Reader's Note From Joseph Jordan: Congratulations On Candidate Forum

A many >Rockville Central readers know, we held out first-ever candidate forum on Saturday. It went very well, and we will be posting video and other information shortly.

Joseph Jordan, campaign manager for mayoral candidate Phyllis Marcuccio, sent along this nice reader’s note just after. (Joe was writing as an individual, I believe, and not on behalf of the campaign, but it’s our policy to make such identifications for transparency’s sake.)

Either the mail is backlogged or the mirrors in the room played tricks, but I am sure there was a room full of people at the Rockville Central Candidates Forum [Saturday] morning. Frankly, I am a bit surprised there haven’t been any comments posted, so allow me to be among the first to congratulate and thank Brad and Cindy for hosting the most unique and interesting forum of the bunch, so far. Even with all the chicken jokes, no one layed an egg.

I would have liked more time to meet the folks that were there….it would have been nice to put a face to a name of some of RC readers and posters that turned out this morning. Regardless, it was a great event, the candidates all did well and I hope it is the start of a new tradition in elections to come. Thanks again to the Brad, Cindy and those that helped make the morning a success.

Joseph Jordan

If you would like to contribute a Reader Note or other piece of writing, please send submissons to [email protected]. The more community voices, the better Rockville Central will be. Please remember that the views of contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors.

Note: Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening. We ran this piece because it adds to the substantive debate on a subject that people are concerned with.

Sentinel Interviews With Mayoral Candidates

Some days ago, we published an article linking to each one of the >Gazette’s interviews with Rockville candidates.

This morning, Joseph Jordan, who is Phyllis Marcuccio’s campaign manager (she’s running for Mayor), sent along a helpful reminder and two links:

While the Gazette is the local newspaper most Rockville residents are familiar with, there are other local news sources. One of these is the Sentinel, and they publish PG and Montgomery County editions. The Sentinel is also a weekly paper but isn’t free . . . it costs $.25 and can be bought at those newspaper “vending” machines throughout the city. Some of the articles are available online, and this week a reporter interviewed both mayoral candidates. The interviews speak for themselves, so I won’t add any editorial or opinion commentary. What is best about the articles is the fact they are the candidates own words, not pieces written using interspersed quotes or sound bites. As part of doing your due diligence in learning as much as you can about the candidates, I urge you to read both interviews.

We thank Joe and here are the links:

• Susan Hoffmann Sentinel interview
• Phyllis Marcuccio Sentinel interview

Contributor Opinion By Brigitta Mullican: Time For Candidates To Take A stand

>After November 3 Rockville will have a new City Mayor and Council. Who will the five individuals be? The one important question to the two mayoral and ten council candidates is “who will you vote for on November 3?” This is MOST interesting to me. The answer should include “why” they support a particular candidate over another(s).

Some of the candidates have already expressed their desire not to commit to any particular candidate; they say they will work with those candidates who are elected. In my opinion that answer is too vague and it would help me to know what team they believe will work best.

It is time for the candidates to take a STAND and be firm in who they believe will be the BEST Rockville city council members to represent all residents.

Brigitta Mullican

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening.

Contributor Opinion By Wendy Kiang-Spray: The Connection Between My Water Bill And Hoffmann Lawn Signs

>Earlier this year, we received a $2,500 utility bill from the City of Rockville. Yes, my jaw dropped as well. The following day, I steadied myself for a rumble with a phone operator to resolve this obvious clerical error. Unfortunately, after several visits by technicians from the City of Rockville as well as our own plumber, it was discovered that there was a broken water pipe under the house that had been steadily watering the lawns of all my neighbors for several months. Our plumber estimated that we were losing a gallon of water per minute.

It was impossible to believe we had a leak of this severity and for this length of time. There was no change in our water pressure. There was no standing water on our property. There was no water damage in the house. When I thought about the multiple trips I typically take with watering can in hand from rain barrel to garden while we were actually losing a gallon of water per minute under the house, well, I was almost moved to tears at the waste. How could we have known - and isn’t there a Rockville Water Czar watching for this kind of thing?

