Immigration, Housing Key In 7-Person Council Race

Gaithersburg's City Council election is a wide-open, critical contest that will help determine how the local government handles issues such as affordable housing, development and immigration in the next four years.

Seven candidates are vying for three seats on the five-member council, the largest field in at least the past 18 years. Along with longtime Mayor Sidney A. Katz, the council must choose a new city manager and city attorney, in addition to overseeing a $50 million budget and the city's land use.

Incumbents Stanley J. Alster, Geri Edens and John B. Schlichting announced unexpectedly that they would not seek reelection after one of the most trying periods for the city's government. A budget showdown over affordable housing threatened to shut down the government. A divisive debate about where to locate a center for immigrant workers dragged on for three years and put the city in a heated battle with the county.

Most of the candidates say they want to breathe new life into Gaithersburg's historic Olde Towne while retaining its character; ensure safe communities by attracting and retaining police officers; and build a multimillion dollar aquatic center. Some of the candidates' sharpest differences can be seen in how they would craft policies on affordable housing and immigration.

Two candidates, Jud Ashman and Cathy C. Drzyzgula, have joined together on a shared platform and are endorsed by Katz. Ashman, 35, is in charge of the parent-teacher associations for the schools that feed into Quince Orchard High School. He fell a few dozen votes short in a bid for the council two years ago.

Drzyzgula, 51, is coordinator for Olde Towne's neighborhood watch and served on the city's task force on day laborers. The city can afford to increase salaries for police officers if that is what is needed to strengthen the force, she said.

Overall crime rates in the city dropped by 11 percent from the second quarter of 2006 to the same period this year. But a 68 percent spike in street robberies has captured the public's attention.

The mayor has also endorsed lawyer Ryan Spiegel, 29, who serves on the city's education advisory committee and who ran unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates last fall. Spiegel, in turn, is backing two other candidates: Ahmed Ali, 35, a government contractor and U.S. Navy veteran, and Carlos Solis, 48, a member of the police department's advisory committee who owns a dental practice in Olde Towne.

Turnout for a nonpartisan contest is typically low. In the last election, only 2,678 of 27,000 registered voters cast ballots. But this election has sparked new interest with the creation of One Gaithersburg, an allegiance of labor unions, the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans and the statewide advocacy group Progressive Maryland. The group has endorsed Ali, Solis and Spiegel, who have highlighted the importance of inclusion and diversity in the city's policies.

"There are worrying signs of intolerance that are being perpetrated by a small but vocal minority, and we want to make sure that the city government doesn't acquiesce to those types of demands," said Sean Dobson, Progressive Maryland's executive director.

The controversy over the location of a day laborer center polarized the city of 61,000 people, which is at least 20 percent Latino, according to the 2000 census. When the council failed to find a location within the city, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) opened a center on county property just over the Gaithersburg border.

Newcomer Wilson Lee Faris said he was inspired to run because of the immigration debate. Faris, 61, a sales specialist at Lowes, opposes the city or the county using public funds to operate a center or provide any services to illegal immigrants.