A Mayor Who Leads

Reassert the Mayor and Council as the body that sets policy based on community needs and sees that policy is carried out.  The City Council is not a rubber stamp. As mayor it will be my obligation to facilitate the finding of common ground.  

As an attorney and union negotiator I embrace interest-based bargaining, a collaborative approach based on mutual interests rather than predetermined demands. As a mediator in federal court I work with litigants to explore options and find common ground. It can be challenging. And it requires creativity and flexibility, but it’s worth the investment of time and energy.

Sunshine not Secrecy

There have been dozens of closed council meetings, an unprecedented number, during this Mayor’s tenure, on topics ranging from how to use opioid class action settlement money, to the handling of the sexual harassment case in our police department. 

While the law says the Mayor may close meetings under certain circumstances, it is often a choice, not a requirement. The choice to keep residents completely in the dark over the police sexual harassment case is particularly disturbing.

There have been at least 16 closed sessions regarding the $1million settlement of the lawsuit brought by Kakila Cooper, a civilian employee of the police department who was sexually harassed by a sergeant and brave enough to tell the public. As a labor, employment and civil rights attorney who represents employees who have been harassed and discriminated against, I understand the legal issues here. I know for a fact that in a case of police misconduct, which is specifically addressed in the Police Accountability Act and is treated differently than other personnel matters, the public has the right to transparency and full disclosure.  

There was no acknowledgement that sexual harassment had occurred, a suit filed or  that it had been settled, until Ms. Cooper had the courage to make the settlement known. There has never been an explanation of what the Mayor knew and when, or why the harasser remained an officer for more than two years after the harassment occurred. And there has never been any accountability for the evidently problematic handling of Ms. Cooper’s reporting harassment, or why City Council members, some city staff and the public were kept in the dark. 

Getting Value for the Taxes We Pay

Property taxes are increasing too fast. In 18 of the last 19 years they increased in excess of the rate of inflation. When that happens it’s time to find better, more cost effective ways to get things done. Some of our neighbors on fixed incomes have already left Takoma Park because of high taxes. All of us are concerned about affordability, but we need to recognize the severity of the impact on people working paycheck to paycheck and those who have lost their jobs, many in the DOGE onslaught.

I listened to a young couple at Street Fest who told me that in the four years they have lived in Takoma Park their property taxes have increased by 56 percent.  Doug Glynn, running for the Ward 1 council seat, lives in the house he grew up in. His mother lives just outside the city limits. His house is assessed lower than hers but he pays more in property tax than she does. 

We need to have a robust discussion about the cost of services provided by the City but for which we pay Montgomery County taxes. It is not enough to be reimbursed to a degree for tax duplication. All stakeholders need to be heard and to participate in an open assessment of the pluses and minuses of returning certain functions to the County. I propose starting with storm water management and nonpatrol police functions, such as criminal investigation. The County has a more robust storm water plan and the resources to meet the increasing threats of climate change.  

We need to assess whether using County criminal investigative services, like Rockville and Gaithersburg do (both are larger in population and land area than Takoma Park) makes more sense and saves money.   

We need to ensure that the City lives within our means, gets the best bang for our bucks and that all of us are getting value for the taxes we pay.

I have publicly asked the Mayor and Council and the City Manager to identify cost savings.  If something can be done well for less cost that change needs to be made. 

Stop Overspending

Control expenditures. Capital improvement projects and programs that meet community needs and are affordable will get funded. Those that don’t, won’t.

Unfortunately, the City has a poor track record on large building projects, starting at least as far back as the huge cost overruns on the Municipal Building. Our new library is a beautiful and valuable resource, but the project started as a $3 million renovation and ended up costing $15 million to rebuild. That’s five times the original budgeted amount. Now we are paying nearly $400,000 a year to pay off the bond used to finance the project.

The City is now seeking bids to close in the Municipal Building atrium, and expand the police department offices. Why were additional offices given priority over renovations in the Public Works Department? AFSCME 3399 made a persuasive presentation that Public Works renovations are needed to improve working conditions. 