We needed help and answers. The City of Rockville informed us that on a particular date, they left a paper hang tag on the door warning that our water bill was irregularly high. There was no paper hang tag. Not on the door, not on the lawn. Even if the City did leave a paper hang tag, is this really the most responsible way to let a resident know about a broken water pipe involving this much of a waste of resources? My neighbor was practically harassed when the bottom 3 inches of her white picket fence was beginning to wear away. She was threatened fines through letters, repeated phone calls, and of course, paper hang tags.

I e-mailed [mayor] Susan Hoffmann. I met her at the Farmer’s Market a few years ago during her first term. I was impressed by her supposed interest in environmental issues. Surely she should know about this incident. She would care. And surely, she’d have some sort of idea for how a resident can pay a $2500 water bill. To make the financial situation more of a nightmare, by the time we received the first bill, we were a month or two into service for the next bill, which turned out to be about $1500. I get no response from Susan Hoffmann. Nothing. The Assistant to the City Manager was lovely however. She was quick to respond and always careful to show that she understood our situation. Despite several e-mails back and forth that yielded no real solutions, I noticed Susan Hoffmann’s feedback was curiously missing. I again copied Susan Hoffmann and expressed my frustration with the responsive yet ineffective messages from the Assistant and asked to hear from Susan Hoffmann. No comment. Perhaps I had set my hopes too high after meeting her at the Farmer’s Market and being impressed with her environmental agenda. I didn’t need her to pay my bill. I didn’t need her to come to my house with a box of tissues. A simple, “Wow, we’ll figure out how to deal with this”, or even a simple “omg” probably would have sufficed. Instead, I got no comment. Come on now, is Rockville really that big that she can’t find time for a simple “omg”?

We did get Rockville’s “ONE-TIME” discount on our water bill - a problem since I still consider myself young and hope to live in Rockville for a few more years yet - what if this happens again? We will have already used our one-time get-out-of-jail-free card. A problem for residents since I’m certain there are people in Rockville on fixed incomes who can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars in water bill when they’re not sufficiently notified about a severe water pipe break. A problem since the environmental aspect was never addressed. A problem since the City refused to acknowledge that the paper hang tag method may not be the most effective method of informing residents- and that there are no plans to make any changes to this method, despite my best arguments.

In the end, we took advantage of our one-time discount, paid the still very large water bill and spent over $3000 in repairs. Hopefully there is currently no leak under my house. I suppose I wouldn’t find out until the bill came though. For now, all is quiet in my little section of Rockville. Lawns are going dormant with our cold weather - save for the popping up of “Hoffmann for Mayor” lawn signs.

Will I vote for Hoffmann? Probably. I like the direction in which Rockville has been headed. Our city has become a great place to live and work. Vibrant. Exciting. With efforts to be green. But will I put a Hoffmann lawn sign on MY lawn? No comment.

Wendy Kiang-Spray

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

Rockville Central does not endorse candidates. We are encouraging towards all people who choose to run for office the city and try our best to make ourselves open to all. We actively encourage candidates to submit opinion pieces and other news. We don’t include every last bit, but we try to be fair to all and give useful information about what is happening.

Twinbrook Candidate Forum Tuesday, October 20

Don’t forget that the last >city-televised candidate forum is scheduled for next week.

The Twinbrook Citizens Association is hosting a candidate forum at the Twinbrook Community Recreation Center, 12920 Twinbrook Parkway, on Tuesday, October 20. The event starts at 7:00 pm and will be covered (no word on whether live or not) by the City’s channel 11.

While this is the last city-televised forum, it’s not the last forum overall! Rockville Central is putting on a candidate forum next Saturday morning. (Help us out with ideas here.)

