City Council Candidates Discuss Downtown Business

Elections

City Council Candidates Discuss Downtown Businesses

Two incumbents and three challengers discuss their views on businesses in downtown Havre de Grace.

By Sean Welsh | Email the author | 11:30am

http://havredegrace.patch.com/articles/city-council-candidates-discuss-downtown-businesses

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.
In this installment, City Council candidates—incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig, and challengers James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner—address businesses in downtown Havre de Grace:

John Correri

Correri often mentions his family’s business background when it comes to his ties to the community.
“My roots—anybody that knows me, knows my family had a business here in Havre de Grace since the 1890s. They finally folded tent in like the mid-'80s,” Correri said. “Those are the streets I grew up on, working in the family business. I know what it is to put the shoulders to the grind down there and work hard, sometimes from sunup to sundown.”
It’s because of that background the veteran public servant feels he knows what local businesses want and need. He said he’ll never overlook the importance of a family’s investment in small-town business.
“I understand what their goals are because I came from that basis of a strong family business,” he said. “I support them as much as I can.”

Randy Craig

Craig doesn’t think the downtown business district deserves any special consideration over other aspects of the city.
“I think the city government’s job isn’t necessarily to support one particular business area over another. We have several,” Craig said. “The downtown business district has different problems and different solutions than those that are needed out at the industrial park, than those that are needed along Route 40. I think the city has to act in a broad way, and not overly focus resources in one particular area than another. They all have different, important things they bring to the city, from jobs and revenue and opportunities for citizens.”
Craig feels the city does a great deal for downtown business.
“One of the things that’s disappointing to me in many ways is the arts and entertainment district. The city council passed that in the first year or second year I was on city council. And that has some substantial tax credits available for small businesses,” Craig said. “It’s been very underutilized.”
Craig said Havre de Grace shouldn’t be in the business of running small businesses, but creating an environment for businesses to thrive.
“The main thing the city does is that we provide the prerequisites for business success,” Craig said. “We don’t run their business, we don’t write their business plans, we don’t finance their business. But what we provide are public safety, essentials that are needed for good business, infrastructure, and we provide them a foundation for doing it in a cost-effective way with no taxes. I think the city government has done that, and it needs to continue. That’s an ongoing effort.”

James Lauer

Lauer did not respond to repeated interview requests from Patch.

Diane Lawder

Lawder thinks the city’s businesses need to focus on attracting a broader base of clientele.
“Business owners need to come up with unique ideas that are going to attract young people, elderly people, middle-aged people. Right now, we don’t have that,” Lawder said. “We have a small young base that comes down to go to the bars. But they don’t go to Joe’s Department store to buy a pair of jeans.”
Lawder feels the city’s business district can grow by attracting a younger crowd—perhaps by creating an atmosphere similar to Baltimore’s hip Canton neighborhood.
“It’s not conducive to a 30-something, or a younger crowd. That’s what you need to do, get the interests of everybody,” Lawder said. “People don’t want to hear it. Mini-Canton, you’re going to get people down here.”
Lawder is in support of building upon the local shops in town and creating a place where people will want to stay for a day—or more.
“There’s nowhere to facilitate a lot of people. We don’t have a hotel,” she said. “You need something that’s going to make people want to stay here. The bed and breakfasts are awesome, but they’re not big enough to facilitate larger crowds.”
That, she says, is where Havre de Grace really loses out to its neighboring communities.
“Where do they go? Aberdeen? Aberdeen is getting our money,” she said. “Aberdeen is getting our customers.”

Lori Maslin

Maslin sees two kind of support for local business—from the community and from the government.
“I’m not sure city government should be getting involved in the way people run their business,” she said. “I think we should facilitate a way to make it easier for businesses to come in and do business.”
Maslin owned and operated Ice Dreams Restaurant and Catering in Havre de Grace for years, and was among the first RAD loans through the city “in 1995 or 1996.”
She said the city should look at making sure such loans are grounded in sound, secured business plans.
She also feels the city’s “archaic” and “unclear” zoning regulations make it hard for potential business owners and the city alike. “The city can facilitate,” Maslin said. “Don’t put up roadblocks.”
Ultimately, she said, businesses need to operate intelligently. “That’s what my law practice is centered around. I own businesses, I run businesses,” she said.
One of the first things she’d suggest to local business owners in need of help—help yourself by adjusting your hours.
“Small business is about working your business. It’s not about playing your employees to cover it for you,” Maslin said. “There was many a winter night when Ice Dreams Restaurant and Catering was open until 9 or 10 o’clock at night in January and February with very little customers, but we were open. And I didn’t have an employee covering the place. I was there.”
Finally, Maslin is in support of bringing a grocery store—or a co-op—downtown to fill the void created when Save-a-Lot closed last October.
“I would love to see a food co-op,” she said. “I would love to see a grocery store that everybody would shop at.”

