Left-Leaning Montgomery Voters Hear Gamut of Views on Taxes and Growth
By Nancy Trejos and Lori Aratani
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 2, 2006
In a jurisdiction where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, former Montgomery County Council member and onetime state Democratic Party chief Isiah Leggett would seem to have an edge over his opponents in the county executive race.
But Leggett's challengers -- Republican Chuck Floyd and independent Robin Ficker -- have not let that stop them from campaigning vigorously in TV ads, debates, blogs and at Metro stations.
Floyd says he wants to control growth; fight gangs; lower property, cellphone and energy taxes; and stop the county's funding of employment centers for predominantly immigrant day laborers. Ficker, a lawyer who switched his affiliation to independent this year after entering the race as a Republican, says he, too, wants to provide property-tax relief and reduce traffic while making county government more accessible to residents.
Both men have gone on the offensive against Leggett. They say that he would raise property taxes and do little to solve the county's traffic problems or increase the supply of affordable housing. They say voters should pick them because they would change the status quo.
"A vote for Ike Leggett is a vote to raise your own taxes," Ficker said at a forum last week.
"You don't need another retired politician coming in as your next county executive," Floyd, a border security consultant and former State Department employee who has never held public office, told an audience last week.
But Leggett's reputation as a good-natured consensus-builder will be difficult to overcome, political observers said. During his 16 years on the County Council, he successfully pushed for a smoking ban in restaurants and a living-wage law. He pushed for the creation of the office of the inspector general, which investigates government waste. As county executive, he said he will slow development, reduce traffic congestion and increase the availability of affordable housing.
Leggett dismissed his opponents' efforts to paint him as a tax-and-spend politician. He calls their promises to cut taxes premature. He would review the annual budget before he reaches a decision on raising or lowering property taxes, he said.
"To make hard and fast promises about what your tax policy would be vis-a-vis guaranteeing to citizens that you will never raise taxes, is a tired statement that many have touted that is not viable or practical," he said.
A more contentious race is the one for the District 1 seat on the County Council.
The council's sole Republican, Howard A. Denis, faces stiff competition from Democrat Roger Berliner, a Potomac lawyer, for the chance to represent the Potomac-Bethesda area.
Berliner has taken a cue from fellow Democrats across the country and tried to turn Denis's Republican Party affiliation into his biggest liability. Denis, a lawyer, is on leave from his job as staff director for U.S. Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.).
"I do believe his decision to run as a delegate for President Bush and to serve in this particularly Republican Congress are statements of his values that I think the voters of the district have the right to be aware of," Berliner said.
Denis said Berliner is trying to hype the race as a partisan battle.
"I don't think Howard Dean's talking points are going to win in the Montgomery County Council race," he said, referring to the national Democratic Party chairman.
Berliner has also criticized Denis for taking donations from developers. Denis points out that he has pushed anti-developer bills, such as one to prevent "champion" trees -- designated as the largest of their kind -- from getting knocked down and another to combat the construction of mansions.
Even if Denis is reelected, county residents will have a very different council representing them starting in December.
Three of the nine council members will not be returning. At-large incumbents Nancy Floreen and George L. Leventhal and Maryland National Organization for Women President Duchy Trachtenberg and Takoma Park City Council member Marc Elrich are the four Democratic nominees in the race for the four at-large seats.
The list of Republicans running for at-large seats includes well-known figures Tom Reinheimer, the chairman of the county's Republican Central Committee, and school board member Steve Abrams, a latecomer to the race.
In the race for Montgomery County School Board, four seats are open.
Two incumbents, Gabe Romero (Gaithersburg) and board President Charles Haughey (At large), have chosen not to seek reelection. Two other incumbents, Patricia O'Neill (Bethesda-Chevy Chase) and Nancy Navarro (Northeastern County), will appear on Tuesday's ballot. O'Neill is unopposed.
Navarro, a community activist who was appointed to the board in 2004, is being challenged by Philip Kauffman, a lawyer who has been active in the PTA. Kauffman wants to maintain the school system's high standards but would like to see more programs for students who might choose to enter the workforce rather than attend college immediately after graduation. Navarro said she would push for more programs designed to close the achievement gap.
In the contest for the at-large seat, Tommy Le, an engineer whose children attended Montgomery County public schools, faces Shirley Brandman, a special-education lawyer and longtime PTA activist. Brandman would like to see more supports for students who aren't meeting the minimum standards to participate in athletic programs, a 2.0 grade-point average or more than one failed class. The issue recently surfaced amid reports that grades were altered for five students to allow them to play football at Albert Einstein High School. Le, who ran for the board in 2002, said he would like to see more programs designed to help immigrant students adjust to their new country.
In the race to succeed Romero, retired school principal Judy Docca faces Michael Ibañez, a Catholic schoolteacher. Ibañez said he supports programs to help students who are at risk of not passing the High School Assessment -- a graduation requirement beginning with the Class of 2009. Docca said her previous work as an administrator in the school system would give the board a much needed perspective on what it takes to establish successful programs.
In the races for the county's eight seats in the Senate and 24 seats in the House of Delegates, Republicans are trying to make sure they hang on to the one they hold -- Del. Jean B. Cryor's seat in District 15 -- at a time when Democrats appear to have the upper hand. Nearly 60 candidates are running for the seats. "It's brutal out there," Denis said.
Tom Reinheimer, the county Republican Central Committee chairman, sounded more optimistic. "There are some places where we have an opportunity," he said, pointing to races for delegate in Districts 14, 15, 19, and 39 and the Senate contest in District 15.
Karen Britto, the county Democratic Central Committee chairman, said she is confident her party will sweep the Montgomery delegation to the General Assembly. "You know we're going to win every single one of them," she said.
In the state's attorney's contest, Deputy State's Attorney John McCarthy (D) is vying against defense lawyer James F. Shalleck (R). McCarthy has raised more money and picked up several key endorsements. Shalleck was endorsed by Dan Fox, a Democrat who ran against McCarthy in the primary.
A Question of GrowthIn predominantly Republican Frederick County, voters will go to the polls when the dominant concern is how quickly the county will transform from a rural area to a more suburban one tied to Washington.
They will choose their five county commissioners out of 10 candidates, chiefly divided between pro-growth Republicans and slower-growth Democrats.
Incumbent commissioners Mike Cady, John R. Lovell Jr., John L. "Lenny" Thompson Jr., as well as two newcomers, David Gray and Charles A. Jenkins, will round out the Republican side of the ballot. They will face Democrats Jan H. Gardner, an incumbent, as well as Kai John Hagen, Richard M. Floyd and Ron Wolf. There is also an independent in the mix.
Incumbents have dominated the races for the state House and the nonpartisan Board of Education. Incumbent Scott L. Rolle (R) is not seeking reelection to the state's attorney's office, but his deputy, Charlie Smith, also a Republican, will face Democrat William Poffenbarger.
Staff writers Cameron W. Barr, Ernesto Londoño and Miranda S. Spivack contributed to this report.
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