Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Robin Ficker, Lou August, Republicans for District 4

Robin Ficker, described by a lot of the sort of Montgomery Democrat "who never thought of a tax they didn't love" as "the most hated man in our budget deliberations", is running for Council in District 4.

Author of a controversial but successful referendum that requires a unanimous vote of 9 sitting Council to pass any tax increases exceeding the Charter limit, Mr Ficker recently relocated his residence to Fairland to conform to residency requirements.

Mr Ficker is frequently quoted as saying (paraphrased) "who's looking out for the homeowners on the County Council? Nobody! They treat the homeowners as an ATM". Mr Ficker is, of course, invited to correct me if I have misquoted him.

Also joining the fray is Lou August, a fairly recent transplant from Washington State, with a strong background in education issues and a passion for the environment.



More to come, including some overview of the known Democrat, "third party" and Independent candidates...

Posted by Thomas Hardman at 9:14 PM
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2 comments:

Sleepless in Slumburbia said...

Hardman, thanks for the tip.

While I don't vote in District 4 this race is of increasing interest to me. I am about a hangnail away from Dist. 4, for one thing.

Lou August has a very interesting profile. He injects some much needed progressivism into the debate. I hope he also does some serious research about recent MoCo / Maryland politics and the chronic stonewalling that independents and centrists have put up with around here.

Far leftist MoCo pols think that they own the mantle of political "progressivism"; voters need to have the guts to prove them wrong.

I just wonder why Mr. August didn't register as an Independent. Was there a strategic reason for this?

February 26, 2009 9:34 AM
Thomas Hardman said...

The State of Maryland makes it extremely difficult to run as an Independent (non-affiliated) candidate. You have to collect an extremely large number of signatures, all of which have to be verified, etc.

In the long run-up to a scheduled election, this is possible though there's no guarantee that you'll collect enough signatures. In the short run-up to a Special Election, it's almost completely impossible.

As to the choices of the voters?

Honestly, I think all or almost all of the sitting Council and the County Executive will be ousted at the next election.

Let's just say that nobody votes for the captain who sank the ship.

And we are all sinking fast.

February 26, 2009 6:31 PM

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