Woodley Gardens, College Gardens, Plymouth Woods Candidate Forum

>Jim Reschovsky, president of the Woodley Gardens Civic Association, sent us a note to let us know about another candidate forum that has been scheduled.

It’s the joint Woodley Gardens Civic Assoc., College Gardens Civic Assoc., and Plymouth Woods Homeowners Assoc. candidates’ forum.

The forum will be Wed., Oct 21, 7:30 — 10:00 pm in the All Purpose Room at the College Gardens Elementary School.

Help Us By Providing Questions And Suggestions For The Candidate Forum

As you know, >the Rockville Central candidate forum is coming up in just a couple of weeks. It’s Saturday morning, October 24, at 9:30 am at everyone’s favorite Thomas Farm Community Center.

We are trying to make this forum a little different than other forums, in part because by the 24th everyone will be all forum-ed out!

More to the point, we want the format and content to be strongly influenced by the voice of Rockville Central readers — as has been our tradition from the beginning. This is a community space and we want to make sure the candidate forum reflects community concerns while at the same time being helpful to people who are still making up their minds.

So, Cindy and I are very hopeful that you will help us out:

1. Suggest questions or topics you think should be covered — especially ones that are off the beaten path but that are still important; and
2. Suggest formatting elements that would be interesting and useful.

Just go ahead and add them to the comments below. The more input, the better this will be!

We are also actively looking for volunteers to help out on the day of. We can’t do it all ourselves! Let us know via email ([email protected]) if you can help out.

My Opinion: Watch A Candidate Forum

>

The first of the televised Mayor and Council forums was held last Thursday evening, October 8, 2009, by the West End Citizen’s Association. If you missed it, you should take the time to watch it on demand from Rockville Channel 11, or if you have cable check the schedule for air times.

Although responses were brief, the forum provided a good introduction to the candidates. You could get a feel for their personalities and priorities. The questions indicated which topics are of interest to voters in the West End, which is my neighborhood. Since this was the first formal candidate forum, I was keen to find out what would be considered important in the election.

In the opening 40 minutes between the mayoral candidates, Susan R. Hoffmann and Phyllis Marcuccio answered questions concerning the success of the Town Center businesses, the budget for Fiscal Year 2010, funding for the arts, the lack of protection for Chestnut Lodge, the parking fees for Town Center, the plans for the Victory Housing and Beall’s Grant II affordable housing developments, the increasing failures at busy intersections, the hometowns of campaign contributors, and the deficit from the Redgate golf course.

The city council forum allowed each candidate John Britton, Carl Henn, Trapper Martin, Tom Moore, Mark Pierzchala, Bridget Newton, Virginia Onley, Waleed Ovaseand, and Max van Balgooy to briefly introduce themselves and say a couple of summary sentences. Councilmember Piotr Gajewski had a prior longstanding work commitment and did not attend. The candidates were asked to speak about the changes occurring over time in Town Center, the massing of affordable housing and zoning regulations, the salary increases in the FY 2010 budget, the best way to solve the parking issues for Town Center, and the preservation of green space as it pertains to the Victory Court location.

Obviously, this is only a summary of topics and you should watch the forum. I found myself curious about what exactly the candidates meant in their brief responses. Some issues needed a longer dialogue. There seemed to be a definite disagreement on whether the budget was actually balanced. Candidates had differing views on development. Some offered concrete suggestions about the Town Center parking issue and possible new programs.

Lately when I try to talk about the election to people who are not involved with city issues, their eyes glaze over. This is true! I hope many more people become interested before the election. If you have cable, listen to the forum while you do something else around the house. Run it on demand from your computer or laptop while you straighten up, clean, or cook. The City is spending your money! Make sure you know what’s going on and whether your elected officials are voting the way you would. I can’t emphasize enough that there are definite differences between the candidates and the direction they will take our City.

Rockville Central will be having our own candidate forum on Saturday, October 24 at 9:30 a.m. in the Thomas Farm Community Center. I strongly encourage everyone to attend. On the 23rd, you’ll only have 11 days until the election on November 3, 2009, when we all need to vote.

