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From the City’s website:

Mayor, Council Seek Comment on Charge of Elections Ordinance Review Committee
Posted 3/20/2008

Concerns stemming from the November, 2007 City of Gaithersburg election have led the Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council to consider the formation of an Ad Hoc Elections Ordinance Review Committee.  City staff was directed to outline the charge of the committee, which includes:  Reviewing the election ordinances and campaign financing mechanisms of other jurisdictions to identify best practices; consulting with legal counsel and developing draft amendments to the election ordinance including possible changes to campaign contribution limitations and reporting requirements; and providing any other recommendations concerning the City’s elections process that the committee deems appropriate.  The election ordinance was last updated in 1998.

The Mayor and Council will accept public comment on the charge of the committee at its regular meeting on Monday, April 7, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.  For more information please contact Assistant City Manager Fred Felton at 301-258-6310 or cityhall@gaithersburgmd.gov.

• Draft charge of the Ad Hoc Elections Ordinance Review Committee (pdf)

The interesting parts of that PDF read:

DRAFT

RESOLUTION NO. ________

RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A CITY OF GAITHERSBURG
AD HOC ELECTIONS ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE AND CONFIRMING APPOINTMENTS MADE BY THE MAYOR OF THE
CITY OF GAITHERSBURG THERETO

WHEREAS, the City of Gaithersburg’s Election Ordinance has not been updated since 1998; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Elections received a series of complaints associated with campaign finance and reporting issues related to the November 6, 2007 Election; and

WHEREAS, the Board of Supervisors of Elections has recommended that the Elections Ordinance be amended to eliminate ambiguous provisions and clarify appropriate public policy; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council desire to develop and adopt amendments to the Elections Ordinance that are transparent and equitable, and that will promote public confidence in the election process:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that an Ad Hoc Elections Ordinance Review Committee is hereby established, and appointments by the Mayor of members thereto be and they hereby are confirmed by the City Council as follows:

Appointments

To Be Determined

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the charge of this committee shall be to:

A. Review the Election Ordinances and Campaign Financing Mechanisms and their Regulation by other jurisdictions to identify best practices;

B. Consult with legal counsel and develop draft amendments to the Election Ordinance including possible changes to campaign contribution limitations and reporting requirements;

C. Provide any other recommendations concerning the City’s elections process that the committee deems appropriate.

From the City’s website:

Board of Supervisors of Elections Issues Memorandum & Opinion
Posted 2/22/2008

The City of Gaithersburg Board of Supervisors of Elections has released its Memorandum & Opinion of the Board of Supervisors of Elections of the City of Gaithersburg concerning a series of complaints that were filed in connection with the November 6, 2007 City election. While the unanimous decision found there were no violations of City election laws, the Board did conclude there were reasonable grounds to believe that three Political Action Committees made contributions to City candidates in violation of State election law. Accordingly, this issue has been referred to the Maryland State Board of Elections and the State Prosecutor’s office for review. In addition, the Board has asked the Unites States Postmaster General to investigate allegations that certain campaign brochures were mailed to City voters using the non-profit postage rate.

During the course of the investigation, the Board determined that the current City campaign finance laws are outdated and inadequate and has recommended that the Mayor and City Council consider amending these laws prior to the next City election scheduled for November, 2009.

Complete Memorandum & Opinion

For more information please contact Board Staff Liaison Fred Felton at ffelton@gaithersburgmd.gov or 301-258-6310.

Steve Hendrix writes in the Montgomery Extra section of today’s Post:

Neither of the mayors of Rockville and Gaithersburg was on the ballot last week, but Nov. 6 proved to be a winning day for both: Most of the candidates they endorsed in nonpartisan races were elected, and those they campaigned against were defeated. As a result, political observers say, neither city is likely to have a significant departure from recent policies and governing styles.

Katz and Drzyzgula said the efforts from outside of the city, which included endorsements and automated calls to voters from Leggett and other Maryland politicians, may have backfired. Both attributed the record high turnout in part to a sense of affront by some residents who resented what they saw as meddling.