Barbara Wagner

Wagner thinks promotion is the key to boosting local businesses.
But she also sees some more concrete options that the city could help facilitate.
“I think that if we could somehow alleviate the property tax burden ... I know a lot of businesses are not owner-operated, but it still affects the owner, and that trickles down to the renter,” Wagner said. “The more businesses we have down here, the better each business will do.”
Wagner and her husband, George, own Bahoukas Antique Mall and Beer MuZeum on Union Avenue. Vacancies are a concern for her. She wants to see her neighbors succeed, because success benefits the entire district.
The hurdles that potential new owners must leap are often too much to clear, she feels.
As she sees it: “A lot of businesses come along that would like to invest here. Gosh, who wouldn’t? You have this beautiful waterfront and this cute, quaint town. ‘Oh, wow, here’s a gem that’s ready to pop.’ And then you go see Jay Bautz and he says, ‘It’s not on the list. I’m sorry. I can’t let you do that. You’ll have to go to the board of appeals.’ And now we’ve got six months and however much money it costs to go through that, and they say, I don’t feel like doing it, and they take it somewhere else.”
More incentives and simpler zoning are two areas where Wagner feels the city can improve the environment for new business.
She’s tired of the bitterness between businesses, pointing to the jealousy of one owner when another gets help from the city as an example.
“If they provide some sort of incentives to bring businesses in, and we didn’t get that incentive, that’s all right, because we’ll do better,” she said. “I think we need to be more open-minded in business recruitment.”

City Council Candidate Speak on Parking Issues

Elections

City Council Candidates Discuss Parking

Two incumbent and three challengers discuss their views on parking in downtown Havre de Grace.

By Sean Welsh | Email the author | 11:10am

http://havredegrace.patch.com/articles/city-council-candidates-discuss-parking

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.
In this installment, City Council candidates—incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig, and challengers James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner—address parking in downtown Havre de Grace:

John Correri

Correri is adamant about signage—which is one aspect the city has already begun to upgrade.
Correri, a member of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, is used to seeing cars give up by the time they hit the entrance to the corps’ headquarters on Rt. 155.
“The number of times you see people coming off of 95, that make the u-turns, and go back up because they don’t see the instant big signs. They don’t know they’re just a half a mile from McDonald’s, or something like that,” Correri said. “I often talk to our folks about trying to draw them a little bit further into town. Signage is huge.”
He’s been in support of the two other changes the City Council has put into action: motorcycle parking and the adjustment from two hours to three hours on the parking limits downtown.
The way Correri sees it: a parking problem is a good problem.
“I think its one of those things that’s ongoing,” he said. “I’d like to put it this way: I’d like to have parking problems. That means you have people downtown spending money.”

Randy Craig

Craig has concerns about the parking study, which was completed by The Chesapeake Group and presented recently.
“I don’t think it’s complete,” Craig said. “I think it only does half the day. It only looked at the daytime hours, and certainly a bigger part of the problem is the evening hours. That’s when all the residents downtown are home and need to park. That’s when all the restaurants are operating. They have the largest number of employees in the downtown businesses, and a lot of the largest square footages. So there’s more need for vehicles.”
One area Craig thinks can be improved immediately is in police enforcement of current parking regulations.
“My main concern is consistency, not just downtown, but throughout the city,” Craig said. “We have issues where people park on yellow curbs, in fire lanes, we have issues with the street sweeper—a lot of people don’t move their vehicles for that. That’s a constant concern downtown and I think it needs to be enforced in a consistent way. In my view, the police department has sufficient resources presently to do that sort of enforcement. I think they need to be deployed, perhaps, in a different way to achieve that result.”
But Craig wants more information on parking in the evenings, on weekends, and during peak season before proceeding with action.
“As far as substantial changes to our parking procedures, I don’t know that I support that without more data,” Craig said. “I’m a firm believer in data-driven decision-making, and I don’t think the data we have is enough to make an effective decision at this point.”

James Lauer

Lauer did not respond to repeated interview requests from Patch.

