From the Editor

Re-elect Kathy Porter

I remember when Kathy Porter was first elected to the office of mayor in 1997. I had my reservations about her. She seemed to lack the "fire" for which Takoma Park is so well known. I wanted an exciting mayor who would use the office as a soapbox for fighting injustice.

As we went to the polls that November, some of my friends and acquaintances pined for bygone days when Sammie Abbott was a powerful force in this city. Abbott's outspoken demeanor had saved Takoma Park from getting paved over. Much of Takoma Park's reputation as Berkeley East was earned during the early 1980s when Abbott and others took over city hall and Takoma Park became more liberal and more activist.

We knew that Kathy was liberal. But what kind of activist would she be?

Not a very entertaining one, as it turned out. Kathy is no rabble-rouser. She is not a "natural" politician, full of bombast or good at one-liners.

But this has worked to Takoma Park's benefit. Kathy's work ethic and willingness to seek common ground has gained her respect at county, state, and regional levels. Takoma Park is a small fish in those waters, but Kathy has elevated us to a special standing because she has absolute credibility. No one doubts that she has the city's best interests at heart, rather than the pursuit of a political career. In other words, she has no political ambition other than to be mayor.

Kathy Porter's record is solid. Here are some examples of what has been accomplished under her leadership.

Prior to being elected, she was a leader in the fight to unify the city into one county. As mayor, she secured "enterprise zone" designation for New Hampshire Avenue and University Boulevard, so now we can attract more businesses to those areas and build a tax base.

She got a seat for Takoma Park at the WMATA negotiations and has already won some concessions, though more are necessary.

She won the Montgomery College fight, convincing the college to move the campus over the tracks onto Georgia Avenue, while saving the old oaks at Jesup Blair Park. Residents are satisfied; the college is satisfied; and quite a few trees are satisfied.

She got the City to invest in wind power and is trying to get the state law changed so that the City can sell "green" power to residents.

She has advocated for and achieved police enforcement that is effective without being brutal.

She has shown a knack for fiscal prudence. For example, purchasing a bond for street improvements has proven to be a wise decision. Roads are getting fixed immediately, and the cost is less than if repairs were spread out over several years (inflation is rising faster than the interest rates on the bond).

The tax rate was cut this year, an indication she is listening to anxiety of homeowners.

Her personality is even-tempered, not volatile, not confrontational. She doesn't bear grudges and works well with her critics.

And under her leadership, the city has taken symbolic, yet important political positions for peace and freedom, opposing the war in Iraq and the Patriot Act, for example.

Even the community center represents Kathy's responsiveness, consensus-building and problem solving. Residents of the city came to the council in numbers, making the case for building a community center. Kathy and the council have worked sincerely and diligently to bring that about. It would be a shame if misunderstandings or dissatisfaction over that project end her career, since she has put so much effort into it.

Unfortunately, the city is not immune to the gremlins that often plague home renovation projects. Most of the added costs of building the center could not have been anticipated by any mayor. Such factors as the discovery of a flood plain and rising construction costs have been unwelcome surprises. And, yes, Mayor Porter and the council have made some clear mistakes along the way, not hiring an outside expert to oversee the whole project, for instance.

But Kathy has maintained flexibility in the face of these problems, taking the long view. In the future, the controversies will be forgotten; but the community center will solidly serve Takoma Park.

Over her four terms, Kathy Porter has convinced me that she does not need to be a rabble-rouser to be an activist. Kathy listens. She is inclusive. She solves problems.

Kathy Porter has been a good mayor, and I'd like to see her continue.

-- Eric Bond

IRV gets my vote

I am eager to see Instant Runoff Voting become our method for counting ballots in Takoma Park. IRV will be a ballot question in this year's election. If a majority of residents support the idea, in future elections we will have the opportunity to rank candidates.

At first, I thought that this might make the voting process more complicated and confused. But it really is a simple way to open up the political process to more ideas, by encouraging more candidates and making sure that officials are always elected by a majority.

Here's how IRV works. Let's say that three candidates are on the ballot. I can rank them in order of my preference: I, 2, 3. Or 1, 2. Or I can just choose the candidate that I prefer and not rank the others at all.

If a majority of voters choose a particular candidate as their first choice, she or he will be elected. However, in the case of three candidates, often none of the candidates get 50 percent or more. (The 2000 presidential elections were an example of that scenario.)

In Instant Runoff Voting, the ballots of the losing candidate be tabulated again to see how many of the #2 votes went for the top candidates. Those votes are then awarded appropriately, and the individual with the majority of votes wins.

In this way, two similar candidates do not split the vote and cancel each other out. And by encouraging more candidates into the process, IRV can break the two-faction deadlock that has proven so destructive in American politics.

By adopting Instant Runoff Voting in Takoma Park, we can, yet again, show the rest of the country a better way. If you would like to understand Instant Runoff Voting better, I recommend visiting the FairVote website: www.fairvote.org.

-- Eric Bond