La la la Seth la la la

Dear Readers,

Since I've been saying all along that I'm only leaning a bit in the direction of reelecting the mayor, today I'm going to sing the praises of her opponent, Seth Grimes. I especially want to do this because all the heated comments I've gotten from Grimes supporters in reaction to my previous essays are only pushing me more toward Mayor Porter. So, I'll try looking at it from the other side, and see what kind of comments wash up this time.

Seth is definitely a man with a plan. He's got firm ideas about what he wants to do in office and he's laid it all out. The main points are:

He will fully staff the police department, add more officers, raise police salaries, and make police more visible on their beats.

He will leverage influence for Takoma Park in zoning and planning matters and set up a Takoma Development Commission that will be broadly representative. He will keep a close eye on development issues so we are not taken by surprise by any projects.

He will make sure the city staff follows policy and directions as mandated by the budget and the council. He'll keep spending within budget limits., and make sure the "sunshine law" to ensure government transparency is being met.

He will "aggressively but diplomatically" pursue getting a larger, fairer tax rebate from the county. He will determine whether the city can economize without compromising service by letting the county take over any city services. And he will promote eon comic development.

He's going to conduct a comprehensive survey to determine whether to spend the money to build a community gym.

He's going to expand the city recycling program and promote green building techniques.

He promises to be fair-minded, inclusive, visonary-yet-practical, and a host of other good things.

I have to say this is a refreshing change from Kathy's program, or lack of it. Kathy promises, in essence, more of the same. While she has accomplished some positive things in her terms: negotiated unification, preserved the fire house, made many useful contacts for the city in surrounding jurisdictions, brought in money for the community center (er, well, that gets tricky), she hasn't exactly been a firebrand, especially when it comes to aggressively checking development, promoting environmentalism, or watching the pursestrings. Many local activists are unhappy with Kathy because she keeps them at arm's length, doesn't support their causes, and at best sets up a committee to "study" their proposals. As a result, little happens.

This all makes Seth seem like the much needed change many residents have been hoping for - a credible candidate who not only looks capable of running the city but has some promising ideas and the apparent energy to implement them.

--Gilbert