Thomas Hardman Announces for District 4

Thomas Hardman, who ran as a Republican in last year's District 4 special election, is announcing his candidacy this year as a Democrat. His statement follows below.

My name is Thomas Hardman, and I filed for candidacy Friday Feb 27 2009, evidently a few minutes behind Nancy Navarro, to judge from the visitors' log.

I had about 5 years on the board of the Aspen Hill Civic Association, Inc., from about 2002-2007. In about the same time frame, I was very active in the "Mid County Neighborhood Initiative", which has done quite a lot of promotion of anti-crime efforts in Aspen Hill, especially promoting the reclamation of North Gate Park, and the cleanup of a lot of local "trash woods" where overgrowth led to crime and nastiness.

I'm particularly focused on code-violation, home overcrowding, "McMansionism", tear-downs and "over-builds". I'm focused on how sensible Urban Planning can be completely obviated when code isn't enforced and everything deviates from the plan. I oppose seeing our neighborhoods being turned into something that looks a lot like an industrial park, and I oppose people buying up houses on speculation and paying their liar-loan APR mortgages by renting out single-family detached residental homes housing as many as 20 people being charged $500.00/month rent each, generating from $6000 to $10,000 to the slumlords. I've been fighting every aspect of that since Doug Duncan was County Executive.

For some years I have been seeking ways to have some influence, to demonstrate leadership, outside of the very narrow focus of these groups. So, I have run in the last two elections held in District 19/District 4 (state/county) and I am running in this one as of now.

I'm trying to step up and do the right thing, but I'm not a Party creature and so it's a struggle every step of the way.

Visit http://www.thomashardman.com as well as http://www.aspenhillnet.net/ and http://www.district4mc.org where I have done a lot of documentation about myself, Aspen Hill, and District 4.

Coming soon, the new http://www.thomashardman.NET which will be the political site, and the Facebook presence is under development.

I am a pagan tree-hugger and demand changes in policy toward "green", solar, and slow-growth/no-growth and I am on record on Channel 19/21 video from last Special Election as being for this, and furthermore my campaign was based all around expectation of economic calamity, and it wasn't even on the radar of any of my opponents. I was a Liberal Republican then, I am a Fiscally Conservative/Social Liberal Democrat now. I am GLBT tolerant and embrace the large and under-served community of the "differently abled", especially the "special needs" community in young adulthood and beyond, whether they're gifted/talented or intellectually-disabled.