All 11 candidates for the Bel Air Board of Commissioners cite traffic problems as one of the key issues facing the five-member board.
The extension of Route 22 west through Howard Park to Bolton Street -- proposed in the town's 1968 comprehensive plan but never implemented -- has been a controversial topic for years. Also, the proposed extension of MacPhail Road from Route 924 to Route 24 looms as a threat to dividing the Homestead-Wakefield school property.
The Route 22 project was put on hold recently by town planners after the State Highway Administration said it lacked funds to maintain the road.
That decision may have defused a controversy, but it did not reduce traffic, and most of those who hope to be elected say heavy traffic remains a critical issue in the town.
The candidates also cite economic development in the downtown area and the revitalization of Main and Bond streets -- both long-standing concerns of the board of commissioners -- as priorities, along with improving relations with the county and state.
The Bel Air commissioners serve four-year terms, which are staggered. One of the available seats is held by Susan McComas, an eight-year commissioner seeking re-election. A second is filled by Eugene Graybeal, who is not running for a second term.
The third seat is that of Stephen Burdette, appointed in January to replace Mark Decker, who was elected to the Harford County Council. By law, anyone appointed to the board must run in the next municipal election to remain in office.
Here is a look at each of the candidates for the board of commissioners. The election is March 14.
STEPHEN C. BURDETTE
* Age: 42.
* Occupation: architect with Anshen & Allen, Baltimore.
* Resident of Major's Choice.
* Member of Bel Air Community Development Commission; pasmember of Bel Air Historic District Commission.
Mr. Burdette wants to update the town's comprehensive plan by 1996, in cooperation with county and town planners. "Development is going to happen, and the best thing we can do is properly plan for it and try to have a vision for what we want Bel Air to be," he said.
He would like more cultural enrichment on Main and Bond streets, provided through the arts and more creative retail establishments. He also wants to preserve the historical aspects of downtown buildings.
"The character of Bel Air is to be found on Main Street, and I want to see us bring life to it. Right now it's a 9-to-5 area."
DAVID CAREY
* Age: 30.
* Occupation: attorney with Brown, Brown & Brown, Bel Air.
* Resident of English Country Manor.
* Vice president of Bel Air Community Development Commission; former member of Harford County Futures Commission and English Country Manor board of directors.
Mr. Carey says the commission needs to "take more of a leadership role" in solving traffic and other infrastructure problems by "getting the state, county and town together."
"Traffic congestion is already impeding the orderly economic development of the town, and threatens to destroy its small-town character," he says. "I don't have a specific solution. Deciding where to build a Bel Air beltway is beyond my expertise. But a solution is something we need to look for."
He does not advocate annexing residential areas "because the property tax is offset by the services required." He also is concerned about the future of Main Street.
"If we want it to be more than lawyers and accountants, if we want it to be more retail-oriented, we need to put together a vision for it. We shouldn't sit idly by as the stores on Main Street become offices."
ROBERT CASSILLY
* Age: 69.
* Occupation: Retired from civilian research and development position at Aberdeen Proving Ground. Teaches science part time for the Military Youth Corps, a federal program that helps high school dropouts get equivalency degrees.
* Resident of northern Bel Air.
* Member, North Bel Air Civic Association, Veterans of Foreign Wars.
"My main concern is our neighborhoods," says Mr. Cassilly, who says town government is "slowly letting the commercial establishment infringe on established residential areas." He believes that too often residents have to "fight the town" to maintain their quality of life.
"The state roads through Bel Air are the responsibility of the state. The town should force the state to face up to those responsibilities," he says.
He believes the town should do more long-range planning, including getting cooperation from the state and the county on projects such as highway interchanges and commercial development along shared thoroughfares.
ARTHUR "DON" COATES JR.
* Age: 36.
* Occupation: certified public accountant, 1st Preference Mortgage Corp., Perry Hall.
* Resident of Homestead Village.
* Member, Homestead Village Association.
Mr. Coates says he wants to "keep Bel Air's small-town character while moving the town into the next century."
He would like new businesses to be located within the town limits instead of in shopping centers and buildings on the outskirts of Bel Air. He also would like to improve conditions for light industry within the town limits and favors annexation if it provides space for commercial development, which improves the tax base.
"We may have to look at offering businesses some deals such a tax breaks like those the county is working on," he says.
He agrees that traffic along the U.S. 1 and Route 24 corridors is a major problem and suggests soliciting grants from the state or federal government to come up with a long-range traffic solution.
ROBERT E. GREENE
* Age: 48.
* Occupation: owner of Robert E. Greene & Associates life insurance brokerage in Bel Air; chief executive officer of Network Recruiters employment service.
* Resident of Hickory Hills.
* Member, Maryland delegation to the White House Conference on Small Business; Susquehannock Environmental Center's board of directors; National Federation of Independent Business; past chairman of Harford Center.
Mr. Greene's priorities are improving conditions for business development, maintaining the downtown core of Bel Air and improving the town's working relationship with county government.