Recap: West End Citizens Association Candidate Forum

>Last Thursday, like many of my neighbors and friends, I attended the West End Citizens Association candidate forum at the Senior Center.

It’s always hard to know how to organize a recap of a lengthy forum such as this one, especially when there are so many candidates. One’s eyes tend to glaze over (editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths notes this in her opinion piece on the forum, in which she urges readers to watch the on-demand video). So I am going to try to synthesize the evening a bit. If it doesn’t work for you . . . the entire forum is available online at the City’s Channel 11.

As always, these notes are just my impressions, and I’m not presenting them as definitive. The quotes are from my contemporaneous notes, and I have not checked them line by line against the video. (Nor do I plan to.)

Also, this took a bit longer than I anticipated, so I may not do it for every candidate forum!

Overall Themes

Susan Hoffmann and Phyllis Marcuccio, who are running for Mayor, faced ten questions, while the City Council candidates fielded five questions. Sonya Green masterfully moderated the evening.

The questions and answers all clustered into three basic themes that are becoming the main themes for the election:

• • The health of businesses in Town Square: What to do about the sense that too many businesses are having too tough a time; whether and how to charge for parking
  • The budget: What should be done moving forward, and whether the amounts approved for employee pay increases and consultants was prudent.
  • Affordable housing developments: Whether Beall’s Grant II and Victory Housing are good projects and what response the city ought to have toward them.

Rather than go into detail question by question, I am going to recap – from my imperfect notes, as well as my recollection – how each candidate addressed these three main issues. I am trying to state each candidate’s position in the way they themselves make their points, without any editorializing or opinion. (For transparency’s sake, I have uploaded my raw notes here.)

If you are a candidate, and I have egregiously misquoted you or misstated your position, please let us know (email me here). I recognize it is definitely possible that I made mistakes, there is a lot here. I will issue updates where warranted but only where there’s something really incorrect. But, if you would like to clarify your position, add to it, or revise it, please do so in the comments section below.

(Note that council member Piotr Gajewski could not attend because of a long standing professional commitment and he sent his regrets.)

Town Square: Business Health And Parking Charges

Mayoral Candidates

Susan Hoffmann: Said she does not see a systemic crisis when it comes to Town Square businesses. Has met with merchants recently. “We are seeing a normal cycle of some businesses going out of business,” she said, and the City is seeking new businesses coming in.

Phyllis Marcuccio: Expressed urgency about helping current Town Square businesses. “I have seen Rockville’s downtown do down twice now, I don’t want to see it again.” Suggested eliminating paid parking on Saturdays.

City Council Candidates

John Britton: Said he sees the answer in becoming a regional attraction for commerce. “We need to make Town Center a destination for people outside of Rockville.”

Carl Henn: Said that, while he agrees that the “user pay principle is important” (which would argue for paid parking), the policy “plays out in a marketplace” where customers can “go elsewhere and park for free.” Said he is not convinced that things will get better in 2010.

Trapper Martin: Disputed an idea that a number of merchants are thriving. “Even the bellwether ones are down this year,” he said. However, “There are $32 million in outstanding bonds that we need to cover somehow.” Said that the merchants have been creative with a number of proposals that should be tried.

Tom Moore: Disputed the claim that all businesses are doing poorly, and said that, somehow, the parking garages in Town Square must be paid for, “either through taxes or by parking fees.”

Bridget Newton: Suggested that “we’ve got to get creative,” and develop other forms of revenue beyond just parking fees. Suggested, for example, a farmer’s market on the top floor of one garage. Parking would be free, but people would pay a nominal fee to enter the market. Also stressed that the Town Square garages would be a attractive to Metro commuters.

Virginia Onley: Suggested that, when it comes to parking, the City needs to “work more with the businesses so the downtown thrives.” One idea is to provide the first hour of parking free.

