Return to Sender: What do Aberdeen police have to do to get an RSVP from their mayor?

For the last three weeks, representatives of the Aberdeen Police Department and Municipal Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 128 have been trying to arrange a meeting with newly elected Mayor Mike Bennett.

In that time, at least two letters of invitation sent to Bennett from the FOP have been met with no response, yet the new mayor has found time to meet with Aberdeen’s auxiliary police department - a group in which Bennett’s unofficial and ultimately unsuccessful running mate Steve Johnson is a member.

What’s more, city police officers are now concerned about what they have been told will be the beginning of informal interviews this week conducted by members of Bennett’s 30-person transition team.

“The current concern is that we are not confident in some of the members of the transition team. We believe that there is a conflict of interest and we want to ensure we are represented fairly and accurately. Given the makeup of the team we requested the meeting to give the mayor the majority point of view,” said Aberdeen police officer and FOP Lodge 128 acting president David Swain. Continue reading Return to Sender: What do Aberdeen police have to do to get an RSVP from their mayor?

What a Difference a Day Makes

Some final thoughts and field notes on the 2007 Aberdeen Election:

I began the day throwing up in my car on the way to work (how’s that for full disclosure). I’d have taken the bout of sickness as an ill omen if I hadn’t made the same ineffective claim during the last Aberdeen election. In 2005 while campaigning for re-election in Park, Councilman Ron Kupferman was stung at least once by an infuriated yellow jacket. As he swatted at the fleeing insect, I mentioned it probably was something of an ill omen to be stung on Election Day. He agreed and promptly went on to be re-elected in two subsequent elections.

Continue reading What a Difference a Day Makes

Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

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. Bennett collected about 400 more votes than Simmons and 19-year-old challenger Nicole Burlew didn’t have the impact many hoped she might - bringing in fewer than 200 votes. Continue reading Simmons/Yensan Out, Bennett/Young In (Unofficial Aberdeen Election Results)

Aberdeen Candidate Class Superlatives

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:

Continue reading Aberdeen Candidate Class Superlatives

Why No One Cares About Bel Air Elections

Here we are with some big choices to be made on the eve of Election Day, or should I say, ‘Elections Day,’ plural, as there is of course a second local municipal contest being held Tuesday.

So why is it that there has scarcely been mention here on The Dagger of the Town of Bel Air election also being held Nov. 6?

We’ve been pondering why the Bel Air town elections always seem quite tepid when compared to the generally heated, dirty and heavily contested municipal races in Aberdeen and Havre de Grace. Continue reading Why No One Cares About Bel Air Elections

Trick or Treat?: A $15 Million Halloween Suit (UPDATED)

The Wetlands annexation group filed a $15 million defamation suit on Halloween Day against Art and Ann Helton, the New Harford Democratic Club and club president John Haggerty.

The suit stems from a flyer the Heltons and the Club allegedly designed and distributed prior to the December 2006 special election on the Wetlands Golf Course property annexation. The flyer purportedly asked residents to “Save Aberdeen” by voting against the Wetlands annexation and went on to claim annexation of the property would bring 7,800 townhouse units to the site, do away with the golf course, remove all open space and significantly increase crime in the area. Continue reading Trick or Treat?: A $15 Million Halloween Suit (UPDATED)

Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Like cigarettes, booze or Russian Roulette, it is almost assured that too much of a bad thing will kill you.

At least that’s the hope of Art Helton - political dinosaur, Democratic kingmaker and frequent target of opponents looking to tank the campaigns of candidates with whom he is associated.

Over the weekend, Helton was again the main character in the latest in a string of negative advertisements and vicious smear campaign tactics targeting the candidates he and the New Harford Democratic Club are supporting in the Nov. 6 Aberdeen municipal election. Continue reading Artfully Done: How To Win An Election The Wrong Way

Elliott’s (Post)Date With Destiny

Ruth Elliott, an incumbent Aberdeen City Councilwoman and former mayor, may have participated in election fraud this March when she allegedly had members of the city’s Board of Elections sign and back-date the official results of a special election held months prior.

Such election fraud, according to the city charter, is considered a misdemeanor and, if prosecuted and found guilty of such an offense, Elliott Ruth Elliottwould have to resign from office immediately upon conviction.

The disturbing details came out recently during depositions and testimony in the lawsuit filed against the City of Aberdeen by a group of annexation opponents.

Even more staggering than the revelation itself are its origins and implications. Continue reading Elliott’s (Post)Date With Destiny

Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

As of 9 o’clock this morning life is officially back to normal in Aberdeen.

Well, as normal as can be expected in a city where the gun-toting, airplane-flying mayor is being taken on by a 19-year-old college student, the best source of potable water is straight from the Bay and a Hall of Fame baseball player has nearly bankrupt the place.

Ignoring the advice of his lawyer and legal counsel, who still believe his case to be winnable, Steve Johnson, the would-be city council candidate who may or may not live in Aberdeen, has decided to officially abandon his quest to appear on the Nov. 6 election ballot.

That’s right, I said Nov. 6. Because of Johnson’s decision to withdraw his injunction, he believes the election can proceed as originally planned instead of being postponed until February 2008 or later.

“More important than my candidacy is for this election to go off on time,” Johnson said in an interview Sunday afternoon. Continue reading Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off

Show Me The Money

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 like the Matrix (hey, whatever happened to the city’s infamous Matrix anyway?!), the longer you stare at these lists, the better you’ll be able to see the true alignment of the candidates. More so than the color of a T-shirt or which side of the aisle they sit on in city hall, nothing tells the story of an election more than where the money is coming from. Continue reading Show Me The Money

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