Columbia Council

Columbia residents will go to the polls tomorrow to elect members to the Columbia Council and to their respective village boards. Unless some last-minute enthusiasm erupts, the turnout will be astonishingly low -- verifying a running debate about apathy in the planned city. Many villages require votes from only 10 percent of homeowners to validate an election. Still, often a quorum isn't met. Three villages even scrapped that requirement for lower thresh olds. And one village -- Long Reach -- requires that but 50 people vote to legitimize the returns.

Here is a list of the 10 Columbia Council representatives, who on May 9 will vote each other on to the Columbia Association Board of Directors. Dorsey's Search: Tom Coale — elected to a two-year term in 2013. Harper's Choice: Cynthia Coyle — elected to a two-year term in 2012. Hickory Ridge: Gregg Schwind — elected to a one-year term in 2013. Kings Contrivance: Brian Dunn — elected to a two-year term in 2013. Long Reach: Russ Swatek –—elected to a two-year term in 2013.

BEFORE HE won a seat on the Columbia Council, Lanny Morrison lamented the council's propensity to meet in private. As council chairman, he operates as if he were the council's minister of closed doors. He says he's doing his best with a council that has little interest in collegial decision-making, but his detractors say he arrogates power to himself -- and withholds information critical to their decision-making. "Lanny Morrison has bent over backward to provide information," said Pearl Atkinson-Stewart.

Two of the most experienced Columbia Association board members were reelected Saturday to the Columbia Council, while residents of Columbia's oldest village selected a new representative. Incumbents Alex Hekimian and Michael Cornell will continue representing Oakland Mills and River Hill, respectively. In Wilde Lake, current village board member Nancy McCord defeated incumbent Regina Clay. The 10th and final member of the CA board will not be decided until the upcoming weekend.

Got something you'd like to say to the Columbia Association (CA), the $49 million homeowners association that serves as the quasi-government of Columbia? Tomorrow night is your chance.The CA's governing body -- the 10-member Columbia Council -- is holding a community forum at CA headquarters, 10221 Wincopin Circle, near the restaurants that overlook Lake Kittamaqundi in Columbia's Town Center.The forum is scheduled to begin about 9 p.m. -- at the end of a regular council meeting. The 90-minute forum will be informal, perhaps with everyone sitting in a circle facing each other.

Members of the Columbia Council deserve recognition for the entertainment they've been providing as they've labored these many months over whether the city should construct a new golf course. Chock full of so much theatrical buffoonery, the council's deliberations remind us of a B-grade circus. We all wonder with what pratfall or house-afire burlesque the show will finally end.Having all but promised a decision last week, a weak-kneed council once again put off a final determination on the golf course, a project that has been in the works in some form or fashion for close to a decade.

The Columbia Council re-elected Karen Kuecker chairwoman and selected David Berson as vice chairman last night.It was the first meeting since the April 23 election of the council, which directs the Columbia Association.The 10-member council also discussed ways to improve the flow of information from association managers to the council, including a recommendation that the council consider hiring its own staff.Council officers were elected through a self-nominating process.Ms. Kuecker of Owen Brown village was unopposed in her bid to continue as chairwoman, while Mr. Berson of River Hill village was elected over Suzanne Waller of Town Center.

The Columbia Council has vowed to take a more aggressive approach this year toward ensuring that the Columbia Association spends residents' money wisely.Admitting that it has lacked detailed knowledge of many of the nonprofit association's operations, the elected council adopted a policy Thursday night to evaluate the efficiency and benefit to the community of every CA facility and program.The council also reviewed the CA's financial report for the fiscal year that ended April 30, which showed the organization's largest operating surplus ever and big gains in recreational membership revenue, but sluggish growth in income from annual property levies.

VILLAGE: DORSEY'S SEARCH Village Board (2 seats): S. Kenneth Puckett (Incumbent), 49; William Thies Jr. (I), 49VILLAGE: HARPER'S CHOICEColumbia Council: Hope Sachwald (I), 170; Laura Waters, 132Village Board (3 seats): Heather D'Amore (I), 223; James T. Edmonds, 208; Peter Weickgenannt (I), 151; Melvin Weinstein, 148VILLAGE: HICKORY RIDGEColumbia Council: Mike Rethman (I), unopposed, 167Village Board (5 seats): Miles Coffman (I), 164; Linda Hitzelberger (I), 159; Phil Berman (I), 158; Mark Nedzbala, 154 (The new board will appoint a fifth member)

Columbians elected two new representatives yesterday to open seats on the Columbia Council, the 10-member advisory panel for the Howard County planned community. In both races, the incumbents - Wolfger Schneider of Harper's Choice and Joshua Feldmark of Wilde Lake - chose not to run for re-election. Cynthia Coyle defeated David Willemain for the Harper's Choice council seat by a vote of 264-126. In Wilde Lake, Philip Kirsch defeated William Santos by a vote of 200-166. Incumbents Miles Coffman of Hickory Ridge, Barbara L. Russell of Oakland Mills and Pearl Atkinson-Stewart of Owen Brown ran unopposed for re-election.

