As reported in my previous post, a coalition of unions as well as progressive and democratic groups calling themselves “One Gaithersburg” has been active in the campaign for three City Council seats. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say about this, as it is obviously a significant development, and it has stirred up a fair amount of heat. Maryland Politics Watch, for example, has had a bunch of recent posts on the election, several of them discussing One Gaithersburg and its mass-mailings; some have had active discussions in the comments. MoCoProgressive has also come out of retirement to weigh in on the controversy.
From what I’ve seen and heard, one thing that seems to be getting people the most upset is the involvement of County-, State- and Federal-level politicians in this effort. County Executive Ike Leggett lent his picture and his words to the most recent mailing, and listed supporters include County Council members, County Board of Education members, the Maryland Secretary of Labor and even a US Congressman. This is, to my knowledge, unprecedented in a Gaithersburg City Council race, and I think that it is arguable whether it is appropriate. In parallel to this, I note the corresponding lack of support for the slate from Gaithersburg politicians or higher-level politicians from Gaithersburg. For example, neither Phil Andrews nor anyone from the District 17 delegation have endorsed the slate. While the Mayor and two of the three departing City Council members have endorsed Ryan Spiegel individually, none of them have lent their name to the One Gaithersburg effort. [As previously reported, The Mayor and the two continuing Council members are endorsing two candidates not on the One Gaithersburg slate.]
Personally, I think this involvement of outside groups in Gaithersburg politics is quite unfortunate, in large part because, up until now, Council campaigns could be run for an amount of money that could generally be raised from a reasonable number of supporters of each individual candidate. Gaithersburg has, for good reason, a $500 limit on contributions, and no provision for the funneling of large sums of money through political action committees. Historically, in Gaithersburg politics, money has generally been less important than an understanding of local issues and volunteer effort. I am very concerned that this may have changed permanently.