Growth and Trash Talk in Rockville

Drew Powell, Susan Hoffman, and Mark Pierzchala all want to be mayor. According to the Gazette, they are competing to look more anti-development. There is also a fair amount of debate over the City of Rockville moving from twice to once-weekly trash pickup.

Councilwoman Hoffman appears to be the establishment candidate. She has been endorsed by outgoing Mayor Larry Giammo and former Mayor Rose Krasnow. Her website touts numerous other endorsements from political figures around Montgomery and the State:

In addition to Cardin, Giammo, and Krasnow, U.S. Congressman Albert Wynn, Maryland State Comptroller Peter Franchot, Maryland House Majority Leader Kumar Barve, Maryland House Ways & Means Committee Chair Sheila Hixson, Delegate Luiz Simmons, Delegate James Gilchrist, Delegate Anne Kaiser, Montgomery County State’s Attorney John J. McCarthy, Register of Wills Joseph Griffin, Montgomery County Sheriff Raymond Kight, Clerk of the Court Loretta Knight, Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz, Kensington Mayor Pete Fosselman, Somerset Mayor Walter Behr, former Rockville Mayors James Coyle and William Hanna, and Montgomery County Career Firefighters Union Local 1664 all endorsed Hoffmann’s candidacy for Mayor of Rockville.

Drew Powell is trying to stake out a position as the slow growth candidate who won't be in the developer's pocket--a strategy more than a little reminiscent of Marc Elrich's successful bid for the County Council in that he is touting the lack of developer influence. Although Powell has a much shorter list of endorsements than Hoffman, perhaps it isn't too surprising that he has been endorsed by Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Duchy Trachtenberg. Powell touted his anti-developer credentials at a candidate forum.

Sharply critical of the three-term councilwoman, Drew Powell, head of Neighbors for a Better Montgomery, a countywide watchdog group, waited until the end of the forum to launch his strongest salvo.

‘‘I have vowed never to accept campaign contributions from developers or companies doing business with the City of Rockville,” he said. ‘‘My opponent, on the other hand, received nearly half of all her 2005 campaign funds from the development industry. It is apparent that elected officials avoid even the appearance of impropriety.”

Powell is receiving some support for his effort to paint Hoffman as a pawn of development interests from "Real People for a Real Rockville," a group composed of about 20 citizens. However, the Gazette has endorsed Hoffman in an editorial that oddly never mentions Drew Powell.

Meanwhile Mark Pierzchala has highlighted the trash issue:

‘‘I was angry about how the budget was discussed and how trash was handled,” Pierzchala said. ‘‘The civility is really a big issue because I think it’s gotten in the way of rational analysis by council and mayor both in budget and trash.”

Rational and fair are words Pierzchala is emphasizing, presenting himself as an alternative to the council’s protracted, public fighting over trash.

‘‘I think it was personalities getting in the way,” he said.

Pierzchala supports weekly refuse pickup, saying it is the least expensive option that has drawn overwhelming support from those who tried it out in the pilot program area.

Susan Hoffmann’s proposal to implement optional collection frequency is not workable, he said, because no one has any idea of how much people are willing to pay for twice-weekly service. Determining such a rate ‘‘would explode the trash debate,” Pierzchala said.