Although 2015 may not be a year for presidential or midterm elections, across the country local elections are getting ready to take place. The City of Rockville’s Election Day is on Tuesday, November 3, and voting is broken down into ten districts. Eligible voters will have the opportunity to vote for one of two candidates for Mayor and for four of nine candidates for City Council. For the first time in city history, the elected Mayor and City Council will serve four-year terms.

Elections for local office, whether it be for a legislative position such as county or city council, or an executive one like mayor, are some of the most important and undervalued elections.

With increasing amounts of gridlock in Congress, state and local governments are the ones that have the most influence over citizens’ lives. However, local elections suffer from extremely low voter turnout, a problem with many possible reasons, one of which is the common lack of knowledge about the candidates and their platforms among eligible voters.

The two mayoral candidates are incumbent Bridget Donnell Newton and challenger Sima Osdoby. The City Council contains four members, but the nine potential members are incumbents Beryl L. Feinberg, Virginia D. Onley, and Julie Palakovich Carr and challengers Richard Gottfried, David Hill, Brigitta Mullican, Mark Pierzchala, Clark Reed, and Patrick Schoof.

Aside from the past council membership of the three incumbents, Pierzchala served on the Rockville City Council from 2009 to 2013, Gottfried is the second-term President of the Twinbrook Citizens Association, and many of the other candidates have municipal experience.

Hill and Mullican have served as chairman and member, respectively, of the Rockville Planning Commission, gaining crucial experience on land-use and zoning. Reed has served as the elected chair of the Rockville Environment Commission for the past three years and helped found the Rockville Solar Co-op. Schoof has served as a city staff member, local small business owner, and CEO of a Rockville-based international NGO.

Rockville has a very diverse populations, so the platforms for the City Council candidates span many different issues, including limiting development, revitalizing the local economy, reducing residential taxes, and supporting schools. Although there are not that many differences in opinion about these issues, there are points of contention between the candidates for which issues are the most important to them and pertinent to their experience.

A majority of the candidates, including Feinberg, Mullican, Schoof, Palakovich Carr, Pierzchala, and Reed are determined to save taxpayers’ money through more efficient policy and lower residential taxes. Feinberg, Onley, and Schoof support measures to preserve the character of Rockville neighborhoods and protect Rockville’s hometown atmosphere. Meanwhile, Gottfried, Hill, and Mullican are focused on preventing the over-development of Rockville, by working with city developers, in order to prevent the growth of traffic in already congested streets and overcrowding in schools. From their experience on the Environment Commission, Reed and Palakovich Carr seek to protect the environment by enacting policy to reduce the amount of waste produced in Rockville.

As for the mayoral candidates, incumbent Newton has not only served as Rockville Mayor, but also represented Rockville’s needs at the County and State level, while challenger Osdoby seeks office after more than 35 years of community service, including serving as Board President of Peerless Rockville, President of the Rockville Branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW), and the first Board Chair of Emerge Maryland.

Newton seeks to protect Rockville’s communities by ensuring development benefits Rockville’s neighborhoods, advocate for increased education spending, and promote economic development in Town Center and along Rockville Pike. In contrast, Osdoby aims to end a perceived stalemate between the Rockville Mayor and City Council and revitalize Rockville Pike and update city plans to drive commercial development.

Among the combined 11 candidates, a five-member coalition has emerged, called Team Rockville, for Mayor and City Council. The alliance consists of Osdoby for Mayor and Onley, Palakovich Carr, Pierzchala, and Reed for City Council. The five members share a common vision for Rockville’s future and plan to address economic issues concerning Rockville Pike and Town Center during the next term.

For more information about Rockville elections or the candidates and their platforms, visit www.rockvillemd.gov/election.

Photo from: http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/bestbites/food-restaurant-news/miso-cafe-samovar-restaurants-headed-to-rockville-town-square.php