From Tim Male, former City Councilmember, Ward 2, 2011-2017. 

I love Takoma Park. Yet it’s kind of a surprise that, in almost every contested local election I can think of over the past 25 years, we’ve chosen the incumbent over the new candidate. We have more than a few contrarians here. Love of the underdog runs deep in so many conversations. It just doesn’t seem to apply to local elections very often.

Nonetheless, I’m voting for the new candidate—Tom Gagliardo—for mayor.

I’ll share a few reasons why I support Tom.

1. We need to be honest about what the city can deliver on housing and development.

Takoma Park doesn’t make much development happen. I don’t mean we don’t sincerely try. We do. But trying isn’t building.  It’s because most of the power to make development happen doesn’t sit with the city, it’s with the county. But especially because…

Development runs on economics first, politics second.

Takoma Park couldn’t get a modest project built on a city-owned parking lot. We haven’t managed to redevelop the recreation center we took over from the county on New Hampshire Avenue. While DC has built 1000 (?) units on their side of the Metro, we haven’t budged. I was on the council when we started that effort roughly 15 years ago. It’s going nowhere fast.

The current council’s consultants say we would have to contribute $18 million to get someone to build apartments on the NH site with a recreation center in the basement. That tells you how badly the economics are stacked against the project. It’s not a problem another expression of support for housing will solve.

Montgomery County is growing more slowly than Fairfax, Arlington, and Howard counties. Our public-school enrollment is falling. Those are serious challenges.  The city has more restrictive and confusing policies (on top of the county’s) – there is just little chance that we are somehow going to see development come here instead of another jurisdiction until there is a bigger shift in regional economics. 

The mayor and council have delivered little on development over the past decade. I don’t think that’s a record that makes the case for reelection. 

We need a council that is more honest about what stands in the way and stops pretending something the city does is going to fundamentally change housing and commercial development. The city can help at the margins. We can make building a little more attractive or a little less attractive. 

Every Takoma Park resident already has another government to turn to on development: Montgomery County. That’s where much of the actual land-use and development authority sits. If large-scale redevelopment is your deciding issue, pay at least as much attention to county elections as you do to this one.  

The next City Council—or maybe the one after that—will likely see Purple Line redevelopment begin in earnest. That is the economic development change most likely to add housing and commercial change to the city.  

Tom has focused on redevelopment of the hospital campus. That makes sense to me because that property at least has a willing owner. Even there, I expect years of work and substantial public subsidy before anyone breaks ground.

2. More intentionality about the size of city government

Government spending can’t keep growing faster than inflation forever. It’s fine to have a plan to grow government for a few years to accomplish something specific. But it’s been nearly a decade. We should be able to explain what the additional money bought.

Since the Mayor joined the council, the city’s annual property-tax collections have grown from $12.6 million in 2018 to $17.0 million in 2025. That’s a 35% increase—more than inflation over the same period. 

For what? Are our recreation programs better? Has development happened? Is the street festival 35% better?

Those aren’t the only things city government does. But residents deserve a clear account of what they’re getting for the additional money.

And I seriously dislike politicians claiming they have “cut your tax rate” when they know that rising property assessments mean your tax bill actually goes up. That’s sleight of hand and seeing that sleight prominently on the mayor’s reelection campaign website is probably what most disappoints me.  If you think the city needs more money, make the case for it. Don’t imply you’ve cut people’s taxes when you're actually taking more from them.

This year is a good example. The council lowered the property-tax rate by one cent. But the city’s own budget documents say it still expects to collect roughly $438,000 more in property taxes than the previous year’s adopted budget. The rate went down. Your tax went up.

Neither candidate has published all the hard choices that would be required to have the city’s total budget become stable or even shrink. But after nearly a decade, the Mayor hasn’t said anything to suggest a pattern different than the 35% property tax increase journey we’ve been on. 

Tom has repeatedly focused on the budget during this campaign. He has ideas and energy and a sincere interest in trying to find an alternative. That doesn’t guarantee results, but it gives me more confidence that he would make it a priority.

3. I like Tom’s approach to making city government work better.

Tom wants residents to get answers to their questions, understand proposals before decisions are made, and participate in actual back-and-forth discussions.  He seems to be hoping to restore more back and forth dialogue in Council sessions.  I wish him well on that if he gets a chance. And he’s willing to ask whether the county could deliver a service like stormwater management better than the city. The city newsletter is a little thing to focus on, but I like his focus on finding ways to make it more effective at explaining what the Council is doing. I wish he had talked a little more during the campaign about making all six councilmembers individually effective as champions of their wards again, but he at least hinted at interest in this. 

We don’t need to agree on every policy. We need a mayor who makes clear choices, explains them honestly, and focuses on what residents get for their money.

That’s why I’m voting for Tom Gagliardo.