These are four of the most influential people in Montgomery County's history, standing together in a unique photo from 1981.
Norman Christeller (left): County Council Member and Planning Board Chairman. Author of the county's law requiring Moderately-Priced Dwelling Units in new residential developments and leader of the fight against the 1978 TRIM amendment.
Don Robertson (second from left): District 18 Delegate and House Majority Leader.
Royce Hanson (center): Two-time Planning Board Chairman and founder of the Agricultural Reserve.
Neal Potter (right): Six-time County Council Member and one-term County Executive.
That innocent-looking twenty-something standing with these legends is none other than MCEA's Jon Gerson, who was then a staff assistant at the County Council. Thanks for sharing the photo, Jon!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Titans of Montgomery County, 1981
Lou D'Ovidio for Delegate, 1986
Lou D'Ovidio was a teacher and MCPS administrator for 25 years and served two terms on the Takoma Park City Council before running for a District 20 house seat in 1986. He ran on a slate with Delegate Ida Ruben (who was running for Senate), Delegate Sheila Hixson and House challenger Robert Berger. D'Ovidio finished fifth in the primary behind Peter Franchot, Hixson, Dana Dembrow and Berger. D'Ovidio went on to work for many years as Council Member Mike Subin's Chief of Staff and now works for Roger Berliner. He remains one of the most respected veterans of Rockville. Here are two of his lit pieces from 1986. One of them even features a quote from Blair Lee!
Roger Berliner for County Council, 2000
Roger Berliner first ran for the County Council District 1 seat in the 2000 special election to replace the retiring Betty Ann Krahnke. Berliner was defeated in the primary by Pat Baptiste, who in turn lost to former GOP Senator Howie Denis. Berliner returned to defeat Denis in 2006 and just won a second term. This is a lit piece from Berliner's first campaign in 2000.
Valerie Ervin for County Council, 2006
Incoming County Council President Valerie Ervin has enjoyed one of the more rapid rises to prominence in MoCo history. In 2002, she became Council Member George Leventhal's Chief of Staff. In 2004, she was elected to the school board. In 2006, she was elected to the council's District 5 seat. In 2008, she became Chair of the council's Education Committee. This year, she had no Democratic primary opponent. She is now about to be President and many people are predicting greatness for Ervin. We'll see what the future holds! Here is one of her mailers from 2006.
Team for Montgomery, 1986
In 1986, seven County Council candidates ran as a slate called Team for Montgomery: incumbents Neal Potter, Rose Crenca, Mike Gudis and Bill Hanna and challengers Bruce Adams, Mike Subin and Ike Leggett. All seven won. The slate members served a combined 108 years on the council and 8 years (and counting) in the Executive's office, making this perhaps MoCo's most successful political team ever. Here's their joint lit piece.
SchaeferMania!
William Donald Schaefer was one of Maryland's great political characters. But this 2001 flyer celebrating his second anniversary as Comptroller leaves even your author speechless!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
The Pinocchio Mailer, 1998
The Seven Dwarfs are not the only Disney characters to appear in MoCo political mail. In 1998, Democratic District 15 House challenger David Dashefsky invoked Pinocchio in this mailer attacking GOP incumbent Richard LaVay. Dashefsky lost to LaVay by 577 votes but the mailer lives on.
David Weaver for Delegate, 1990
David Weaver is one of MoCo's greatest campaign strategists, spokesmen and staffers. He served as a staffer to Senator Joe Biden, worked on Gus Bauman's campaign for County Executive in 1994, served as Doug Duncan's spokesman for twelve years and was a Chief of Staff for both Comptroller Peter Franchot and Congressman Chris Van Hollen. We suspect there's a lot more ahead for him.
In 1990, Weaver ran for Delegate in District 18. He finished fourth behind Pat Billings, John Hurson and his future boss, Chris Van Hollen. That clearly did not stop him from being one of MoCo's most influential citizens for decades. Here's a lit piece from Weaver's House run.
Montgomery County's TRIM Amendment, 1978
Prince George's County is well-known for its TRIM amendment, a cap on property tax increases passed by referendum in 1978. Some blame TRIM for preventing the county from adequately funding schools and other basic services. MoCo also had a TRIM amendment on the ballot that same year, known as Question E. A giant coalition of unions, non-profits, civic groups and elected officials gathered to fight it. The anti-TRIM leadership included such notables as Council Members Norman Christeller, Neal Potter and Betty Scull; school board members Blair Ewing and Elizabeth Spencer; civic activist (and future Council Member) Don Praisner and MCEA's Hank Heller, who would later become a state Delegate. Question E lost on a 71,083-76,731 vote. There is no question that it would have changed MoCo history if it had passed.
Following are lit pieces from both sides.
Gansler Guns for Dean, 1998
Montgomery County State's Attorney Robert Dean, appointed in 1996 to replace Andrew Sonner, had two problems in his election campaign. First, he was embroiled in an embarrassing sex scandal with a subordinate complete with love poems. Second, he was opposed by one of the most aggressive politicians in MoCo's history: federal prosecutor Doug Gansler. Gansler let the press handle the sex scandal, but he took on Dean's prosecutorial decisions and his alleged tendency to campaign with tax dollars directly. We reprint those lit pieces below. Gansler won in the primary by twelve points.
There's a lesson here for anyone thinking of running for Governor in four years. If you are in a campaign against Doug Gansler and you make a mistake, YOU LOSE.
"Mistakes Can be Deadly"
"Chicago"
Neal Potter for County Council, 1978 and 1994
No one has won more countywide elections in MoCo than Neal Potter. The humble, squeaky-clean Chevy Chase resident won a County Council seat in 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1986 and 1994, and served one term as County Executive starting in 1990. Here are two of his lit pieces: one from his third campaign in 1978 and one from his last.
Potter for Council, 1978
Potter for Council, 1994
Best of the Bad Boy
House Majority Leader Kumar "Bad Boy" Barve was first elected in 1990 and has been wisecracking his way through Annapolis ever since. Here are three lit pieces from early in his career.
1990: "Hey Kids!!" That's right - only Kumar would recruit volunteers by openly calling them "kids."
1990: "Who Cares?" This is an unusual slogan for someone trying to earn votes for office, but this is the offbeat Kumar we know and love.
1994: "Draft Notice." We predict the Bad Boy will not be sending out any more of these!
Doug Duncan for County Executive, 1994
No other Montgomery County Executive has surpassed Doug Duncan's twelve years in the position. This is a mailer from his first campaign for the office, a win in 1994.
