In 1976 when Adrian Rousseau was 14 years old, he joined the Laurel Boys and Girls Club and participated in many club activities. That was a year after his family moved to the city from Washington, to get away from crime in his Northeast neighborhood, he said.
Ten years later, Rousseau started volunteering at the club as an adult because, he said, he remembered the fun he had playing sports at the club and the club had made a difference in his life. Rousseau, who runs a home-based security firm, is currently the club's athletic and mentoring director.
In addition to working long hours with his business and with the youths at the club, Rousseau has decided to enter the political arena as an at-large candidate for Laurel City Council. He faces incumbent and Council President Michael Leszcz in the November city elections.
Rousseau said he decided to run for elective office in part because of his perception that current politicians are running the city poorly, and their treatment of the Laurel Boys and Girls Club.
"The Boys and Girls Club has a large facility that can run more educational and sports programs, and it's located in a historic building; but we're being ignored by the city," Rousseau said. "The city has done so much to keep up other historical buildings in the community, except for our building. The mayor doesn't come in this building, and what city's mayor does that? It shouldn't be about liking me or not but about the kids and making the club a better place for them."
Some officials with the Boys and Girls Club, including Rousseau, have had a rocky and sometimes confrontational relationship with city officials, including council members, the mayor and police officials. The disagreements have involved the club's sports programs, activities such as dances and the club's finances.
Rubber-stamping
Although he often speaks passionately about the club on the campaign trail and the need for more assistance from the city, Rousseau says he's not a single-issue candidate. He said he's also running because he believes the opinions of residents are not given enough consideration by city leaders when they make decisions on issues that affect citizens.
"Someone needs to be on the council who speaks for residents and not as the council does with a unanimous voice and unanimous votes. That's not how things should work in this society, where we should agree to disagree at times," he said. "If the community says no to something, I'd go with the community, and that's why I think this current group — that I see as one voice — needs to be replaced. I truly believe they think they know what's best for the city and don't take residents' thoughts into consideration."
Rousseau characterized his campaign as being about opening up the city's government to residents and criticized his opponent, Leszcz, and other council members as being rubber stamps to Mayor Craig Moe's agenda.
"If something is not Moe's idea, it doesn't get done, and I don't think the council members speak up on their own ideas enough and fear him. I'd encourage people to give their opinions because to think that one person knows what's best for an entire community is wrong, and that's why I'm running," he said. "Many of the council's and mayor's decisions are done without consulting the community, like buying a $1 million pool (Greenview Drive Pool) that's only used three months a year, while they denied raises to the police."
Attracting new business
Attracting more businesses to Laurel and getting Laurel Mall renovated are also top priorities for Rousseau. He expressed frustration over the fact that the former developers of the mall were not able to complete or start the mall's face-lift, even with the $16 million tax break they were given by the council.
"I've lived here when the mall was thriving and to see it as an almost empty shell with fishnet (around a section of the parking lot) bothers me. If I get in, I'd want us to entertain a developer who would tear the mall down and start from scratch," he said. The mall's latest developer, Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, has said that is what they intend to do.
Like other local candidates, Rousseau is concerned about Main Street and would like to see more done to revitalize the corridor. He recalled his days as a child when he saw lots of activity on the street, but pointed out that many businesses, such as Pal Jack's Pizza and the Comedy Club, have closed their doors in recent years. He suggested that city officials consider making changes to the historic Main Street's zoning regulations to make the corridor more attractive to businesses.
"Rezoning needs to be looked at for not all kinds of businesses, but they would be screened to make sure they are the type we want in the city," Rousseau said. "Under Moe's two terms as mayor and this council, we've lost so many businesses on Main. It's a ghost town, and that didn't happen on my watch."
Rousseau is a 1981 graduate of Laurel High School, where he played football. His father was a meat manager at Giant Food and his mother is a retired school teacher who taught in Baltimore City and the prison in Jessup. When Rousseau graduated from high school, he said he enrolled in classes at the Barbizon Modeling School and headed to Las Vegas.
"I did mainly newspaper ads for six months, but I got homesick and came back to Laurel," he said.
Rousseau worked as a security officer at Laurel Mall for a time, joined the Teamster's Union and drove trucks at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. In 1995, he became a licensed Realtor and sold real estate until he took a position as the assistant to the Building and Construction Trades Department at the AFL-CIO, which he held for seven years. He now provides security services through his One Shadow Security firm, in addition to his work with the Laurel Boys and Girls Club.
When asked if he thinks his chances are good to unseat Leszcz on the council, Rousseau said, "I'm thinking positive and about when I win, what I will do for the whole community to make Laurel better. I want to bring in new businesses, give the police raises and fight for what's right. This city needs new life, and I can't do any worse than the current group."