Chesapeake Beach Gets New Mayor After 25 Years
By Christy Goodman and Jenna Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Three newcomers were elected Tuesday to the Calvert County Board of Education. In St. Mary's County, two incumbents were returned to the school board and a third was ousted by a retired teacher. In northern Calvert, voters in Chesapeake Beach chose a mayor to replace Gerald W. Donovan, who is retiring after 25 years.
Bruce A. Wahl was elected mayor of Chesapeake Beach over Jeffrey Krahling. Nearly 1,600 voters cast their ballots at Town Hall, some waiting 45 minutes in a line that stretched onto 26th Street in the rain.
The three people elected to the Calvert County Board of Education have children who attend public schools, a marked change from current members, none of whom has school-age children.
The Calvert school board race drew considerable interest because of a divisive elementary school redistricting this year that preceded the opening of Barstow Elementary in Prince Frederick.
"After the big brouhaha over who got sent to the new school, the Board of Education would not take questions or respond to questions from people whose children were going to be transferred, and that is not acceptable," Eileen Uber of Dares Beach said after she voted Tuesday.
She said having parents on the board "makes a big difference."
"It is always better to have a representative with real-world experience to fill those positions," she said.
Richard Meador of Owings said the newcomers appeared to be "more in touch with what the kids come home and tell them."
"The school board has been locked into a history. It's been that way for so long," Meador, 53, said after voting at Windy Hill Middle School. "It is just a different generation and a different outlook on different things."
In the 1st District, William "Bill" Chambers of Lusby received nearly twice as many votes as his opponent, Patrick E. Flaherty of Lusby. Chambers said during his campaign that he wanted to create a grants department that would look for alternative forms of funding and aggressively recruit the state's top teachers.
In the 2nd District, Tracy H. McGuire of Huntingtown also won by a significant margin against Rané Franklin of Owings. McGuire said the board needs to be more open with parents and properly debate issues, not just approve them unanimously. Although budget cuts are likely, given the current economic downturn, McGuire said she wants to make sure classroom instruction doesn't suffer.
In the 3rd District, Rose Crunkleton of Owings beat Matt Swanson of Chesapeake Beach. Crunkleton also said she wants to aggressively pursue grants, increase the public's interaction with the board and protect classroom-related funding during what could be the board's most difficult budget cycle in recent years.
In St. Mary's, incumbents Cathy Allen (District 2) and Mary M. Washington (District 4) ran unopposed. The school board's at-large member, Gary Kessler of Lexington Park, lost to Marilyn Crosby, a retired teacher from Lexington Park.
During her campaign, Crosby said she wanted to increase the number of voluntary pre-kindergarten programs available to families; enhance after-school programs; improve special education services; develop the county's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math program; keep classes small; and increase the starting salary for teachers and staff members.
There were no school board races in Charles County.
After the Chesapeake Beach election, Wahl, the newly elected mayor, told supporters at his victory celebration at Abner's Crab House, "It is a new day in Chesapeake Beach."
Wahl described himself as a "team builder" who will work for a consensus on the council. Among his first tasks will be finding a way to close the anticipated $500,000 gap in next fiscal year's budget because of the impending loss of instant bingo machines July 1.
"If the current legislation stands, that means as of July 1, 2009, we have no pull-tab machines. . . . We're going to figure out some way to make up that loss," Wahl said.
Incumbents Patrick J. Mahoney, Stewart B. Cumbo and Valerie L. Beaudin were reelected to fourth, third and second terms, respectively, on the Town Council. The three new council members are Julie L. Spano, Robert E. Carpenter and Ingrid K. Lamb.
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