Waleed Ovase: Said he sees parking as a key issue in Town Square business health. “Unfortunately, city staff and a majority of the Mayor and Council do not believe there is a correlation between parking fees and revenue for business.” In favor of marketing to Metro users.

Mark Pierzchala: Proposed that the City delay implementation of parking fees until June 2010. “We cannot afford a failure in Town Square. [The merchants] did not get the summer they were expecting.”

Max van Balgooy: Said the focus on paying for parking is misplaced. “Parking is not the problem,” he said. The problem is that “businesses are not making enough in sales.” Suggested that parking usage data shows that the number of people coming to Town Square (and parking) has remained steady.

The Budget: Is It Good, How To Trim

Mayoral Candidates

Susan Hoffmann: Said that the current budget (FY2010) is a good one. The City is unlike other jurisdictions (state and county) in that it has no deficit and no budget gap. Proud that the current budget is balanced, maintains strong services, and met all contractual obligations the city has. “We need to have a budget, it has to be balanced, it was, and we did.” Believes the amount spent on consultants (for instance, for developing a new city brand) is not unreasonable.

Phyllis Marcuccio: Voted against the current budget because “it was balanced by increasing fees to the citizens of the city. That’s like giving you a tax hike.” Disputes the claim the city has no deficit. “Just because the checkbook balances does not mean you don’t have debt.” Opposed to what she sees as large consulting contracts for unnecessary things (branding).

City Council Candidates

John Britton: Said that he voted for the budget. “I believe you should honor your contracts.” Also decried what he said was a temptation to “pick low hanging fruit” to balance the budget, by reducing pay to educators, the police, and others.

Carl Henn: Said he was skeptical that calls to renegotiate the employment arrangements that resulted in cost of living and step increases would have been successful. Said that other jurisdictions could open their books and make a credible case to unions that without concessions there would be layoffs. Rockville, though, was able to balance its budget without layoffs and so would have had no leverage. “The city was not in dire straits,” he said, “and had to honor its agreement.”

Trapper Martin: Suggested that raises given in the 2010 budget could have been targeted. In cases where there was a legal issue (an existing contract) the raises could be given, but not necessarily across the board: “I don’t buy into using that legal argument to give the whole city a raise.”

Tom Moore: Said he supported the raises in the 2010 budget. “I thought they were the right thing to do.” Pointed out that many of the recipients live locally. “Now is not the time to be pulling funds out of households in the area,” he said.

Bridget Newton: Said she would not have voted in favor of raises for upper management.

Virginia Onley: Said that, “while I understand the need to honor union contracts,” would have tried to renegotiate them.

Waleed Ovase: Said, “I would have voted no” on cost of living adjustments and raises in the 2010 budget. Said that city manager Scott Ullery has renegotiated contracts before in previous jobs, and the city should have done so in this case.

Mark Pierzchala: Said that on April 2, 2008, all five members of the Mayor and Council approved the employment arrangement in question, and that when the vote was taken this year, there were not yet drastic difference in circumstances to justify a change. “Good managers save you money,” he said, “and these managers have saved us money.”

Max van Balgooy: Said that he would have voted for cost of living and “step” increases, because they had previously been promised. “You keep your promises if you can,” he said.

Affordable Housing Developments

Mayoral Candidates

Susan Hoffmann: Said that she supports affordable housing, so “I have to support affordable housing whether it’s near me or not near me.” In the case of Beall’s Grant II, “we had a great process,” she said. “The community rose up and spoke out about the density,” and the resulting development is less dense. In the case of the proposed Victory Housing development for seniors, she said she does support it. “They have a great record,” she said.

Phyllis Marcuccio: Said she does not support either Beall’s Grant II or Victory Housing as they were originally proposed. “Both of these projects are density, density, density to the max,” she said. “This is not what we need.”