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 (with help from Meghan Tierney) write in the Gazette, Drzyzgula, Ashman and Spiegel claim seats:

The unprecedented efforts of a regional coalition to influence the outcome of the Gaithersburg City Council election appeared to fall short Tuesday as only a single One Gaithersburg candidate won office.

Cathy Drzyzgula, Jud Ashman and Ryan Spiegel claimed decisive victories in the election, which drew an historic voter turnout for a city race. With 3,562 ballots cast, a record 14.6 percent of the city’s registered voters made their way to the polls.

Rosalind S. Helderman and Ann E. Marimow write in the Post, At the Polls, a Mostly Smooth Day:

…voters in Gaithersburg rejected two of three city council candidates who were backed by a coalition including labor union groups and the liberal advocacy organization Progressive Maryland, as well as Montgomery’s county executive.

Instead, voters selected two candidates who were endorsed by the city’s longtime mayor and had a history of activism: Jud Ashman, a schools advocate, and Cathy C. Drzyzgula, who had served on the city’s day-laborer task force. Attorney Ryan Spiegel, who was endorsed by the mayor and the coalition, was also elected.

From the City’s website:

Unofficial Results Indicate Ashman, Drzyzgula and Spiegel Elected to Gaithersburg City Council
Posted 11/6/2007

Based on unofficial results Jud Ashman, Cathy Drzyzgula and Ryan Spiegel have been elected to the Gaithersburg City Council during elections held at six polling sites on Tuesday, November 6, 2007. The results are expected to be certified on Wednesday, November 7, and the newly-elected officials will be sworn in at a special meeting that same evening. They will each serve a four year term.

3,562 voters cast ballots out of 24,461 registered voters, or 14.5%. Voter turnout in the 2005 City of Gaithersburg election was 9.6%.

Cathy Drzyzgula received 2,418 votes (or 68% of those voting); Jud Ashman received 2,241votes (63%) and Ryan Spiegel received 2,000 votes (56%). Also running for City Council were Ahmed Ali, who received 917 votes (26%), Shawn Ali, who received 460 votes (13%), Wilson Lee Faris, who received 982 votes (28%), and Carlos Solis, who received 993 votes (28%). These results are unofficial until certified by the Board of Supervisors of Elections on November 7.

City Council candidates must be qualified voters in the City at the time of the election and must be City residents immediately preceding their election. They must also reside in Gaithersburg during their term in office. All of the newly-elected officials meet these requirements.

For more information please contact the City Manager’s Office at 301-258-6310 or cityhall@gaithersburgmd.gov.

This is a critical election! Three new council members — a majority of the Council — will be chosen. If you live within the City limits and you have voted here in any recent City, County, State or Federal election, you should be registered to vote in this election. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Visit the City’s Election Page for more information. Seriously, GO VOTE!

City Polling Places

• City Hall - GA01
  
• Izaak Walton League- GA02
  
• Kentlands - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - GA03
  
• Villa Ridge Community Room - GA04
  
• Potomac Oaks Clubhouse - GA05
  
• Asbury Methodist Village - GA06

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.”

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.

In an online update story, Sebastian Montes and Patricia Murret write:

A coalition of labor unions and immigrant advocates called One Gaithersburg is making an unprecedented last-minute push to get voters to the polls for Gaithersburg’s City Council election on Tuesday.

The group, which draws the majority of its membership from outside the city, is campaigning for three candidates they say represent a chance to bring the city together under an inclusive and tolerant message — one more friendly to immigrants.

The attempt of organizations based outside Gaithersburg to influence the city election is unprecedented, said Assistant City Manager Fred Felton. In all past elections, groups supporting and spending funds on behalf of candidates have been directly affiliated with candidates, he said.

Campaign finance reports filed thus far do not show any contributions to the three candidate’s campaigns from One Gaithersburg or its member groups.