Voters in Westminster going to the polls today to elect three members of the city's Common Council will choose from three incumbents, a former school board member, a community activist and a parks and recreation enthusiast.
Major campaign issues include dealing with merchant unhappiness over increased parking fees and fines, cleaning up the city's more troubled areas, fostering economic development and landlord regulation.
Last week, a letter written by the head of a local landlords association drew an angry backlash from incumbents. The letter, addressed "Dear Landlords," said that current members of the council are preparing legislation to license landlords. It urged landlords to vote for two candidates - not incumbents - who would oppose it.
Current council members and city staffers deny that such legislation exists.
"This is classic dirty politics," said Dr. Robert P. Wack, the newest incumbent, who is concerned the letter could sway undecided voters. "The turnouts to the elections are so low typically, and the last couple of elections were decided on 30, 40, 50 votes. It doesn't take many swing votes to change things."
In the city's last election, in 2001, 798 of 7,095 registered voters came out to the polls, according to the Carroll County Board of Elections. Now, there are 7,950 registered voters in Westminster.
Attempts to reach the author of the letter, Andrew J. Shaw, president of the Carroll County Landlords Association, were unsuccessful.
Incumbents Suzanne P. Albert, Thomas K. Ferguson and Wack are running as a ticket, competing against Robert D. Miller, Joseph D. Mish Jr. and Josephine Velazquez in a bid for three council seats.
Albert, 70, is making a bid for her third term on the council. When she ran for mayor two years ago she lost to then-Councilman Kevin E. Dayhoff. Next to council President Damian L. Halstad, she is the most senior member of the panel. She would like to see more projects like Westminster Square, a residential and commercial complex on Liberty and Green streets.
Ferguson, 61, is a banker appointed by the council to replace Dayhoff. He recently led the committee that presented a $25.8 million municipal budget, and he has been at the frontlines of the parking debate.
Downtown merchants have voiced their objections to raising parking fees and fines because, they say, it will drive away customers. Ferguson has met with a group of them to discuss solutions to their problems.
Mish, 63, is sympathetic to the store owners, agreeing with them that visitors won't pay more to shop in downtown Westminster and will go elsewhere. The political veteran comes into the race with a decade's experience as a member of the Carroll County school board. The retired schoolteacher has been active most recently as a representative of the Parr's Ridge Condominium Association.
Miller, 39, a special projects representative for Nielsen Media Research, is lobbying for the city to expand its parks and recreation facilities into more profit-making entities. He wants the city to be more assertive in soliciting the county's help in bringing business to Westminster.
All the candidates agree that more economic development is necessary for Westminster to thrive, but the incumbents think they are on the right track with city-led initiatives such as the garages at the Longwell parking lot and at Westminster Square, new events and redeveloping city properties to attract more businesses.
The current council's efforts to improve the Pennsylvania Avenue area and beef up enforcement of the city's building code spawned discussions with city landlords.
Miller and Mish - whose campaign signs are grouped together - have been outspoken in their opposition to more government regulation, particularly when it comes to landlords. That position has gained them the favor of the Carroll County Landlords Association, which endorsed the two in the letter sent last week. It was unclear how many copies of the letter were sent. As of last summer, the group had 150 members.
In the letter, Shaw wrote that a proposal was due before the mayor and Common Council that recommends landlord licensing, resulting in increased fees and inspections.
"There's no ordinance, drafted or imminent, to be brought before the mayor and Common Council," said Thomas B. Beyard, the city's director of planning and public works. "As far as specific details or legislation, that couldn't be any further from the truth."
Wack said he asked Shaw to send out a correction but that Shaw refused.
Velazquez, 40, is a political newcomer whose work on the Lower Pennsylvania Avenue Advisory Task Force reinforced her conviction that landlords are part of the problem in that neighborhood, which she calls home. She said the problem is with a handful of properties that she said attracts tenants prone to criminal activity. The registration of those properties and the enforcement of existing nuisance abatement laws are tools to clean up the area, she said.
Wack, 41, is a pediatrician whose only previous experience in a political election was an unsuccessful run last year for a seat representing the Westminster area in the House of Delegates as a Democrat. In January, he was appointed by the council to fill L. Gregory Pecoraro's seat when Pecoraro resigned to take another post.
As the newest member of the council, Wack has received credit for helping to iron out a disagreement between Westminster and the county that involved cable television fees. He also took over the planning of an event he hopes will draw more people to Westminster: a commemoration of a Civil War battle that occurred here.
Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Precinct 1 voting will be at Westminster Fire Department, 28 John St. Precinct 2 voting will be at the Greens Community Center, 325 Royer Road.
