July 04, 2010|By Larry Carson, The Baltimore Sun
Alan Klein's effort to unseat fellow Democrat Mary Kay Sigaty from her west Columbia Howard County Council seat began with a songfest/fundraiser at Kahler Hall in Harper's Choice Monday evening.
Klein, the spokesman for the Coalition for Columbia's Downtown, a group critical of the amount of new development the downtown plan allows, drew about 50 people who listened to a few speeches and sang a few folk songs. The group included four of the 10 Columbia Association board members, and Del. Elizabeth Bobo, a Democrat who repeated that she's not endorsing Klein, though she likes his ideas. "I go to a lot of fundraisers," she said. Three of the four attending CA board members represent Wilde Lake, Harper's Choice and River Hill, which are all within Sigaty's District 4 boundaries.
The Sept. 14 primary between the two former allies is perhaps the hottest early race in the county, and reflects the split over the downtown Columbia redevelopment plan unanimously approved by the council Feb. 1. Bobo, who also represents West Columbia in the General Assembly, faces her own primary election battle with former Republican John Bailey, who, like Sigaty, also favors the heavily amended General Growth Properties inspired redevelopment plan, which calls for up to 5,500 new homes, and nearly 6 million square feet of commercial and office/hotel space in Town Center over three decades.
Klein and his backers feel the approved plan is too intense for Columbia's central core, while Sigaty and her supporters feel the plan, studied and then changed by the council, provides the right impetus and safeguards to reinvigorate a stagnant area that has never really become a downtown.
Sigaty and Bailey both attended a Columbia 43rd birthday celebration at the Lakefront June 23 sponsored by four pro-GGP plan groups that drew both Democrats and some Republicans, including Trent Kittleman, the Republican candidate for county executive, and Diana Ulman, Democratic county executive Ken Ulman's mother. Sigaty has backing from most elected Democrats in the county, including Ulman, plus the pro-business community that Bailey is also trying to attract. District 4 covers West Columbia including River Hill and Hickory Ridge, Wilde Lake, Town Center and Harper's Choice, and Fulton on the south.
Sigaty said at the celebration that she had no qualms about mixing with Republicans, given the reason for the outdoor party. "The health and revitalization of downtown Columbia is an entire county event," Sigaty said. "I like celebrating Columbia." She said she couldn't imagine why Klein didn't come. More than 50 people attended, though organizers said the extreme heat that day kept many away. Democratic central committee member Bill Woodcock also attended, as did former planning board member and county council candidate Joan Lancos, who has, like Bailey, switched her party registration from Republican to Democrat.
"This year we're filled with hope for Columbia's future," said Tom O'Connor, a former CA board chairman who also attended.
Monday evening, Klein said, "Supporting Mary Kay is one of the things I regretted over time, because I don't think we've been well-served." He called the week-long planning charrette for downtown Columbia that Ulman helped organize in 2005 a "charade."
"What the community said we wanted is almost nowhere to be found or assured," he said. Although reluctant to run for public office, Klein said his policy disagreements with Sigaty demand that he does.
"This is not a personal thing," he said. "Ms. Sigaty is a nice enough person and she works hard, but that's not enough." His yard signs should start appearing very soon, he said, and he will be knocking on doors in a low-budget campaign as he continues running his private consulting business, which occasionally requires out-of-town travel.
Klein said that if elected, he realizes "I would be only one vote. I hope there are other members of the council who, if they have some support, would be voting to stand up." He and his backers feel that the plan the council approved gave GGP too much of what company officials wanted at the expense of existing residents.
"There's an appetite in this county for something other than feeding big out-of-state corporations everything they want," said Klein supporter Jay Bonstingl.
"With your help, we're going to make it work. We're going to win in September," Klein told his supporters.
Ehrlich fundraiser
Can a former Bush administration spokesman be effective at bashing Democrats for being big spenders who have created an unsustainable national debt?
