Posts about Duchy Trachtenberg

It's too bad Royce Hanson won't be joining Riemer in Rockville, as Craig Rice decisively defeated him for the upcounty District 2 seat. Down in Purple Line Ground Zero around Bethesda and Chevy Chase, voters chose to keep the incumbents in the Council and state legislature rather than picking candidates for a consistent position for or against this or other controversial projects in the area.

Faith in voters' intelligence was upheld as they avoided getting confused by Michael D. Brown's name similarity to sitting councilmember Michael A. Brown, perhaps thanks to polls that woke DC residents up to the danger. Phil Mendelson ended up winning reelection with 63% of the vote. Tommy Wells, meanwhile, scored the highest percentage (75%) of votes in any of the DC Council contested primaries.

As expected, Kwame Brown, Jim Graham, Harry Thomas Jr., and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton cruised to victory. Brown's win sets the stage for a hotly-contested special election for council at-large in the spring.

In other good news, Rushern Baker will be County Executive, and Mel Franklin looks to have won the District 9 council seat in Prince George's County. We endorsed Franklin over real estate-backed Sydney Harrison, who had raised more money than all other candidates in the county and would have continued the bad sprawl policies of his predecessor, Marilynn Bland, in this district encompassing the rural part of the county. Many feared that Franklin and Tamara Davis Brown, both good candidates, might split sympathetic voters, letting Harrison buy the seat, but that scenario appears to have been averted.

Several Maryland Senate races are too close to call, including Joanne Benson's effort to unseat Nathaniel Exum in Prince George's District 24, and Karen Montgomery's challenge to incumbent Senator Rona Kramer in eastern Montgomery. Saqib Ali has fallen short in his bid to knock off Nancy King in District 39 outside Gaithersburg, while Roger Manno unseated Senator Mike Lennett in the central Montgomery District 19. Good candidate and friend-of-a-friend Sam Arora made it into the House of Delegates in that district.

Update: Hans Riemer actually placed second, not third, pulling decisively ahead of Nancy Floreen at the end for the number two finish.

Marc Elrich has been a strong proponent of a Bus Rapid Transit network, pushing the idea tirelessly and making it a signature issue. However, he's also the strongest defender of traffic-based tests that in effect hinder walkable development.

Nancy Floreen pushed through the White Flint plan, one of Montgomery's biggest opportunities for meaningful transit-oriented development, and opposes the traffic-based tests that Elrich likes. On the other hand, she also opposes most rules that would limit development in rural areas far from transit. She generally advocates building in the county and is less discerning about what or where.

George Leventhal has been a leader in the fight for the Purple Line, and for transit in general in the county. Yet he also strongly supported widening I-270, and basically favors any transportation project of any kind in any location. Duchy Trachtenberg has been good on the environment and transit issues as well and not a road booster, but hasn't shown as much leadership on growth and transportation issues generally.

I'd recommend Montgomery residents (like my in-laws) vote for Mr. Riemer and decide among the other candidates based on the other issues, like schools, budgets, labor relations and many more. If you're not sure of some of the candidates, it's also fine to vote for only two or three. Leaving a blank or two on the ballot makes the votes you do cast count even more, as the top four total vote-getters win the seats.

Two district seats are also contested, which happen to be the two that had Montgomery's greatest development debates in the last few years. District 1 includes Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Potomac, and has significant numbers of residents who oppose the Purple Line and/or White Flint. Roger Berliner, the incumbent, has championed both projects a good future for his area despite the short-term political risk. Meanwhile, his challenger, Ilaya Hopkins, has chosen to throw her lot in with the antis. Mr. Berliner should be reelected to prove that anti sentiment doesn't drive Montgomery politics.

In District 2, the suburban and rural northern part of the County, former Planning Board Chair Royce Hanson is the best choice for the open seat. He's been a strong proponent of Smart Growth on the Planning Board, and was largely responsible for the Agricultural Reserve, the large belt of (mostly) protected land at the County's edge, much of which is in that district. His support for the sprawl development at Gaithersburg West was more of a disappointment, but his multi-decade track record warrants your vote.

The other district members, Phil Andrews, Nancy Navarro, and Valerie Ervin, do not have primary challengers.

In this particular case, many people in the community support the plan. And for many Councilmembers, including Floreen, that makes a big difference.

Floreen said (as transcribed by FLOG:

I love the White Flint Plan. Because the community defined what it wanted and said the community character is what matters most. I have come to say that's how you should find out what matters.

I will lie down in the middle of Rockville Pike if you make the intersection at Strathmore any bigger. People can't walk across Strathmore because of the speeds drivers think they're entitled to. ...

We're letting the wrong standards drive us. I can't explain the difference between 30 seconds and 40. People who live within WF want to see some real improvements.

Based on comments, Councilmember Marc Elrich (at-large) seemed most hesitant to change the rules, while Councilmember Roger Berliner (District 1, which include the area) and Duchy Trachtenberg (at-large) support approving the White Flint plan.