Diane Lawder

Lawder sees parking as one issue with a number of sub-issues.
Namely, it’s a problem impacting a varying degree of community groups: citizens, employees, business owners and visitors.
“I don’t think any one group is on the same page with the parking issue,” Lawder said. “What do you want to enforce? What’s a possible solution? I don’t think anybody at this point has one. You can throw meters into it, but nobody wants meters downtown. We’re the one city that doesn’t have meters. Is it something that would help the issue, and generate revenue for the city? Yes. But people don’t want to hear that. It’s difficult. There are a lot of issues with that one issue.”
While she understands there may be issues with seniors or disabled citizens needing parking closer to their destinations, Lawder has never had an issue parking during the day.
“Evening hours, Friday, Saturday nights, it gets a little hectic,” she said. “I don’t have an issue with having to park two blocks away and walking.”
And within those evening hours, Lawder isn’t sure how parking for restaurants really affects other local businesses.
“Local businesses downtown aren’t opened past 5 o’clock. Then you have the restaurant crowd or the bar crowd,” she said. “It’s not really affecting the local business owners.”
But she understands the concerns of citizens who come home to find no parking in front of their residence: “If I’m coming home on a Friday night and I go to the grocery store, I don’t want to have to walk three blocks with arms full of groceries.”

Lori Maslin

Maslin isn’t sure there’s a real parking problem in Havre de Grace.
Having owned a business in downtown Havre de Grace for years, she knows that business owners can control the issue on their own.
“The biggest problem is the same problem that we have today. It is business owners and their employees parking all day long in the prime spots,” Maslin said. “During the day during the week may not be such a terrible thing, and it may not be a terrible problem. It may be a good thing in the sense of it makes it appear we have a bustling downtown because there are cars. I know that is kind of cynical. But the problem is, during the weekends and in-season, that’s when it causes a problem.”
Maslin had her employees “park off the main streets, behind the building, as far away as possible.”
She’s a proponent of better signage and creating dialogue with businesses to open up prime parking areas. She also thinks people can be more mindful when parking, suggesting to plan out your route if you’re making multiple stops and park centrally before walking to your various destinations.
Enforcement is key to Maslin, too.
“I don’t think there’s much of a parking issue, I think there’s more of a parking enforcement issue. And we have to be willing to enforce it,” she said. “There are others who have said this and its true: you go to a big city, and you get a parking ticket, it doesn’t mean you’re not coming back. If you get a parking ticket, you pay it.”

Barbara Wagner

Wagner has a unique perspective on downtown parking—owning a business on Union Avenue with a residence above it.
She compiled complaints and concerns from the community a year ago and presented them to the Mayor and City Council, along with some suggested actions to solve parking. Ultimately, she sees parking as more of an issue in the future.
“I think the main parking problem downtown is that we don’t have enough business downtown to have a real parking problem downtown,” Wagner said. “Thinking positive and looking forward, we will have more business downtown. So we will, at some point, run into parking problems. For example, when, not if, when the theatre comes together, we’re going to need some place for those people to park.”
In the meantime, Wagner is a proponent for better signage, and installing a sticker program, where citizens and employees would buy a sticker to be displayed in their vehicle that would enable them to park beyond the three-hour limit.
Above all else, she promotes a park-and-walk mindset, often giving visitors to her store a map and suggesting they leave their car on Union Avenue and walk the downtown district.
“I think it’s important that we take some action on it, but it doesn’t have to be expensive,” Wagner said. “At some point, the city will probably have to invest somewhere in terms of parking. But because it’s a very walk-able downtown, I’m a big proponent of park and walk. I would like to see parking in the areas outside of the downtown, but with adequate signage, maybe a park-and-walk sign. It really helps to have people walking around downtown. It’s like a mall. The mall stores do really well because people are walking around and pass all the stores. “

Candidates Speak on Water Sewer Issues

Elections

City Council Candidates Discuss Water & Sewer Fund

Two incumbents and three challengers discuss their views on "Fund 9."

By Sean Welsh | Email the author | 11:00am

http://havredegrace.patch.com/articles/city-council-candidates-discuss-water-sewer-fund

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.
In this installment, City Council candidates—incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig, and challengers James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner—address the deficit in Fund 9, the water and sewer fund.

John Correri

One of the first tasks Correri was given when he was appointed to council last summer was to chair the water and sewer commission.
“To understand the structure to that debt and to keep the city compliant, sometimes you have to make that hard decision. This year, the mayor has taken that recommendation from the water and sewer commission and has placed it in the budget,” Correri said. “Will that be the same thing, when it reaches the goal line and we pass the budget? I don’t know. There are five others who will look at this and have their angle on it. But we’re working hard to try to keep it to the best for what we can do for the citizens of Havre de Grace.”
Correri said simply raising the water rates can’t be done without careful consideration of the consequences.
“We don’t want to be raising rates, because that sets off a whole series of things. But we also have commitments from the city to be able to pay down those debts. You can borrow. You can raise rates. You can take it from the general fund. But they all set things off in their own right,” Correri said. “The thing now is, the recommendation from the commission is in the budget. Let's see what happens when it reaches the goal line. We’ll let the council have their chance to work on it.”