"We need to find shops and other interests that will bring visitors into town for the afternoon, to spend time there and enjoy the core of the town," he says.
He also would like more senior housing. "Statistics indicate that the size of the older population is growing. We need to be sensitive to that need and look for opportunities," he says.
MARY R. HARKINS-WHITE
* Age: 39.
* Occupation: customer relations representative for Super Fresh Bel Air.
* Resident of Howard Park.
* Member, Harford County Democratic Club; West Bel Air Civic Association.
A longtime resident of Howard Park, Ms. Harkins-White is vehemently against the extension of Route 22 through her neighborhood. The highway project may be on hold, she says, but "until it is removed from the books completely it will always be an issue."
She says the town has to exert more pressure on the county to stem residential development. "The town has the burden of maintaining our own roads in addition to keeping highways from coming right through our neighborhoods. We have to tell the county to stop some of this; it's going to smother and choke all of us," she says.
She would like a beltway system or bypass around the town on county property.
SUSAN K. MCCOMAS
* Age: 43.
* Occupation: attorney in Bel Air.
* Resident of Ingleside.
An incumbent, she has served eight years on the commission, two of them as chairwoman or mayor.
Ms. McComas says she fears that Bel Air -- the commercial, legal and financial center of the county -- will be forced to provide unlimited resources for the county. Traffic, in particular, will worsen in the months and years to come, she says.
"The problem is that Bel Air is smack dab in the middle of the service area for the entire county. . . . And how can we influence events outside our borders when we have an adversarial relationship with the county? It's too bad the town and county can't be more cooperative.
"It's awfully tough to be a pedestrian in Bel Air today," she says. "You cannot walk from Bolton Street to the Harford Mall. I think we need to do something."
She says she would provide a stabilizing influence on the board because of her extensive experience. No one else on the board has more than two years' experience.
MARA DEVINE PAIS
* Age: 35.
* Occupation: attorney with Karas & Bradford, in Aberdeen and Bel Air.
* Resident of Woodside.
* Vice chairwoman, Bel Air Board of Appeals; member, Bel Air Comprehensive Review Committee; member, Harford County Bar Association's Alcohol and Drug Education program in public middle and high schools.
Ms. Pais says her priorities, in order, are managing growth to preserve a small-town quality of life; restricting encroachment of business and commercialism into residential neighborhoods; and fully funding the Police Department so that it can keep pace with the commercial expansion of the town.
She stresses that annexation proposals should be evaluated for their impact on schools, roads and neighborhoods.
As a member of the town's zoning appeals board, she says, she is frustrated by the limitations of the board, which rules based on existing zoning law. She would like to be able to shape the zoning earlier in the legislative process.
"The town, county and state must seriously evaluate the 'beltway' and other alternatives to the extension of Route 22 through Howard Park," she says. "Residing in an older neighborhood myself, I am extremely sensitive to the pressures on these areas."
DANIEL ROZMIAREK
* Age: 28.
* Occupation: special education teacher, Edgewood Middle School.
* Resident of Homestead Village.
Mr. Rozmiarek believes that communication between the town government and residents needs to be improved. He would like regular informational meetings to be held in various communities -- perhaps at neighborhood schools -- so residents could be briefed and could offer suggestions before an issue becomes inflammatory.
He lists as his goals: maintaining high public services at a low tax rate; maintaining neighborhood integrity; creating a positive business climate; and developing as a commercial and residential entity in cooperation with county goals.
He supports tax incentives and public-private ventures that would build business and favors developing "unused and underused" areas into parks and recreational facilities.
THOMAS WOELPER
* Age: 56.
L * Occupation: owns an advertising sales business in Bel Air.
* Resident of Homestead Village.
Mr. Woelper would like more business, particularly upscale retail establishments, in Bel Air. "We should go looking for business, find ways to lure business here and not just wait for them to come to us," he says.
He sees a need for better east-west traffic flow -- "business cannot survive without traffic and a flow of customers" -- but he does not favor extending Route 22 through Howard Park or extending MacPhail Road through the Homestead-Wakefield school property. He suggests that updated traffic studies, revised traffic signals, one-way streets and new routing around town can improve traffic flow through town.
He would like public forums involving the county administration, County Council and town commissioners. "You can't be in two different worlds," he says. "The left hand has to know what the right hand is doing."
R. TERRY WOLFE
* Age: 44.
* Occupation: associate professor of automotive technology at Catonsville Community College.
* Resident of southeast Bel Air.
Mr. Wolfe, who has lived in Bel Air since 1959, says he is concerned about the way change has occurred in the area through the years.
"I'm a strong believer in planning, because changes can't happen overnight," he says. "I'm not in favor of destroying established communities just to further the traffic flow." He is opposed to extending MacPhail Road through Homestead-Wakefield and suggests improving entrances to the shopping centers at the U.S. 1-Route 24 intersection and changing traffic signals in that area to improve traffic flow.
Overall, he says, his goal is to "keep the town as cozy as it is now."