Havre de Grace residents will have some tough choices to make in the upcoming city election on May 3, with an unusually strong field of seven candidates vying for three seats on the City Council.
Each of the seven candidates brings attributes that would make for a good council member. Our one regret is that other than age, this field is utterly lacking in diversity. There are no women candidates, no African-American candidates, in short zero minority candidates. This does not bear any relationship to the diversity of the Havre de Grace community, which is unfortunate.
Among the seven council candidates, three have a wealth of experience, including incumbent council members David Glenn and Stephen Gamatoria and former long-time council member and mayor John P. Correri Jr. The third incumbent running, Councilman Michael Hitchings, was appointed to the council last spring by Mayor Bill Martin to fill the seat Martin vacated upon being elected mayor.
Also in the field are Johnny Boker, Robert Robinson and Jason Robertson. Boker and Robinson have run previously for city council, while Robinson is a first-time candidate.
All things being equal, we recommend that city voters stick with the incumbents, Gamatoria, Glenn and Hitchings. If one or more of the other four candidates stood head and shoulders above the incumbents in ability or promise, then we would certainly feel otherwise, but that isn't the case.
Gamatoria and Glenn have demonstrated a good grasp of the issues facing the city, including its financial problems, and Hitchings, in his short time on the council, has justified the mayor's confidence in appointing him.
There's still a lot of work to be done at City Hall, and we believe city residents will be best served by having all three incumbents – Stephen Gamatoria, David Glenn and Michael Hitchings – return to the City Council for two more years.
Bond issues
Havre de Grace voters also are being asked to vote for or against two planned city bond issues, one for $2.1 million to pay for the remainder of the Opera House restoration project and the other for $2.4 million to upgrade the water treatment plant.
In this easy money era of record low interest rates, there's probably never going to be a better time for Havre de Grace to borrow; however, $4.5 million is a big nut for the city to take on when its overall financial position is weak.
While we certainly support the Opera House project as it was originally sold to the public as an arts venue, the mayor's recent comments that it will make a fine future community center have to make us question why the city needs another community gathering place, when it already has two facilities built for that express purpose?
As a historic building, the Opera House needs to be preserved and the project is underway and, unfortunately, under-funded. Voters probably have little choice than to approve the bond issue, but it seems a bit backhanded to be doing so at this point.
With regard to the water plant, we don't question the need for upgrades or even the mayor's belief that the city could one day become a seller of water to other jurisdictions, particularly Harford County. Martin wants to be ready for the day the local building economy revives, if it ever does.
This year is not the time, however, for Havre de Grace to take on additional water and sewer debt when it still can't meet its revenue needs to operate the system and retire existing debt comfortably. It would be better to give Martin's water and sewer surcharge another year to generate much-needed revenue, then borrow. Voters should reject this bond issue.
On Election Day, May 3, ballots can be cast from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Patrick Hall in the 600 block of Pennington Avenue between Stokes and Juniata streets. We urge all city residents to vote.