Meanwhile, the plans to renovate or replace the New Hampshire Ave Recreation Center have remained stalled. I support providing more services to a part of the City that too often gets the short end of the stick. The concept of a private developer building multifamily housing containing a rec center, which will be “leased back” to the City, makes sense. But the numbers have to work. 

We need more public input on where our community needs investment, and stronger control over runaway projects. 

Keep Takoma Park Safe and Be Frank About Safety Needs

We deserve a frank assessment of what we need to be a safe community.  This is about right-sizing the police force and not defunding it. 

Listening to residents I have learned that views range from maintaining the status quo and spending more on police, to abolishing the force and letting the County patrol our neighborhoods. I’m in favor of neither extreme and want to assess right-sizing the force. 

Having been held up on a bright sunny morning on my front steps I have directly benefited from the professional and competent officers who keep us safe. I respect the Chief who has promulgated a guardian culture not a warrior culture.

But, our police force has grown, while our population has stayed the same. Why? The department is almost half of the total budget, and about half of the funding comes from the State and County. Every officer has a fully equipped, "pursuit ready” police vehicle. Do officers who perform administrative and other nonpatrol duties need pursuit ready vehicles? What are the pluses and minuses of changing who gets what? It is beyond time to look at what is working, and that begins with finally setting up the resident public safety oversight committee recommended by the Public Safety Task Force.

Build Housing

I have long supported construction of multifamily housing (market rate, missing middle and affordable) on Hospital Hill. In 2022 and many times since then I publicly said so.  

I look forward to new multifamily housing, of all kinds, on Hospital Hill. It is counterproductive to relitigate past disputes about what should be built and where. (I recognize there are still deep feelings about Takoma Junction). It is counterproductive to call each other NIMBY and YIMBY and to dismiss each other’s concerns. The availability of Hospital Hill is a gift and an opportunity to work with Washington Adventist University and the Takoma Development Partnership to help make their “Vision 2030” a reality.  

The Incumbent supported the Minor Master Plan Amendment (MMPA) to include Maple and Lee Avenues and streets surrounding the university. I didn't. I supported limiting rezoning to Hospital Hill. The MMPA zoning changes have incentivized tearing down the smaller buildings on Maple Avenue and side streets there, and replacing them with taller ones, displacing people.  But the County Council enacted the zoning changes called for in the MMPA and it’s time to shift focus. I support keeping the Maple Avenue neighborhood a place where neighbors who are on fixed incomes and work paycheck to paycheck have access to good schools, parks and mass transit.  

Some say we need development because we need more city revenues, but ironically, the Incumbent and her allies (only Councilmember Randy Gibson voted “no”) enacted a ten-year plus property tax waiver on the increased value of new multifamily construction. If a $20 million multifamily building was completed today no new property taxes would be paid until at least until 2037, and full tax payments wouldn't be due until at least 2042.  That’s going to make it harder for the city to pay for the necessary resources for those new residents. To be blunt it means current taxpayers, that’s us will pay more

Tax incentive financing (TIF) is a useful tool and something that should be negotiated with developers and for specific purposes. More affordable units, more green space are two examples.  We need to negotiate with developers, not defer to them.

The challenge isn’t theoretical, it’s imminent. As this is being written, Edinburgh House is proposed for demolition and replacement leaving 45 families facing displacement, at least for a number of years. In this case, the non-profit owner is required to assist relocating those families and to offer them new apartments when the new building is completed. But those apartments are designed to be smaller, with fewer balconies. Meanwhile, there is no requirement for private developers to do the same.

I see things differently than the Incumbent. I do not see evidence to conclude that weakening rent stabilization and forgoing substantial revenue for more than a decade will encourage developers to build here. We haven’t seen new multifamily housing because there have been  few places where building can occur -- until Hospital Hill became available. Developers base decisions to build on the cost of land, money, labor, materials and whether there is a market for what they propose to build. 

Opposition to rent stabilization is no surprise. The auto industry objected to mandatory seat belts and airbags; the fossil fuel industry opposed environmental safe guards; and the tobacco industry didn’t want to include mandatory health warnings on cigarette packages. I’m glad the public interest prevailed over profit in those cases.