With the election in the history books and dust from campaign season starting to settle, Aberdeen’s candidates have finally found the time to reflect on their victories, defeats, and futures.
After 6 years on the city council, Mike Hiob considered leaving elected office altogether, but some chance conversations (with Gov. Martin O’Malley, several prominent local elected officials, and his wife, Barb, among others) convinced him to go all-or-nothing – taking the chance of losing his council seat with a run for mayor.
Hiob was defeated by incumbent Mayor Mike Bennett by about 150 votes, but said he was not angry or upset by his loss. Even though he was disappointed with the results, Hiob is excited about the opportunities it will open up for spending more time with his family, completing long-overdue projects around the house, and strumming his guitar more frequently.
Here are Hiob’s farewell comments as read, with some additional improvisation, ...Continue Reading
With just a few days before Aberdeen voters go to the polls, the mayoral and city council candidates worked hard Wednesday night at the Candidates Night Forum to demonstrate why they would be the best choice to represent the city for the next two years.
Nine of the ten active candidates (all 3 mayoral candidates and 6 of the 7 running for city council) fielded 9 total questions generated by some of the approximately 100 people in attendance and The Dagger, which moderated the event.
Those 9 questions included:
1. Why are you running in this year’s election?
2. How would you position Aberdeen to reap the greatest benefit from BRAC?
3. What is your position on a hotel tax for Aberdeen? If you support it, how would you overcome opposition to the tax?
4. What is your opinion of the city’s current obligations under the Ripken Stadium contract?
5. What is your position on Aberdeen’s water ...Continue Reading
For those who are unable to attend the Aberdeen Mayor and City Council Candidates Night Forum tonight (Wednesday), or may just want to catch the action for the comfort of their own homes, The Dagger will be providing live video of the entire event.
The Dagger is hosting and moderating the forum, which is scheduled be begin at 7 p.m. at American Legion Post 128 in Aberdeen
Doors open at 6 p.m., and the forum will begin at 7 p.m. Questions will concern issues facing Aberdeen, and candidates’ answers will be limited to 90 to 120 seconds.
The forum is sponsored by the Harford County Municipal Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 128.
Whether you show up in person or tune in online, join this important discussion with less than a week remaining until the Tuesday, November 3 City of Aberdeen election.
Interview with Aberdeen Mayoral Candidate/City Council President Mike Hiob:
As part of The Dagger’s coverage of the City of Aberdeen’s municipal election on Nov. 3, the following questions were presented to each candidate for mayor and city council.
The five questions (bolded and boxed) were chosen to generate discussion on specific topics. The candidates’ answers have been included verbatim as received by email or reported following an interview.
1) If you are unsuccessful in your re-election bid and never return to office, what will your legacy be? How do you want to be remembered?
1.) First of all, I intend to succeed. Either way, I would prefer my legacy (that’s a strong word) to be that “Mike Hiob was a Councilman that had the courage to make decisions that were always in the best interest of the City…..NOT looking toward the next election”. In other words, leave with my integrity untainted.
All told, the 10 candidates for Aberdeen mayor and city council have raised nearly $22,000 in campaign contributions, but more than half of that total has been raised by incumbent city council president/mayor candidate Mike Hiob alone.
Hiob’s mayoral campaign has brought in $11,000. The other 9 candidates (2 for mayor and 7 for city council) have raised a combined $10,800 among them – Mayor Mike Bennett ($3,989), mayoral candidate Barbara Kreamer ($525), councilwoman Ruth Elliott ($1,568), council candidate Bruce Garner ($100), councilman Ron Kupferman ($0), council candidate Sandy Landbeck ($3,485), council candidate Trudie Norman ($0), council candidate Zenobia Todd ($75), and councilwoman Ruth Ann Young ($1,157).
Following Hiob’s massive war chest, the next largest campaign account is that of the incumbent mayor Bennett with $3,989, with council candidate Landbeck only $500 behind with $3,485 in her account.
