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 City Councilman Ron Kupferman:
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?
“I also enjoy being a city councilman and helping the city go in the right direction because, you know, I think we’re at a crossroads.”
“They’re gonna say he was mayor for 5 terms and always had the city at the forefront of decisions being made. I think a large part of the electorate would think I’ve done a darned good job.”
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.
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.
On Monday, August 12th, the Aberdeen City Council voted to impose “draconian” standards for future townhouse development. The Planning and Zoning Commission began working on this ordinance in late 2006, but was told that it would not get past the City Council as the three needed votes would not be there.
More than 2,500 Aberdeen voters cast a ballot Tuesday, a greater number than participated in the record-setting pace of the December 2006 special election, flushing Mayor S. Fred Simmons and his right-hand man Councilman Dave Yensan out of office and ushering in a new era for the city with Mike Bennett as mayor and first-time candidate Ruth Ann Young joining incumbents Ruth Elliott, Ron Kupferman and Mike Hiob on the council.
With just 68 absentee ballots left to count Tuesday night and an undisclosed number of provisional votes to be tallied Thursday morning, the results of the 2007 Aberdeen municipal election are unlikely to change.
Elliott, who considered running for mayor herself about a year ago, garnered 150 more votes than Bennett, even though she ran in a field of 10 from which voters could select 4 candidates. ...Continue Reading
In less than 24 hours, the polls will open in Aberdeen and a revolution will be underway to sweep clean City Hall…or voters will show their support for the direction the city has been moving the last two years and return the incumbents to office.
Either way, The Dagger couldn’t pass up a final chance to poke and prod the curious collection of characters that made up this year’s candidate class. Without further ado, we present the 2007 Aberdeen Election Candidate Class Superlatives:
The 13 Aberdeen candidates for mayor and city council have raised more than $40,000 among them, but more than two-thirds of those funds are found in the campaign war chests of just two people – Mayor S. Fred Simmons and incumbent councilman David Yensan.
The duo, which campaigned together two years ago when they were both elected for the first time, has raised more than twice as much money as the other 11 candidates for mayor and city council combined.
Unsurprisingly, Simmons and Yensan, who have been joined at the hip both politically and in their city voting records, share nearly identical campaign finance reports, which show thousands of dollars being donated by entities and individuals with vested interests in the mayor and his right-hand man staying on board for another term.
Get familiar with some of these campaign contributors and political donors. Their names will pop up time and time again. Just ...Continue Reading
flushing Mayor S. Fred Simmons and his right-hand man Councilman Dave Yensan out of office and ushering in a new era for the city with Mike Bennett as mayor and first-time candidate Ruth Ann Young joining incumbents Ruth Elliott, Ron Kupferman and Mike Hiob on the council.
