gaithersblog.net

The City has published the final vote tallies for the 2007 City Council Election. Since the results by polling place are in a PDF, I transcribed the vote counts into a table, below. For each polling place as well as for the absentee and provisional ballots and the overall totals, I have highlighted the first place (in green), second place (in cyan [blue]) and third place (in yellow) vote counts. I had to do the bulk of this by hand, so if anyone spots any errors, please let me know. Note that the City’s PDF also gives percentages and a nice bar chart. Since this was a “vote for up to three” election, the number of votes cast is generally a little less than three times the number of ballots cast; not everyone voted for three candidates.

• Patricia M. Murret writes, Campaign coalition intends to stay vocal:
  

  “It’s clear the vote on Election Day reflected the interests of a majority of voters,” said Jon Gerson of Derwood, a key organizer of One Gaithersburg. “The question is whether that vote reflected the majority of residents.”

  One Gaithersburg listed a number of member groups on its campaign literature and Web site, including regional labor unions and immigrant advocacy groups, but Gerson said the coalition is not a political action committee because it has no bank account or treasurer.

  Never before in Gaithersburg have outside interests infused so much money and effort into a city election, said Assistant City Manager Fred Felton. The city’s current election laws do not adequately address such sophisticated campaign spending and list no specific requirement for political action committees to file financial disclosures, he said.

• Contessa Crisostomo writes, Police investigate shooting at Shady Grove Metro station:
  

  Investigators are searching for two males responsible for shooting two young men at the Shady Grove Metro station Monday night. and say the incident might be related to two stabbings near Lakeforest mall last week.

• Meghan Tierney writes, Lakeforest bus stop gets more police:
  

  As commuters worry about their safety, police have boosted patrols around the Lakeforest Transit Center following two gang-related stabbings there last week that resulted in one death.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Former fair worker guilty of asking minor for sex:
  

  A former concession worker at the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair was convicted last week of soliciting sex from a minor after a two-day jury trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Plea deal arranged in fatal hit-and-run:
  

  County prosecutors are seeking a pre-indictment plea agreement with the hit-and-run driver of the BMW that allegedly struck and killed a 17-year-old Gaithersburg boy on Redland Road nearly four months ago.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Humpton takes the helm in Montgomery Village:
  

  Two weeks on the job, David Humpton is re-energized in his post as the Montgomery Village Foundation’s top administrator, where he’ll steer the Village through a bevy of issues — some drastically different and some fundamentally parallel to the challenges he faced in his 12 years as Gaithersburg’s City Manager.

• Sebastian Montes writes, Domestic abuse to be addressed anew:
  

  Those who man the hot line phones know what to expect on Sundays during football season. They aren’t surprised by the volume of calls from women whose husbands and boyfriends — unhappy with the outcome of games — have become abusive.