Here are the campaign finance totals – amount raised, amount spent, and amount remaining – ...Continue Reading
With the late addition Monday of two new city council challengers, Trudie Norman and Zenobia Todd, the ballot for Aberdeen’s November 3 municipal election has swelled to 10 candidates – 3 vying for mayor and now 7 for city council.
The race for mayor pits incumbent Mayor Michael E. Bennett against incumbent city council president Michael G. Hiob and former state delegate and county councilwoman Barbara Osborn Kreamer.
In the 7-way race for the 4 seats on the Aberdeen City Council, incumbent city council members Ruth E. Elliott, Ruth Ann Young and Ronald Kupferman face opposition from local businessman Bruce E. Garner, longtime city planning and zoning commissioner Sandra J. Landbeck, and now Trudie Norman and Zenobia Todd.
The City of Aberdeen Municipal Election will be held Tuesday, November 3, 2009 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Aberdeen Senior Center on Franklin Street.
From the Harford County Municipal Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge 128:
Aberdeen, MD – On Wednesday, September 16, 2009 members of our lodge voted to endorse Mayoral candidate Michael G. Hiob and Council candidate Sandra Landbeck in the November 3, 2009 Aberdeen City municipal election.
In a letter to Mayoral candidate Michael Hiob, Vice President Jason Neidig acknowledged the following reasons for the endorsement: “In your six years experience as a Council member, you have been through the good and the bad. You are dedicated to the citizens and employees, your willingness to listen and compromise, your fairness but not selfishness, your taking responsibility for actions even when wrong, and your courage to stand up for what’s right and not what’s popular has earned the respect of this lodge and its members.”
In a letter to Council candidate Sandy Landbeck, Neidig wrote: “Our membership believes that you will ...Continue Reading
Local businessman Bruce Garner has joined Sandy Landbeck and incumbents Ruth Elliott, Ron Kupferman, and Ruth Ann Young this week in the growing race to fill Aberdeen’s four city council seats.
Garner finished 7th out of 10 candidates and garnered (!) roughly 700 votes in his bid for city council two years ago.
Elliott was the leading vote-getter in that 2007 city council race, followed by Kupferman, Mike Hiob (who will forego reelection in a bid for the mayor’s office), and Young.
For as hotly contested as the November 3 municipal election in Aberdeen is expected to be, the candidates have been slow to trickle into the race.
As of Thursday afternoon, only two people had filed their certificates of candidacy – Aberdeen City Council President Michael G. Hiob filed his certificate for Mayor and longtime City Planning Commission member Sandra J. Landbeck filed her certificate for City Council. Both certificates have been approved by the Aberdeen Election Board.
While no other candidates, including incumbents, have officially been approved to participate in the election, it doesn’t mean they haven’t yet filed their certificates, which require approval by the Aberdeen Election Board.
In fact, although he has not yet been recognized as an approved candidate, incumbent Mayor Mike Bennett is already fundraising for re-election.
The following Bennett fundraising announcement was sent out Wednesday by Art Helton, who recently aborted his own campaign for state senate:
In advance of the City of Aberdeen’s November 3 municipal election, the New Harford Democratic Club is imploring its members to attend Wednesday night’s meeting to vote on which mayoral candidate the club will endorse – incumbent mayor Mike Bennett or current city council president Mike Hiob.
Aside from the fact that municipal elections are nonpartisan (although Bennett and Hiob are both Democrats, no party affiliation will appear next to the names of any candidates on the Aberdeen election ballot), the New Harford Democratic Club is also creating a stir because it will be voting to endorse a candidate several days before candidates can even begin to file to run for office.
The New Harford Democratic Club will hold its meeting and endorsement vote on September 2, but the City of Aberdeen’s candidate filing period extends from September 5 through October 3.
So what if the man the New Harford Democratic Club votes ...Continue Reading
