All city council seats contested

Fifteen city residents, including a graduate student, are officially running for seats on the College Park City Council, contesting each of the city's four districts for the first time in decades.

Contested races tend to lead to a higher voter interest in city elections, candidates have said, and turnover on the council could change the city's position on public safety, taxation, development and other issues that affect students.

However, as in each of the city's biennial elections in the last 20 years, there is only one candidate for mayor. District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook had expressed interest in running, but said last week she would instead try to retain her council seat, and no one else registered to challenge former District 3 Councilman Andy Fellows before the city's deadline of last Friday.

Fellows attributed the lack of opposition to the difficulty of gathering citywide support, other potential candidates being intimidated by how early he had announced his candidacy — before the 2006 election — and a lack of disagreement over his plans for running the city. Cook had said her decision was based upon College Park's form of government in which mayors vote only to break ties in council agenda items.

The promise of undergraduate student candidates was also unrealized when potential volunteers lined up by the Student Government Association decided against the commitment of a council bid. Marcus Afzali, the only graduate student running, has said he is not running as a "student candidate" in his District 4 race.

On the council, two representatives are elected from each district and each voter makes two choices, so a race is only contested when there are three or more candidates. Districts 2 and 3, central and southeast College Park, respectively, each have three candidates; District 4, western College Park, has four; and District 1, northern College Park, has five.

In the 2006 election, 11 candidates led to contested races in just two districts — 1 and 2 — and that was a year when three of the eight council seats were vacant. All but one council member is seeking another two-year term this fall.

Also, while four-term mayor Steve Brayman is stepping down after this year, only Fellows, who was on the council from 2002 through 2007, applied to take his place, effectively making him the next mayor of College Park.

Depending on the outcomes of the November election, as much as 75 percent of the council — plus the mayor — could turn over when the new terms begin in January.

"It's sort of a problem, I think," said Bob Catlin, who has been a District 2 Councilman since 1997. "There is a significant learning curve, and it's nice to have people around who really understand the issues."

Several other incumbents have said they are always happy to see greater citizen interest in the city council, and they said an exciting election is more likely to draw voters and raise awareness of key issues.

"I guess to at least a small extent, it's always good to have a contested race," Catlin conceded.

If every incumbent retains his or her seat, however, only Fellows and a replacement for outgoing District 1 Councilman Jonathan Molinatto would be new to the council, and Fellows has past experience working with the body as a council member.

But ultimately, Catlin said, the outcome of the election is not likely to have any immediate effect on "the direction" of College Park, as any new members would likely take time to learn the basics of what's happening in the city and how the council works before they could have a major policy impact.

Catlin also said he doubted changing mayors from Brayman to Fellows would have a major impact, despite what he described as their different leadership styles.

"I try to be more of a consensus person, and so is Andy Fellows," Catlin said. "The mayor [Brayman] will take an idea and run with it, even if he didn't necessarily have everyone behind him."

Fellows agreed with that assessment.

"The mayor shouldn't work to control the council," he said. "It's more that the mayor should be working to ensure that the council's agenda advances and makes sense."

What that agenda is, he said, will vary based on which of the 15 council candidates become the eight members of his council.

bholt@umdbk.com