Dawn. Kowloon. The Walled City. The first rays of sunlight meandered between
the tenement houses and gently alit upon a window looking out upon a caged
balcony. That window…and the figure
talking into a telephone behind it…were visible from the rooftop of the
apartment across the alleyway. The sole human
presence on that rooftop was a sniper, who was too pre-occupied focusing the
sights on his Vapensmia NM149 to notice…
…Is how this post would begin if it were a Robert Ludlum
novel. Alas, it is instead about the
League of Women Voters of Howard County Candidate Forum, specifically the panel
discussion among the six candidates for Howard County Council (District One).
Perhaps it would be better crafted as a Ludlum work. It could be titled The Elkridge Gambit. But such thoughts had not yet entered my
mind as I was scribbling away in that dark auditorium, watching four Democratic
and two Republican candidates sitting onstage behind a rectangular table. Each had the opportunity to deliver very
brief opening and closing statements…and field questions from the Moderator.
Before I launch into a brief analysis of the candidate
performances that specific evening, it should be noted that I, and some friends
of mine, support one of them: Jon Weinstein (D). I have other friends who support another,
Wendy Royalty (D). Regarding the other
two Democratic candidates, I don’t believe I have ever met Dave Grabowski and
my contact with Lisa Markovitz was limited to a brief exchange after the
Forum. I have not made the acquaintance
of the two Republican candidates: Kevin Forrest Schmidt and David Blake Melton.
My interest thus declared, here we go:
I believe Weinstein had the best night. An experienced campaigner, he seemed
comfortable with the format. He delivered answers that provided the audience
members with insights into his perspective on governing: which includes a
recognition of the interdependent nature of multiple issues (education,
economic growth, transportation, etc…) and the importance of working
collaboratively to find “balanced,” thoughtful solutions to the challenges
facing Howard County.
Weinstein is a small businessman who has experience working
with government agencies to promote “efficiency, accountability and
transparency.” He ran a good race in a
tough seat (House District 9A) four year ago and enjoys some residual Name ID
from that effort. I think his small business background, his service in the
U.S. Army Reserves, and his community activism make him an excellent candidate
for the General Election. The First is a
swing district, the only one of the five, and I believe that Weinstein can hold
the Democratic base while pulling in a good number of Independent voters and
perhaps a decent percentage of progressive-minded Republicans. In my opinion, he is Democratic Party’s best
bet to hold the seat and allow Democrats to maintain their 4 to 1 advantage on
the County Council.
Royalty turned in the second best performance of the
evening.
Having served as a pollster to
dozens of national, state and local campaigns over the past 24 years, it is
relatively easy to identify those who are new to the campaign trail
as a
candidate.
Royalty sounded like
a candidate who is still working to find her voice.
Her late entry is not helping her (she filed
in February and it appears as though she didn’t begin exploring the possibility
of running for that Council seat until January…according to
this article).
Make no mistake; Royalty is qualified to hold the office. One of my higher compliments about someone is
that they are serious, and she is serious.
She had a solid response to the question about support for
the non-profit arts community when she remarked how “non-profits save millions
of taxpayer dollars.” This reinforces
her platform calling for fiscal soundness. She provided thoughtful insights on education
and teacher morale (note: the Howard County Education Association endorsed
Weinstein). She offered up a vision of
greater walkability around, on a better mix of businesses along, Route 40 (I
believe it behooves candidates to spend more time talking about the future than
the past, so this was a plus).
I really wish she chose to run for a different office. She is the kind of candidate I like to
support. She would make a great candidate for the state legislature (frankly
her public policy background seems better suited for Annapolis) or a fine
countywide candidate for the Board of Education, given her experience with
various education-related organizations.
If Weinstein weren’t running, I would be advocating for her nomination in
June and election in November. But that’s the problem, he is. I think he brings
a unique skill-set and perspective to the Council. Moreover, I believe
Weinstein, not Royalty, is the candidate best positioned to hold the Council
seat in what could be a tough election cycle for the Democratic Party
nationally.
Markovitz offers a different vision of Howard County. Frankly, I had a tough time hearing her. Perhaps it was the acoustics of the
auditorium or the placement of the microphone but I missed out on approximately
20% of what she said, so I had to visit her website to fill in some blanks. I
am not a particular fan of the organizations with which she is affiliated. She has a Weltanschauung
regarding land use planning, but one that seems out of step with most of the
other Council members. Is she qualified?
Probably. But she seems like the kind of
candidate who, if elected, might adopt obstructionist tactics. Ultimately, I don't think such a worldview or
approach is beneficial for District One or the County as a whole.
One of Grabowski’s rationales for running seems to be that
this represents the next logical step in his community involvement. That is a terrible reason to seek public
office. It sounds more than a little self-involved. As a message, it doesn’t say anything about
what he would do, if elected, for the citizenry of the First. Over the course of the forum, he proceeded to
sketch out something resembling a nascent platform, which is not encouraging
since he has been in the race since June 2013, so he has had plenty of time to
develop a more compelling and coherent rationale for his candidacy. Is he qualified? On paper, most likely. In reality? He seems more public access than prime
time.
In the interest of wrapping this long post up, I am not going to spend
much time talking about the two Republican candidates: Schmidt and Melton. Of the two, the former is stronger than the
latter and will probably emerge as the Republican nominee. Could either win? It would take a certain confluence of events (heavy
GOP turnout combined with light Democratic turnout in the First and/or the
nomination of a weak Democratic candidate).
That said, demographics and party affiliation numbers give the
Republican a fair shot at a pick-up.
Next up…a return to Kowloon?
Stay tuned, as more will follow.
