Election 2007: Common Council incumbents face challengers
Writing for the Westminster Advocate, Ashley Reams has written an excellent primer for the upcoming Westminster City Council elections…
Election 2007: Common Council incumbents face challengers
Ashley Reams 18.APR.07
Six candidates have filed to run for three open seats on the Westminster Common Council as of press time Monday morning. The deadline to file was Monday at 5 p.m. The election will be May 14 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to Laurell Taylor, city clerk.
Those who live on the east side of Md. 31 vote at the Westminster fire department at 28 John St., she said. Those who live on the west side of Md. 31 vote at the Community Center at 325 Royer Road.
Anyone who has lived within the city limits for at least six months and can vote in a general election is qualified to vote in the municipal election, she said. The deadline to register to vote was Monday.
Incumbents Suzanne Albert, Gregory Pecoraro and Robert Wack will be vying to keep their seats against challengers Charles Cull, William Gill and Kenneth Warren.
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Read the rest here: Election 2007: Common Council incumbents face challengers
The rest of the piece includes a brief bio of each of the candidates and some idea as to why they are running and what their positions are on various issues…
Some quick thoughts:
From feedback I have received, Councilwoman Suzanne Albert delineates some thoughtfulness and has a strong platform… Councilwoman Albert is a sentimental favorite among many citizens. She has never been a strong campaigner – but we are all looking forward to her continuing to serve on the Common Council.
It is well accepted that Councilman Greg Pecoraro is one the brightest public policy analysts in the state… Agree with him or disagree with him – he has one of the sharpest municipal government minds around and his continued service on the Common Council is important.
Almost all the candidates talk about water – no surprise there.
Only one candidate, William Gill, mentions economic development – and that is a huge surprise… . And the candidate that mentioned it, “nobody” has heard of before.
So much for name recognition and the old model of being active and visible in the community and thereupon throwing your hat in the ring for additional community leadership responsibilities. Whatever.
Many of us would love to hear of some ideas for addressing the historic level of vacancies in Westminster’s historic downtown… At least candidate Ken Warren mentioned it…
One of several frequent criticisms of the current administration is the seemingly inaccessibility, unresponsiveness and lack of visibility of the elected officials… . That said, I always seem to be able to reach Councilwoman Albert and Councilman Pecoraro and have a meaningful conversation with them in which they seem to “be real” with me.
The wild card, before this article came out, was Mr. Cull. He “said housing in Westminster is expensive, and he would like to see more workforce and family housing. He said such housing could possibly be built on government-owned land.”
His platform, as articulated in this article, is weak – and that is being kind.
Most any broadminded public policy analyst understands that facilitating more workforce housing in the community is critical to our continued success and growth – but solving it by “big government” is not the answer. More on that when I get a chance…
Ultimately the best systemic solution to workforce housing in Westminster is enabling and facilitating the private, market driven, sector to tackle the issue and conventional wisdom in much of the community is, that with the exception of the city’s meager existing involvement in HUD housing, the City of Westminster needs to get out of the housing business.
Dr. Wack mentions that he would “like to finish implementing the city’s new accounting software, increase the accountability of the city’s finances and increase citizens’ ability to access city services on the Web, such as online bill pay. He said he would also like to make it easier for citizens to see how their tax dollars are being spent, perhaps making the information available online.”
The City of Westminster has one of the most atrocious web sites around. Upgrading the web site and having such services as “online bill pay,” would be greeted quite favorably by the community.
The other challenge with the web site is the scarcity of meaningful information. Many of us would love to see proposed ordinances and resolutions and other supporting paperwork up for discussion in the council meetings – on the web site.
And for fun, click on “Finance Department:” Budget Summary, Annual Budget Detail or Annual Audit Reports. All of the information is out of date.
I am happy to see Councilman Wack continuing to address the upgrade of the financial software and technology issues. He has the background and apparently the tenacity to see that maybe, just maybe – Westminster may yet enter the electronic information age.
Apparently long forgotten on the minds of many Westminster citizens was the total unequivocal budget fiasco of last year. Councilman Pecoraro was appointed to his council seat to take the place of Councilman Tom Ferguson who prevailed in the mayoral election - and never really got involved in the budget process and it showed.
It would be in Westminster’s best interests to see Councilman Pecoraro once again as the Common Council’s Finance chair.
As far as growth in the city, most of us have confidence in Councilman Pecoraro to make wise public policy decisions preparing us for the future.
Councilman Pecoraro “he’s proud of how the council has handled the city’s water situation since September when the Maryland Department of the Environment put a moratorium on the city’s building projects. That moratorium was lifted earlier this month.”
On this issue, the verdict is still out. Most of us are placing our faith in City Administrator Marge Wolf and acting Planning and Public Works Director Jeff Glass on that issue.
Overheard several times in the community is that it would be better to keep the elected officials away from many of the intricacies and science of the water issues.
Perhaps the smartest comment I’ve heard from any of the elected officials on the water issues came from Councilman Pecoraro when he remarked that he places his faith in City Administrator Wolf and Director Glass to take the lead on those issues. Wise man.
Perhaps the most humorous platform was the idea put forth by candidate Ken Warren – an otherwise well intentioned candidate: “He said if elected, he would hold community forums at Denny’s restaurant to let residents voice their concerns and discuss ways to address them.”
Huh? Oh whatever – moving on…
More thoughts as I find the time… If I were a betting man – and I’m not, but nevertheless the conventional wisdom is be nice to the three incumbents because they are all coming back.
And I guess I’m okay with that. No – I certainly have not agreed with all their initiatives and decisions, but I am convinced that they have the best interest of the city at heart and are working hard to move the city ahead. It has been a difficult two years for all of the elected and appointed officials in the City of Westminster and for their dedication and hard work; they all deserve our respect and our vote.
In the coming weeks, I reserve the right to change my mind – but this is where I am today.
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Be sure to vote in the Westminster City Election today.
