And Then There Were Five
HACA Mayoral Debate Well Attended
There were probably between 100 and 200 people in attendance at last night’s Annapolis Mayoral debate (sponsored by The Housing Authority of City of Annapolis, HACA) held at the Eastport Community Center.
The evening started off with a moment of silence for Annapolis City Firefigfhter John P. Smith who passed away Tuesday after a battle with cancer. Firefighter Smith had served the City since 2000.
In line up (in alphabetical order) was to include Josh Cohen (D), Dave Cordle (R), Frank Flyntz (R), Chris Fox (I), Trudy McFall (D), Zina Pierre (D), Gilbert Renaut (D), Laurie Sears-Deppa (D), Sam Shropshire (D), and Wayne Taylor (D). However, Frank Flyntz was a no-show.
As to the debate itself, while some of the candidates were well prepared and ready to tackle the questions thrown their way; many seemed as if they had just wandered into the room and happened to grab the wrong seat.
It has been said that first impressions count. If true, last night’s debate decidedly narrowed the field from 10 to five, and possibly four. As is our policy, we will not be putting forward any commentary on a candidate’s performance, nor will there be any endorsements. Although there will be plenty of other resources you can turn to for that information. For more information on ny of the candidates or to contact them directly, please click on the links above which will take you directly to their websites.
Were you there? What did you think? Please comment!
NOTE: It appears that Frank Flyntz’s website has been taken down. We will try to confirm if he has withdrawn from the race.
Category: POLITICAL NEWS
I was there and all of them have a lot of work to do to get my vote! You could tell that most were very uncomfortable being in a public housing complex.
Its a shame there are so many running for mayor and each has their group of cronies voting for them so once again it is nothing to do with qualification but all to do with how many friends they can convince to come out and pull the levers for them.
There are no cronies in an Independent political party
Why is Wayne Taylor running his campaign out of a pawnshop? Sounds fishy if you ask me!
Trudy was easily the most knowledgeable concerning this issue and also was the only candidate who appeared comfortable. Who was came out having made an impression? McFall definitely, and after that, to a lesser degree, Cohen and Fox, though Cohen appeared to be confused and at times completely out of it. It’s worth mentioning though that Fox has no clue what he is talking about when it comes to housing in Annapolis, the things he talks about doing are not even remotely possible. Look at his website – he clearly has no experience dealing with federal programs or regulatory agencies (HUD), or civil rights (ACLU). Zina Pierre had some support in the crowd also, though after watching her speak lately, it’s hard to believe that she has made a career in politics, in DC with the Clintons no less.
It may be better that Fox has not dealt with the Feds…! It’s high time the taxpayers, not the people on the dole get a break. Go City Manager, Go Tax Cap. Everyone can not live in Annapolis, regardless of the utopia the “elite” politicians live in. Go Fox… Mayor as of December 2009
It’s not better. It puts The City and a lot of the city’s federally funded programs at risk.
It’s true The City would be at risk, but federally funded programs would be the least of its worries. There aren’t that many at the City level anyways, just housing and a few grants that I can think of. Not sure Annapolis needs a mayor with no government experience to speak off.
Federally funded properties means zippy property tax dollars. 20-25% of the property in A-Town is tax exempt. It’s high time taxpayers get a BREAK!
There is no entitlement to live in Annapolis. There are other places in this county much,much more affordable.