Newcomer, Activist Vie For Only Contested Seat

The conditions would seem ripe for a political free-for-all in a city that thrives on local activism. With a longtime mayor retiring and two council members giving up their seats, almost half of Takoma Park's elected offices are up for grabs, and Tuesday's balloting promises a significant shuffling in city hall.

But when residents go to the polls, they will find only one contested race. All the others, including the mayoral slot, feature unchallenged incumbents and newcomers.

Even a pay raise for elected officials that will go into effect when the new council convenes, failed to attract more contenders. The council voted this year to bump the mayor's pay from $8,000 to $13,000 a year and council members' pay from $6,000 to $10,000.

According to local observers, the lack of any overriding controversy this year has kept interest down.

"I'd like to think it's because people feel we're doing a pretty good job," said Bruce Williams, a 14-year veteran of the city council. But the paucity of candidates is just as likely, he said, to be part of a regular cycle. "When I first got elected in 1993, every seat was contested. In 1995, no seat was contested. It kind of goes up and down."

Williams is a shoo-in for promotion as the only candidate to succeed Mayor Kathy Porter, who is stepping down after 10 years in the city's top job. The election to fill Williams's Ward 3 seat on the six-member council is the one contested race on the ballot, pitting longtime community activist Dan Robinson, 56, against political newcomer Bridget Bowers, 29.

Council incumbents Colleen Clay, Terry Seamens, Reuben Snipper and Doug Barry are running unopposed. Josh Wright, 36, a former Random House division president, is the sole candidate to fill the Ward 1 seat held by retiring council member Joy Austin-Lane.

The relatively peaceable election follows several years of more fractious local politics, including a hard-fought mayor's race in 2005 and the emergence of a group, Sustainable Takoma, that challenged the city's fiscal management. The opposition sprang in large part from the long delays and ballooning costs of the city's new $12 million community center, one of Porter's signature projects. But the center has been open for two years and much of the anger has dissipated, according to Howard Kohn, an author who writes a column on local issues in the monthly Takoma Voice newspaper.

"There was a point a few years ago when it looked like we were going to have something like partisan politics in Takoma Park, but that seems to have faded," Kohn said. "I think this will be a very collegial group."

Williams, 58, who is spending his non-contested campaign making the rounds of neighborhood groups, said he plans to focus on such bread-and-butter municipal issues as the budget, economic development and public safety. He wants to continue a recent push to fully staff the police force and increase bicycle and foot patrols.

The council is working to have Montgomery County increase the annual payment it makes to Takoma Park for the local library, police and other county services that the city provides. And Williams, a contractor, said the city will have to manage an unexpected development boom, including a controversial housing project at the Takoma Metro station, the relocation of Washington Adventist Hospital and a major redesign of the New Hampshire Avenue corridor.

"For a long time people thought Takoma Park was kind of built out, and that development issues only affected areas farther out," Williams said. "We're going to have to be a lot more proactive."

In the one contested matchup, Robinson is making his second run at the Ward 3 seat after running unsuccessfully against Williams in 2005. The 22-year city resident was one of the original founders of the Takoma Voice and also helped start the Takoma Foundation, a nonprofit group that makes small community loans.

Robinson, a program analyst for the Maryland Small Business Development Center, said he would push for more city contracts to go to local businesses. His other priorities would include making the budget process more streamlined and transparent, pushing for a bigger city tax rebate from the county and decreasing Takoma Park's reliance on carbon-based energy.

"We were a leader in starting recycling in Montgomery County and now the county has caught up," he said. "Now it's time for us to be a leader in reducing our carbon footprint."

His opponent, Bridget Bowers, is a Silver Spring native and Georgetown University administrator who moved to the city last year. Bowers said she was led to enter the race because of her recent experience before the council, when she spoke in favor of letting landlords increase rents to pay for major property improvements. Council members didn't seem to seriously consider any of the arguments against rent control, Bowers said.

"In general, I'm committed to sustainable affordable housing, but I'm not convinced that rent control is the best way of encouraging that," Bowers said. "I think you need to examine an issue from all sides, not just those you agree with. I didn't really feel like my voice was being heard, so I thought I'd throw my hat in."

Bowers was surprised more challengers didn't run. "I was disappointed that this was the only contested race. I would have thought in a city like Takoma Park, there would have been more people stepping up to the plate."