Gaithersburg elections are attracting a remarkable degree of interest this year. The President of the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) has communicated One Gaithersburg's endorsement to MCEA's Gaithersburg members. County Executive Ike Leggett has endorsed the slate:
You can see an example of the English version of one One Gaithersburg flyer here. One Gaithersburg has also launched a website in support of its slate: Ahmed Ali, Carlos Solis, and Ryan Spiegel. The group says that it wants to unite this city which is increasingly diverse but divided by I-270:Local elections in Gaithersburg are traditionally sleepy affairs that attract less than 10 percent of registered voters. But this contest has drawn county leaders such as Leggett, who is lending his name, and photo, to One Gaithersburg's direct mail piece this weekend.
The president of the local teachers union, Bonnie Cullison, informed the group's 800 members who live in Gaithersburg of the coalition's endorsement of Ahmed Ali, Solis and Spiegel.
Political observers said it was unclear whether such endorsements would make a difference. Katz, who has been in office for 29 years, said it was the first time he could remember that an organized group has made phone calls and sent direct mail on behalf of individual candidates.
Interstate 270 cuts through Gaithersburg, dividing Maryland's third-largest city physically and economically. To the west are neighborhoods of high-end homes, sushi restaurants and spas. To the east are a hodgepodge of low-income apartment complexes, Latino groceries and a Spanish-language bookstore. . . .A coalition calling itself One Gaithersburg also sees the election as an opportunity to remake the council to reflect the city's changing demographics, which is more than 20 percent Latino; in 1990, that number was 9 percent.
"There's no reason that within a city limit you should have two cities," said resident Jeanne Ellinport, one of the coalition's organizers. "We need new blood and people who can help unite the city and take it forward."
