The City Council Candidates Meet and Greet on Thursday, October 3, gave the public a chance to meet candidates, displayed council alarm about a potential maglev project and raised questions about establishment government.
Including the candidates, there were about 25 attendees at the televised forum. Rohanie Bacchus, a representative of the Greenbelt East Advisory Coalition, which hosted the forum, said this low turnout is typical, and is likely due to the low number of candidates.
“If there were more candidates running, we would have more people,” Bacchus said.
There are eight candidates running for seven seats: Emmett Jordan, Edward Putens, Rodney Roberts, Judith Davis, Silke Pope, Colin Byrd, Leta Mach and William Orleans, the lone non-incumbent.
A ninth former candidate – Danielle “Li’l Dan” Celdran – was present but had dropped out of the race due to missing a deadline to submit a candidate packet. Submitting the paperwork now would entail a fee, and Celdran is running a finance-free campaign so opted instead to drop out. She said she will run again in two years.
Each candidate had a couple of minutes at the beginning and end of the session to comment on his or her candidacy and to express his or her position on maglev, a high-speed rail project linking D.C. and Baltimore that would run through Greenbelt. Currently, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation are putting together an Environmental Impact Statement on the project. All eight candidates unequivocally voiced opposition.
Jordan says he is a good listener who is willing to listen to developers on a council he thinks has a reputation of being tough on businesses, to the point that “builders may not come and talk to us about projects that should be here … we have to be open to talking to people.”
Putens emphasized throughout the night his ongoing work in compiling a list of suitable lawyers for the city to fight the maglev.
Roberts cited his willingness to disagree with the council status quo, especially on issues relating to “protecting our environment [and] protecting our homes. I try to always get along with people and treat people with respect,” Roberts said. “But I have my own mind and I owe it to the people who elected me to stick by it.”
Davis pointed to her extensive resume and attention to detail as traits that set her apart.
Pope emphasized her commitment to community involvement and willingness to work hard and learn about the issues that come before council.
Byrd sells himself as “the guy for constituent responsiveness,” pointing to the campaign slogan he used two years ago: “Vote for Byrd. Your voice will be heard.”
Mach says she is a candidate who “believe[s] in listening, working hard and life-long learning.” She emphasized a national security aspect to maglev opposition. “The best way to fight this boondoggle is to alert everyone to the danger to our national security from maglev,” Mach said. “This threat is so serious that I am committed to doing whatever it takes and spending whatever money we must to stop the maglev.”
Orleans says he is a habitual candidate, running to challenge the establishment politics. He says he is “running to make the point that it’s easy to do” and does not expect to win the election.
“Were I to be elected,” Orleans said. “the shock would probably kill me.” He added that in this scenario the council’s remaining six members would have the authority to replace him with someone of their choosing – he would rather see a special election take place in that scenario. That is just one change Orleans would like to see.
If he won (and survived the shock) Orleans asserts that he would challenge the presider – currently Mayor Emmett Jordan – by asking for a division of council in cases of disagreement, to document the dissent so that the public could see who wanted more public discussion on a matter. He says this is lacking on the current council.
“Council consists … of mostly sycophants,” Orleans said, “who will virtually always agree with … the presider.”
He did except two councilmembers – Roberts and Byrd – from his full criticism, describing them only as “half-sycophants.”
However, much of Orleans’s opposition agreed with his sentiment that more challengers should run. “Some change is a good thing,” Jordan said. “I wish that more people would run for council.”
Further, there was clear pushback on many of Orleans’s, and others, criticisms. “It’s very easy to criticize somebody … but come and step into our shoes,” Pope said. “All of us, we each have a voice and that’s how we make our decisions.”
Councilmembers’ commitment to stopping the maglev also came into question.
“I’m getting the presumption from a few of [the councilmembers] that it’s not in our hands, we can’t do it alone. That’s not true. They can. They want us to do the work for us so that they’re alleviated from the responsibility,” Bacchus said. “They don’t want to push, really. I know most of them will not.”
Of the councilmembers, Bacchus said she believes Roberts is willing to push back the furthest on the maglev.
Early voting begins Saturday, October 12 and the regular election is on November 5. This is the first year that 16 and 17-year-olds can vote in the election.