Village Board

Candidates are needed for five seats on the Oakland Mills Village Board and one seat for the Columbia Council representative.The Oakland Mills Village Office at the Other Barn in Oakland Mills Village Center has candidate packets and nomination petitions.Petitions and candidate's 150-word statements must be submitted by March 20.Election days are April 19 and 20.Information: 730-4610.

Listed below are the winners in this year's Columbia Association village elections except for the village of Long Reach, which has extended elections to Saturday, April 27, and the village of Hickory Ridge, where the results have not been announced. Dorsey's Search: Village board: Ellen Mackey and Dan Woodruff. Columbia Council: Tom Coale. Harper's Choice: Village board: Cook, Ann De Lacy and Clarence Lam. Kings Contrivance: Village board: Art Perraud, Shari Zaret and Barbara Seely.

Five seats are available on the Oakland Mills Village Board and one as the Oakland Mills Columbia Council representative. Village residents will vote April 21 and 22.Candidate packets and nomination petitions will be available at the village office at 9 a.m. Tuesday.Applicants must:* Pick up a candidate packet containing a nomination petition at the village office.* Get signatures of 12 village residents on the petition.* Return the petition to the village office by 5 p.m. March 15.* Submit a 150-word statement by 5 p.m. March 15.Information: 730-4610.

If Alex Hekemian knocks on your door during this election you'll find him pleasant to talk with. You'll likely say that he sounds reasonable. He is a good man and is passionate in his beliefs. However his beliefs do not represent mine. When I was on the Village Board and he was our CA Representative, my experience was that he often offered an obstructive perspective. Alex was part of an early Columbia that was vibrant and innovative. But Alex and his supporters seem uncomfortable with the idea of today's Columbia being vibrant and innovative again.

Should Columbia's village board members receive compensation for their volunteer service to their neighborhoods?This issue, which has been debated off and on for years, was raised again recently when Donna L. Rice, the chair of the Town Center village board, sent letters to village board members -- who are volunteers -- proposing giving them compensation packages.The 10 members of the Columbia Council -- the Columbia Association's board of directors -- receive free memberships to athletic facilities in the planned community.

The Charles Village Community Benefits District board last night approved a $435,045 budget -- nearly half of which will be used to improve security in the central city neighborhood.In a meeting at SS. Phillip and James Roman Catholic Church, the board unanimously adopted the spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1.Under the plan, the board will spend $216,000 on a contract with a security firm. Security officers will take to the streets by the end of next month, said Tracy Durkin, board administrator.

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)

The Kings Contrivance Village Board will chip in $100 to help fund a $4,000 study on whether Columbia should be incorporated as a city, a pro-incorporation group announced yesterday.Kings Contrivance voters -- responding to questions posed during the April 20 village elections -- indicated they don't necessarily want incorporation but are willing to study the idea.Last week, the village board voted 4-2 to donate $100 to the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service, which is conducting the study.

The Kings Contrivance Village Board is seeking two new members. Residents, ages 18 and older, who are interested in the position should send a letter of interest to Amherst House, 7251 Eden Brook Drive, Columbia, by July 30. The board meets on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Information: Anne Brinker, 410-381-9600. Community theater to present musical The Drama Learning Center's Summer Stage, a new community theater, will present the musical, Songs for a New World, July 31 through Aug. 9 at the center, 9130-I Red Branch Road.

The Wilde Lake Community Association is seeking candidates for five seats on the village board and one seat on the Columbia Council. Positions are for a one-year term, beginning May 1. Nominations will be accepted through March 16. Nomination packets are available at Slayton House in Wilde Lake Village Green. Information: 410-730-3987. Women's health subject of Town Center programs The Town Center Community Association and Historic Oakland will present Women's Night Out - three programs on women's health and nurturing - from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. March 16, 23 and 30 at Historic Oakland, 5430 Vantage Point Road.

Here is information about the upcoming Columbia Association elections, April 19-20: Dorsey's Search: Due to the change in village bylaws, the candidates are deemed elected and there will be no election. Village board: Ellen Mackey and Dan Woodruff. Columbia Council: Tom Coale. Harper's Choice: Village board (Three candidates for four seats): Stephen Cook, Ann De Lacy and Clarence Lam. No Columbia Council Election: Polls open on April 20, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kahler Hall. Hickory Ridge: Village board (Six candidates for five seats)

Yesterday, I received a letter from the Columbia Bank announcing that the branch in the Wilde Lake Village Center is closing. I have banked at Columbia Bank for many years ever since it opened its branch in my local village center. So, now, we residents of Wilde Lake have no grocery and no bank in our village center. In short, we do not enjoy the amenities that were envisioned for all residents of Columbia. I might as well be living in some other town, given the need to drive to everything I use on a daily basis.

Columbia Association board members heard requests from residents and village board members, ranging from security improvements to upgrades to aging infrastructure, at a public hearing on how to spend the homeowner group's nearly $60 million annual budget for the next two years. Many of the representatives of the 10 villages that make up Columbia expressed interest in additional security at village offices, while others want funding for upgrades to facilities. Many asked for lake dredging to remain a top priority.

In the recent Howard section of The Baltimore Sun Larry Carson, when reporting on the upcoming Columbia Association elections, stated "that the CA board will remain an all white body for at least one more year in a town that celebrates diversity. " ("What next? Watson has several paths to consider," April 3.) This is correct, but it is not the whole story. When I decided not to run again this year for the position of the Village of Long Reach's CA representative, I first told two local African-American friends and asked each to announce this at their respective primarily African-American churches.

Dorita Forehand wasn't very optimistic about her chances of continuing in a job as community organizer for the village of Oakland Mills after her contract was scheduled to run out April 30. She expected her part-time position, which she took over in September, would be the victim of budget cuts by the Columbia Association. Then came the hearing Feb. 27, when Forehand's future would be determined. Forehand said that she was "pleasantly surprised" when the association board voted not only to maintain the community organizer position in Oakland Mills for the next two years, but had the money to do the same for Wilde Lake, which previously didn't have a community organizer.

C olumbia Association board Chairman Phil Kirsch said he isn't sure whether he'll run for a fifth board term in next month's village elections, but unlike last spring, it appears nearly all the other nine members want to serve another year. The only other uncertain seat is in Owen Brown, where veteran board member Pearl Atkinson-Stewart has not declared her intentions and has been out of town and unavailable for comment. Village board members said Atkinson-Stewart has not told them whether she plans to run again.

The first draft of a redevelopment plan for Columbia's ailing Wilde Lake Village Center may be ready late next month, according to Geoffrey Glazer, vice president of Kimco Realty, the center's owner. Glazer told the Wilde Lake Village board and a crowd of about 20 citizens Thursday night that he hopes to have a plan ready for a public unveiling by late April, but won't likely submit a proposal to county government for review under a new zoning law for village centers until the end of the year.

Wilde Lake Community Association seeks candidates for five seats on the Village Board and one seat on the Columbia Council. All positions are one-year terms that begin May 1. The nomination period runs through March 10. A nomination packet can be picked up at Slayton House, 10400 Cross Fox Lane in Columbia. Information: 410-730-3987.