Monday, March 4, 2019

Rockville City Council vacant seat down to 5 finalists

Will developers have reason
to celebrate the closed process
to fill this Council vacancy?
Rockville's Mayor and Council interviewed twenty-one applicants for the vacant seat on the City Council on Saturday, March 2, 2019. They have now reduced the list of potential replacements for former councilmember Julie Palakovich Carr to five. Those five will be interviewed again on Tuesday, March 5 at 7:00 PM. The interviews will be broadcast live on Channel 11 and streamed live on the City website.

The five finalists are (click on name to read their application):

Monique Ashton - a  PTA cluster coordinator for the Richard Montgomery cluster in Montgomery County Public Schools, and a senior vice-president at Ogilvy.

Cynthia Cotte Griffiths - Richard Montgomery High School's Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) President and editor of the former Rockville Central blog and Facebook page. With an extensive professional background in non-profits, she is currently Executive Director of
DC-MD Justice For Our Neighbors in Rockville.

James J. Hedrick - Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) employee who currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Twinbrook Community Association (TCA), and on the board of Rockville Housing Enterprises.

Eugene M. Thirolf - retired Director of the Office of Consumer Litigation (OCL) in the Department of
Justice, with 20 years volunteer experience in the Richard Montgomery cluster that included being president of the PTSA at three schools in the cluster. He also was head of the Montgomery County Liquor Board, and a five year commissioner for the Rockville Ethics Commission, in addition to being a volunteer in youth sports.

Robert J. Wright - a former Senior Advisor with the U.S. Department of Energy, Wright served on the Rockville City Council for three terms beginning in 1995. He was defeated by Larry Giammo in the 2001 Rockville mayoral race, after some memorable rhetorical showdowns during the old Citizens' Forum segment of Mayor and Council meetings. A majority of residents sought a more responsible and lower-density development policy that year, among other concerns. Wright is promising not to run again in November if he is chosen to fill the vacancy now.

One thing clear so far in this process: the city needs a special election to fill vacancies like this, so that residents have a chance to fully interrogate the candidates in debates and forums on the critical issues like growth, development, and adequate public facilities. A second thing we know for sure is that this will be a somewhat-dramatic selection, as the Mayor and Council are split into two factions of two apiece. Someone will have to flip sides to anoint the winner here. Finally, residents will probably find time spent on recruiting and supporting five responsible-growth candidates for the real election this fall more effective than time spent worrying about who serves out the remaining months of this term.

Residents can ostensibly start weighing in on the finalists during the Community Forum at tonight's Mayor and Council meeting at 7:00 PM at City Hall. That meeting will follow a closed session, as the City is apparently facing a lawsuit that the Mayor and Council will discuss privately.

16 comments:

  1. We don't need a special election, that's too expensive and time-consuming. Just use an online survey.

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  2. It's my understanding that Wright and council member Feinberg are very closely aligned (good friends). I would be concerned that Feinberg, Wright and possibly Newton would form a block that could derail any progress that the city is making toward economic development. Also, Wright's got a lot of baggage. I hope the council picks a fresh face.

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  3. So which one gets the coveted Robert Dyer endorsement?

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    Replies
    1. Cynthia Cotte Griffiths

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    2. I hope you're joking. That woman is unstable.

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    3. Let's be clear: I've made no endorsement thus far.

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  4. Mr. Dyer, please consider endorsing Mr. Wright. He is the only candidate who has stated that he will not run in November. An appointed Council member should not have the advantage of running as an 'incumbent'.

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    1. I do not believe Mr. Wright for one minute. Politicians change their minds all the time. If Wright is appointed, he WILL run in November... against Team Rockville. This Wright is Wrong for Rockville.

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    2. Three posts voicing your displeasure with Mr. Wright is enough. Please stop.

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  5. I don't buy Mr. Wright's opinion of who should/shouldn't be appointed. I understand it, but I don't share it. Besides, if one person could get the united votes of those four, that must mean something.

    There were a few appealing applicants who I would happily support in November if they ran. Maybe that is what Mr. Wright (and whoever else he is talking to) are worried about.

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    1. Agreed. Rockville needs fresh ideas, not tired out hacks, like Wright and Cotte Griffiths. One only needs to harken back to the 2001 election between Giammo and Wright to know that Wright is a loser. And for anyone interested, take a look at what Cotte Griffiths said about diseased Rockville Mayor Marcuccio during the 2009 and 2011 election seasons. It was the same kind of poison that oozes out of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue today. We can do better.

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    2. She's toxic. The fact that she made the final five is disheartening.

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    3. Griffiths and Thirolf were Chopped.

      Down to Ashton, Hedricks and Wright.

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    4. Griffiths is hardly toxic. She has a long record of civic engagement on housing, economic growth, and traffic planning. She would make an excellent member of the council who is familiar enough with all the issues to be effective immediately. She wrote many commentaries about local issues over the years, I am certain none of them were about Marcuccio's diseases.

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  6. Rockville was not surprised by last night’s deadlock on a council member appointment.

    It’s clear that the current council will never agree on at least two of the remaining candidates, James Hedrick and Bob Wright.

    Hedrick is a well-known Pierzchala (and Onley) ally that would give Team Rockville a block of three majority votes. Hedrick would then run as an incumbent on Team Rockville’s slate in November. Given all that, Newton and Feinberg would never vote for Hedrick.

    Bob Wright is very closely aligned to Feinberg and perceived as leaning more towards Newton than Team Rockville, which means that Pierzchala and Onley would never vote for him.

    Of the remaining three, Monique Ashton is to only candidate that doesn’t have history with anyone on the council. Ashton appears to be the only candidate that ALL could agree on. She may not be what either side wants, but that’s the way a compromise works.

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    Replies
    1. She has no history with anyone because she has never served on any boards or commissions and has no record of engagement on issues facing Rockville. She's been involved on schools issues with the local PTA, but that's it. All the other candidates in the top five, and now top three, at least have something to offer in that regard, whatever one thinks of their affiliations. I think Wright is the default pick if they are deadlocked. His pledge not to run in November makes it so.

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