Julia McCready, candidate for Columbia Council for Oakland Mills, wrote a blog post that expressed my thoughts more clearly than I could myself, so I am quoting her here: "You hear and see it everywhere. 'If you elect me, I'll fight for you.'... How much good is all this fighting doing for us? You elect someone that will fight only for your point of view, and then, so does the other guy. How is that working out in Washington? How does it work out in Columbia?... "Anyone who has tried or observed the Fighter scenario in the workplace or in daily life knows exactly how that plays out...

I have lived in Oakland Mills for 35 years. I endorse Alex Hekimian for Columbia Council. Please vote for him on Saturday April 20 at the Other Barn. Alex is the best public servant I know in Columbia. He stands for openness and transparency. Alex worked to ensure that there is a cap on the HOA tax and that the available resources are spent wisely. Last summer the CA stopped mowing certain open spaces. Paths that children use to walk to school were being neglected and the threat of Lyme disease was increased due to high grass.

As a member of the Wilde Lake Village Board, Nancy McCord has truly "been there" for Wilde Lake residents. She has fully earned my household's vote to represent Wilde Lake on the Columbia Council. Nancy has "been there" at a whopping 100 percent of the board's meetings, listening to her constituents, asking discerning questions, and working collegially with her fellow board members. Nancy's sterling record stands in sharp contrast to the hit-and-miss record of her opponent, who attended only 10 of the Village Board's 17 meetings this fiscal year.

I have never had a conversation with either of the candidates for the Columbia Council from Oakland Mills Village. As such I'd have to base my choice on their statements published in this paper a week or two ago. Ms. McGready stated she was a supporter of a better Columbia and would work to make Columbia the better choice for families. I can appreciate that as I have seen many changes over the 30 plus years that I have lived here. Some good changes, some not so good. In that statement, she never once mentioned Oakland Mills Village.

Going into the Wilde Lake Candidates' Forum, I was undecided as to which candidate for Columbia Council would receive my vote: Regina Clay or Nancy McCord. After listening to their presentations and hearing their responses during the question and answer period, the answer became clear. I support Regina Clay's re-election to the Columbia Council. It is clear that Wilde Lake's much-needed turnaround is just beginning. With that in mind, I believe Ms. Clay's experience and temperament make her an ideal advocate for Wilde Lake at this pivotal time.

As the former chair of the Oakland Mills Village Board, I have had the pleasure of working with both candidates for Columbia Council. I am supporting Julia McCready. When Julia served on the board, she listened to all voices regarding items before the board, and with her great grasp of the issues, asked the tough questions to determine what is best for Oakland Mills and Columbia. She has proven to me to be a positive, forward thinker that I trust will do the job that she is elected to do. Her opponent says in a mailing that he "Looks out for the interest of all residents," but after working with him, I know that he fights for the agenda of a narrow constituency.

Columbia Council members tabled last night a proposal to hire someone to help them with their duties. The proposal stemmed from a discussion at an October work session during which several council members said they wanted the Columbia Association to add a staff member who would help them with research, correspondence and other official business. At the work session, Councilwoman Donna Rice of Town Center said she has had to pay a secretary out of her own pocket to keep up with her volunteer council duties.

Columbia Association wants legislation passed that will reclassify itself as a nonprofit community services corporation and remove all of its lien-payers from the protection of all Homeowners Association laws. CA recognizes only the 10 members of the Columbia Council as members of CA, excluding 100,000 residents on 37,000 lien-paying residential and commercial properties. The president of CA is not elected by lien-payers. My guess is that CA is probably the largest organization in the country where people are forced to pay an annual fee, are not considered members and can't vote for their executive.

A bill intended to forgive Howard County property taxes for six private, nonprofit swim clubs might be in trouble, judging from the dozens of questions raised at a County Council work session by the three members who represent Columbia. By the end of the 21/2-hour session Monday in the council's Ellicott City chambers, sponsor Courtney Watson, an Ellicott City Democrat, said she is planning an amendment that would seek only to treat the six neighborhood pools the same way the Columbia Association's 23 pools are treated for tax purposes, which means that their tax bills would be lowered but not eliminated, as was called for in the original bill.