The Gazette has posted two more election-related articles today. The first is by Patricia M. Murret, Gaithersburg logs four campaign spending complaints:
Four complaints about campaign spending and reporting have been filed with the Board of Supervisors of Elections since Thursday, and Assistant City Manager Fred Felton said he expects the board will be reviewing reporting requirements in the wake of this year’s election.
The complainants — Olde Towne residents Michael Stumborg and Edward Richley and Kentlands resident Richard Arkin — allege the PAC is spending more than the $500 per candidate allowed. They also allege that candidates endorsed by the group have not listed the PAC’s contributions on their own financial disclosure forms.
And also over the weekend, city staff removed roughly 100 signs — endorsing the three One Gaithersburg candidates — illegally placed along roadways, Felton said.
Some were removed by city staff only to reappear the next day, he said.
The second article is by Sebastian Montes and Patricia M. Murret, Gaithersburg readies for higher voter turnout:
Gaithersburg officials have ordered an additional 1,000 ballots for Tuesday’s City Council election in the face of an unprecedented effort to boost voter turnout, particularly among immigrants and service workers.
A coalition of labor and immigrant groups that have had little, if any, previous interest in city politics has poured money and energy into drawing 1,000 more voters to the polls.
Still, not everyone agrees that One Gaithersburg is playing a positive role or helping to bring all city residents together.
Kentlands resident Richard Arkin has filed a complaint with the city’s Board of Supervisors of Elections in which he states that having outside parties involved in the Gaithersburg election ‘‘poses a grave threat to our city.”
Candidate Drzyzgula, who was a member of a city task force that studied the mostly immigrant and highly emotional issue of day laborers and whether there should be an employment center for them in the city, said: ‘‘I think that Gaithersburg was divided earlier by outside groups trying to tell the city what to do, and if outside groups continue to do that, it will be divisive not uniting.”
Mayor Sidney A. Katz said Monday that he finds it ‘‘strange” that outside influences are attempting to sway” the city’s election. ‘‘I believe that at the end of the day the people who are voting in the City of Gaithersburg are going to vote for the people that they believe have the most knowledge and will do the best job for the city.”