City Council Candidates

John Britton: Focused on the zoning, and what is allowed to be built in any given place. “The starting point is, ‘What is the zoning?’” But also called for developers to go beyond just that. “If you do the maximum allowed, you also need to look at your effect at the surrounding community.” Said that he withheld a “yes” vote on Beall’s Grant II so that the developer would work with the community.

Carl Henn: Pointed out that the city’s master plan “calls for not much [affordable housing in any] one place and also calls for it to be well served by transit,” which he sees as a contradiction. Pointed out that he had proposed an option for Beall’s Grant II where residents would contractually agree not to own a car, which would have allowed a reduction in needed parking.

Trapper Martin: Said he is a “big proponent of affordable housing.” Said he thought Victory Housing “can probably go ahead,” and is in favor of the latest, scaled down proposal for Beall’s Grant II that had been negotiated.

Tom Moore: Said that he is a proponent of Smart Growth, on of whose “tenets is to bring density close to your services.” For that reason, some affordable housing density (and other density) in the Town Center area makes sense.

Bridget Newton: Said that “a good community is made up of a lot of different kinds” of developments. Said that the Haiti neighborhood is 30% affordable housing. “We need to do a much better job of working together with our communities to discuss how we can both meet the needs of affordable housing and our neighborhoods.”

Virginia Onley: Said that she is “for affordable housing” and that she would like to see it “spread throughout neighborhoods.” But, she said she is concerned about “humongous buildings. They need to be better planned.”

Waleed Ovase: Said that he is “for affordable housing, for a diverse Rockville.” But, “before we hastily proceed down the road of affordable housing and having dense projects, [we need to] pay attention to transit.”

Mark Pierzchala: Said that he “very much supports” the Beall’s Grant II agreement that was proposed on June 30 for a scaled-back development. Said that a problem with both Bealls’ Grant II and Victory Housing is the amount of height allowed by the new zoning ordinance. “When I come on council, the first thing I am going to do is reopen the zoning ordinance. The height [allowed] is too high for neighboring” areas.

Max van Balgooy: Said that, while he is favor of property rights, “I am also in favor of community rights.” Described the situation when a homeowner builds a large home, and can enjoy a nice view and spacious living. “The neighbors [meanwhile] get to look at something that looks like a small hotel.”

Whew!

More candidate forums are coming up! Here’s a full schedule. And, Rockville Central is having its own forum on Saturday morning, 9:30 am, at the Thomas Farm Community Center!

All The Gazette Candidate Interviews In One Place

As many Rockville politics-watchers know, >The Gazette has been working on a series of intereviews with all candidates running for city office. They capped it off in last week’s edition with a pair of interviews with the two rivals for Mayor.

We thought it would be helpful to link to each one, so it’s easy to get an overview:

Mayor

• Susan R. Hoffmann
• Phyllis Marcuccio

Council

• John Britton
• Piotr “Peter” Gajewski
• Carl Henn
• Trapper Martin
• Tom Moore
• Bridget Newton
• Virginia Onley
• Waleed Ovase
• Mark Pierzchala
• Max van Balgooy

All the interviews are by Nathan Carrick, except for the Trapper Martin and Mark Pierzchala pieces which ran when Contessa Crisostomo was still on the Rockville beat.

Thanks, Gazette, for this community service!!

My Opinion: Why You Should Vote November 3

On Tuesday, November 3, you will have the chance to vote for mayor and to vote for four fellow Rockville residents to represent you on the City Council. Most people who vote get jazzed and vote in presidential years, when interest is high (like in 2008). Fewer vote in the off-years, when we vote for our members of Congress and state representatives (like in 2006).By comparison, very, very few people vote in the off-year municipal elections that are held on ODD years. In our last Rockville city elections, >in 2007, we had about 20% turnout. Our city has 57,100 people, of whom 29,535 were registered to vote in the 2007 election. That translates to 5,887 votes total in the Mayoral race.

When it comes to City Council, the number of votes that separated the lowest vote-getting winner and the highest vote-getter who did not win was 113 votes: Phyllis Marcuccio beat out Carl Henn 2,397 to 2,284 votes.