Randy Craig

Craig said, simply, water and sewer cannot be ignored.
“Water and sewer services are the most important thing a city does from a public safety standpoint,” Craig said. “Beyond the fire services, the fire hydrants don’t work if there isn’t water in it. From a public health and public safety standpoint, that’s the most important thing the city does.”
Craig said the city took the first risk with building the wastewater treatment plant. The risk is apparent, now, as permits requests are “way down.”
“You have your most fixed cost, your water service, tied to your most volatile revenue. We need to mitigate that, and there are several solutions to that, and we need to consider all of them, and we need to be flexible,” Craig said. “What works for one or two years, or in one or two business cycles, might not work in the next one, because this is a 20-year note. Five or six years from now, things might be a lot better, but you have to be prepared to go in another direction. Flexibility is important, and that takes communication with the businesses, the residents. City staff has a big part in that aspect, too.”

James Lauer

Lauer did not respond to repeated interview requests from Patch.

Diane Lawder

Lawder isn’t sure why there’s inequity in supply and demand. But she sees an inequity in the amount of funding provided for the water and wastewater treatment plants in town.
“We need water,” she said. “[The fund is] supposed to be self-sufficient and maintain itself. But in order to provide water to the city, [the plants] need to be fully functional.”
Her husband, who works at the water treatment plant, shares stories of the plant’s inadequacy.
“[Visitors] laugh at the equipment they have. They laugh at the valves they have. One day something’s going to happen, and we’re not going to have water to the city,” she said. “They need money. They need to be funded and get new equipment. It’s ridiculous. It’s antiquated, dilapidated and barely functional.”
As for the distribution of assets from Fund 9, Lawder doesn’t like the shell game aspect, comparing it to transferring money from a savings account to a checking account.
“I think I would have a problem with that,” she said. “When you have a fund that’s specifically for something, when you start playing with money, putting it here and putting it there, that money’s never going back.”

Lori Maslin

Maslin sees the first step as a simple, practical one: run the water and sewer fund like a business.
“I think we need to work at why it’s not operating in the black. Once we determine if it’s not operating in the black, find a way to operate it in the black,” she said.
Maslin thinks a number of city funds need to be explored.
“What is coming out of that water and sewer fund? Are we dividing amongst all the funds, employee costs, and we’re putting a little here and a little there? If we are, I don’t know. Maybe we need to look at how each of these funds is operated,” she said. “I understand we had a large infrastructure deposit on the future, because that’s what it is: a deposit on the future. The housing market is flat. The hookup fees and the costs of infrastructure we had hoped to get back are not coming back as quickly.”
Maslin feels extra fees are often worth it in Havre de Grace, considering the services and community environment that are provided.
“If we need to do an increase in water and sewer rates, if the numbers say we need to do it, then maybe we need to bite the bullet and do it,” she said. “Is there a thought of looking at water and sewer and looking at privatization? I don’t know. That’s a thought. Our trash is privatized. We take bids. Maybe we ought to look at that for water and sewer. I don’t know.”

Barbara Wagner

Wagner sees an opportunity for smaller municipalities to share costs through a regional network.
“They may need to consider a regional water authority,” Wagner said. “I came from Pennsylvania and we had a regional water authority, and I know D.C. has one.”
Wagner compared it to an organization with smaller entities, sharing expenses across a platform
“I think that it scares some people because they think we’re giving up control and we’re going to lose jobs,” she said “The jobs are still going to be there. I think that we may need to look in that direction.”

HavredeGracePatch.com publishes endorcements for Barbara Wagner!

Opinion, Elections

Four Endorsements for Barbara Wagner

Challenger for City Council gets four votes of confidence

By Sean Welsh | Email the author | 4:15pm

Article posted on HavredeGracePatch.com on April 17th 2011
http://havredegrace.patch.com/articles/four-endorsements-for-barbara-wagner

