistreated employees. After his eviction, he set up a tent to receive constituents, and this winter has worked out of the local library and other locations around the city. He said he plans to run for reelection in 2016.
Grant said finding a good-paying job can be an uphill battle for residents of Seat Pleasant — as challenging, perhaps, as a Republican getting elected governor in a mostly Democratic state like Maryland. He said he has high hopes that Hogan will make good on promises to expand employment opportunities in Prince George’s County, where Seat Pleasant is located, and other parts of the state.
He said overwhelmingly Democratic Prince George’s County must not sit on the sidelines licking its wounds at the election of a Republican governor. Instead, he said, county leaders should engage Hogan — who grew up in Prince George’s — as often as possible.
“At this point, we are Marylanders,” Grant said. “This is not about Democrat, this is not about Republican. This is about what is in the best interests of the state.”