Below are audio interviews originally published by The Maryland Crabs Podcast (go on and subscribe) with the Aldermanic Candidates for the upcoming City of Annapolis primary election.
We reached out to all 18 candidates and all but one, Larry Claussen a Republican in Ward 1, responded. We fanned out across the City, usually meeting at a local business, and each candidate was presented with essentially the same questions in order to allow listeners to compare the candidates apples-to-apples. There was no pre-set time limit, so some are fairly brief and others are somewhat long. We have also included links to their campaign websites and social media pages where available. You can read the questions below.
A note on recording and editing: These interviews were conducted all over the City. Some were in homes, many were in coffee shops. Many will have some background noise that we tried to mitigate as best as possible. The interviews are presented as they happened. Long pauses, coughs, passing loud cars, very loud background noise, and excessive “uhms” have been removed to keep it relatively listenable. A note on the release schedule for these podcasts. There is nothing nefarious–We started with Ward 1 and worked through Ward 8. Within each ward, the candidates are listed alphabetically by their last name.
If you missed the Mayoral Forum we hosted in June, you can catch it here.
And in the upcoming weeks, The Maryland Crabs will have hour-long interviews with all of the Mayoral candidates leading into the primary.
As usual, we will not endorse any candidate in this election; however we will be publishing an editorial about our best guesses for the results and our reasoning. Stay tuned.
WARD 1
Alderman Joe Budge (Incumbent | Democrat)
- Website
- Recorded at : The Commons
Larry Claussen (Republican)
- No Response
Elly Tierney (Democrat)
- Website
- Recorded at: City Dock Coffee (Sorry about the background noise. Lesson learned)
WARD 2
Alderman Fred Paone (Incumbent | Republican)
- Recorded at : The Commons
Kurt Riegel (Democrat)
- Website
- Recorded at: The Commons
WARD 3 (No Challenger)
Alderwoman Rhonda Pindell-Charles (Incumbent | Democrat)
- Website
- Recorded at : Ceremony Roasters
WARD 4
Toni Strong-Pratt (Democrat)
- Recorded at: Residence
WARD 5 (Vacant Seat)
James Appel (Republican)
- Website
- Recorded at : Ahh Coffee
WARD 6 (Vacant Seat)
DaJuan Gay (Democrat)
- Recorded at : The Key School
Shaneka Henson (Democrat)
- Recorded at: Panera Bread
WARD 7 (Vacant Seat)
WARD 8
Alderman Ross Arnett (Incumbent | Democrat)
- Website
- Recorded at : Ahh Coffee
Julie Mussog (Republican)
- Website
- Recorded at : Carrol’s Creek Café (Interrupted by rain storm for last 10 minutes. Sorry!)
Questions
- Specifically what is the single most pressing issue facing the ward?
- Likewise, what is the single most pressing issue facing the city?
- Where do you stand on development?
- How will you go about working together with a mayor or councilmembers that are of the opposite party?
- What has this present council and Mayor done that you would have done differently?
- The city needs money. How do you get it? Borrow more? Raise Taxes? Cut Services?
- How many hours are you prepared to contribute to this position weekly?
- How do you plan to keep your constituents up to date on what’s happening in the ward or city, your thoughts etc.?
- Many have said there are two Annapolis’s. How can we move toward “one Annapolis”?
- So, about you. Why are you running? What are your qualifications?
- Where can we learn more?