Given this, it boggles my mind that people are not enthusiastically beating down the door to go vote in Our Fair City’s elections.

People like their vote to count. In presidential elections, in all but the swing states, people’s individual votes do not carry a lot of weight. But, in our city elections, man do our votes count! 113 people would have changed the character of the City Council dramatically. That’s not a lot of people. It’s about the number of folks who might come to a church service, or visit your garage sale over the course of a day.

But even more than that, even in our suburban DC setting, what happens inside the Beltway can sometimes seem quite distant. Yet, look at the issues that our Mayor and Council make decisions about:

• Our property taxes
• The costs and fees for our City services
• What we can be built, where, and how
• What kinds of neighborhood parks we have
• What kind of police force we will have
• And much, much more

All of this hits very close to home. The decisions that the Mayor and Council make have a direct effect on our day-to-day lives. They aren’t theoretical.

There are plenty of ways to learn about the issues and where people stand. Follow the election on Rockville Central. Attend the upcoming televised candidate forums. Attend the Rockville Central candidate forum on Saturday, October 24. Go directly to the candidate web sites and take a look at what they have to say.

There are so many more ways to learn about the candidates. It just take for each of us to decide that we ought to make the effort.

And so, I urge my Rockville neighbors and friends to remember this, as we head into the home stretch of our biannual city elections: You have a chance to be heard loud and clear. Your vote counts and, given the importance of the issues, there is little argument to be made that you have something more important to do that day. We will miss you if you don’t show.

As I am fond of saying, we live in the longest-running experiment in self-governance on the planet. The fundamental building block of this experiment is the individual citizen. It’s our responsibility to play our part in self governance.

Will you join me?

West End Candidate Forum Thursday October 8 (UPDATE: Had wrong date. It's the 8th)

This is just a reminder to our politically-inclined friends that this election season’s first candidate forum is set for this >Thursday, October 8, at the Rockville Senior Center at 1150 Carnation Drive.

Organized by the West End Citizens Association, this forum will be televised by Rockville’s Channel 11, so wear your I’m-on-TV outfit!

And, since it’s televised, it should start promptly at 7:00 pm, so don’t saunter in late.

This is the first of three televised candidate forums sponsored by the City.

(And don’t forget, Rockville Central’s candidate forum is coming later this month, Saturday morning October 24.)

Rockville Candidate Finance Reports Available

Readers of >Rockville Central may recall that last election, we agonized over whether to scan and post PDF copies of candidate finance reports. Ultimately, we did not, our reasoning being that in our town people did not necessarily expect their political contributions to be splashed across the Internet. However, at the time, we gave fair warning that this election we would be doing so!

We were glad to see that the City of Rockville has beaten us to the punch, and has gone ahead and posted all candidates’ finance October 1 finance reports here.

Even more thrilling, a new Rockville Central reader, Peter Mitchell, has put the summary candidate numbers into a spreadsheet for easy examination:

To save you a click, here are all the candidate finance reports:

Mayor

• Susan R. Hoffmann
• Phyllis Marcuccio

Council

• John Britton
• Piotr “Peter” Gajewski
• Carl Henn
• Trapper Martin
• Tom Moore
• Bridget Newton
• Virginia Onley
• Waleed Ovase
• Mark Pierzchala
• Max van Balgooy

(The next report deadline is October 29, covering contributions through October 25.)

Thank you to Peter, for performing this important public service!

Contributor Opinion By Jim Coyle: Keep Up Fiscal Responsibility In Difficult Times

>In recent weeks, several people have offered critical comments about how the Rockville Mayor and Council handled the budget challenges for the recently approved Rockville 2010 fiscal year budget. With the recent announcement by the Governor of likely additional State budget reductions in response to the economic downturn, some of these same folks are being critical of the Mayor and Council for not anticipating these additional cuts during their budget deliberations in May and June. In other words they were supposed to possess magical powers or a crystal ball. I think that any reasonable citizen can make a strong case that this Mayor and Council and the City Staff has acted responsibly this year in crafting a budget in very uncertain times. And, due to the City’s sound fiscal policies and position, the City will be able to adjust its budget to meet the likely revenue reductions of the County and State Governments.

As a former Rockville City Councilmember and Mayor (1985-95), I have experienced the difficulties that elected officials confront in making critical budget decisions that impact our community and families. In any given year, a budget item can vary up or down depending on economic factors; e.g.; the cost of salt for roads goes up during a bad winter or tax receipts are lower than budgeted. Historically the City of Rockville has handled these challenges well. In all the 29 years that I have been lived in the City, the City Government has always been able to adjust for uncertainties and, unbelievably, has not had to increase property taxes the next fiscal year despite the challenges. This is one of the reasons Rockville has a Triple A bond rating.

Even more importantly, over the years, the City has created user fees where appropriate, i.e., trash collection, water & sewer, recreation programs, etc., to try to allocate the financial burdens of the cost of government more fairly on the citizens. Even the Redgate Golf Course was placed in a revenue fund in an attempt to put the cost on those that play golf; unfortunately, that has not worked to the fullest and the City is reviewing all possible options through the Redgate Task Force.

To those outside the City who have analyzed the City’s fiscal and budget processes and results, Rockville is considered one of the best managed cities of its size across the country. The awards recognizing this are extensive. Our budget development process has been analyzed and re-shaped multiple times over the past 25 years. The extent of the budget information for citizens and its clarity has also been improved to the extent that any interested citizen, with a reasonable effort, can understand its totality and/or discrete programs. The recently distributed City Annual Report provides even simpler descriptions of the 2009 budget and services. Some critics simply don’t care to understand for their singular purposes or they want to use these complicated budget processes and materials to question the integrity and competence of the Mayor and Council and City staff.

I want to thank the Mayor and Council and City Staff for its fiscal responsibility in difficult times and ask them, despite some misinformed critics, to keep up the effort to protect Rockville’s assets, including our property values, as they have done for many years for the benefit of all residents!

Jim Coyle, Chair
Hoffman for Mayor

This is a contributor opinion. Rockville Central encourages readers to submit such opinions for consideration — the more voices the better. We especially welcome people who disagree with us. We ask that all such contributions be civil and we reserve the right to edit (in consultation with the author) or reject. Contributor opinions should not be seen as reflecting opinions held by Rockville Central editors, as they are just as frequently at odds with our own views. That’s the whole point!

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Voter Registration Deadline Nears

If you live in the City of Rockville corporate limits, you can cast your ballot for Mayor and Council on Tuesday, November 3, 2009, but in order to vote you must be registered. The deadline is Monday, October 5, 2009. Residents can >register through the Board of Elections of Montgomery County.

In order to make the process easier, the City of Rockville Human Rights Commission is holding two more voter registration drives on Saturday, October 3, 2009:

• Twinbrook Library from 10 AM - 1 PM (202 Meadow Hall Drive)
• Twinbrook Community Center from 1 PM - 4 PM (12920 Twinbrook Parkway).

The City has sent along the details concerning absentee ballots:

If you are unable to vote on Election Day, you can vote by absentee ballot. Residents wishing to can pick up an absentee ballot 30 days in advance of Election Day, beginning on Monday, Oct. 5. The last day absentee ballots will be mailed is Tuesday, Oct. 27. However, the ballots will still be available for pick up at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall.

Voters who want to apply online for an application to vote absentee ballot, can go to www.rockvillemd.gov/election09/absenteerequest.htm. Once the form is received, an application will be mailed. The signed application must be returned to the City Clerk’s Office by Tuesday, Oct. 27. Registered voters can also pick up the ballot in person, or have their registered agent pick it up, at the City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, 111 Maryland Ave.

Voter information on the ten districts can be found here. We’d like to encourage everyone to vote!