The following endorsements are in favor of Barbara Wagner, a candidate for Havre de Grace City Council in the May 3 election:
———
Patch:
I write you to endorse the campaign for Barbara Wagner, candidate for Havre de Grace City Council.
I met Barbara while serving on the committee for the Red Pump Ball, an event which raised more than $13,000 for the Upper Chesapeake Cardiovascular program. While this was my first year assisting the committee, it was not Barbara's first.
Barbara Wagner is an intelligent and knowledgeable individual with a strong sense of community. She has a deep appreciation for Havre de Grace and is naturally drawn to public service. In working with her, I found her to be the best kind of team player. She is creative. She thinks things through. Her suggestions and actions consider a broad range of individuals, and she works tirelessly for the benefit of others.
I believe Barbara will be an excellent City Councilperson, helping to manage and shape the future for Havre de Grace.
Sincerely,
Suzanne S. Chadwick
———
Patch:
I would like to take this opportunity to endorse Mrs. Barbara Wagner for Havre de Grace City Council. Her leadership, and forward-looking view would be an asset for the town. I have served with her on the alternative energy committees and have found her to be a decisive leader that can culminate opposing points into positive outcomes. Her best practices are always focused on successful solutions for the City of Havre de Grace.
ICR Inc. endorses Mrs. Barbara Wagner.
Miles Konopka
President, ICR Inc.
———
Patch:
I rarely publicly support a candidate. But I believe Barbara Wagner for City Council will be an excellent choice. I know her to have integrity and a real love of the community. She will listen to all sides to understand a situation. Barbara communicates well and will take the time to explain her position after gathering the facts.
Barbara Wagner is interested in our entire city with the goal of making it a place where all of our citizens will want to live, work and play.
I encourage everyone to stop by Bahoukas Antique Mall and Beer MuZeum at 408 N. Union Avenue and meet her. Then get out and VOTE! Thank you!
Ellie Mencer
———
Patch:
I wish to endorse Barbara Wagner in her May 3, 2011 bid for City Council Member in Havre de Grace, MD.
This is a person who is favorably known in the community for her involvment and results in various commissions, committees and activities.
Barbara has excellent vision and focus on the improvements and needs and future of Havre de Grace. I know her and respect her.
M. Helen Cayer

On May 3, Please Don't Go Eeeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo

Columnist Amber Woods shares a personal story about voting for the first time and explains why residents should do their homework before the upcoming city election. Below is an opinion piece from Havredegracepatch.com http://havredegrace.patch.com/articles/on-may-3-please-dont-go-eeeny-meeny-miny-mo

On May 3, Please Don't Go Eeeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo

The May 3 city election has me reflecting on the first time I ever voted.
I showed up at the polls (a local high school) during the Presidential election of 2000, with sweaty palms.
I had registered while in my senior year of high school, but then hadn't done my research on the candidates, who were at the time, George Bush, Al Gore and Ralph Nader.
Sure, I had heard through various media outlets what political commentators and plenty of other people thought about each candidate. But as the election drew near, I never actually realized that I was going to have to make up my own mind about who was best qualified to run the free world.
Fast forward a few weeks and there I was. On election day. My shaky hand inserted the card in the voting machine and my mind raced and my heart beat wildly.
I knew nothing about these three men.
What had I done?
I had showed up completely unprepared for one of the most important decisions a person could make, that's what I had done. And it took me all of about two seconds to figure that out.
Suddenly, there was no political commentator or news anchor in my ear. Not even my outspoken political science professor to tell me what to do—who the hell to choose.
I was disgusted with myself as I selected (using only information other people had given me) who I thought may be the best choice for the biggest job in our country: President.
Boy had I screwed up.
I was so upset I didn't even allow the the poll volunteers to badge me with the cute little white "I voted" sticker.
Instead, I shuffled out the door quickly and headed for my car.
On the drive home I committed to myself that I would never take voting so lightly again.
After all, I was being trusted with a decision that could ultimately change the dynamics of an entire country, and I hadn't taken the time to do my homework about who was best qualified for the job.
I had hired someone I never even interviewed.
And so as things get moving toward our city election (though I realize it's a much smaller scale than say, a Presidential race), I've been pondering the utter lack of voter turnout for Havre de Grace in years past.
Why is it that only a little over 800 of the almost 8,000 registered voters in Havre de Grace took the time to show up at the polls during the May 2009 mayoral and city council election?
Though I realize it could have had something to do with the lack of opposition for the mayor and other incumbents, I think it was more likely voters were much like the 18-year-old version of me who didn't take the time to get to know their candidates.
The only difference being, of course, they didn't head to the polls armed with their lack of knowledge. They probably stayed home in their slippers eating popcorn, and did the same service for our country as me.
For some reason that old adage, "the devil you know is better than the devil you don't" comes to mind when I think of why people refrain from voting.
Perhaps since elections often represent the opportunity for change, which many people are afraid of, some of our residents see voting as taking part in what could be change. So they just sit it out.
But if that's the case, those folks need to keep in mind, sometimes you have to vote just to keep "the devil you know" in office too.
Now that I've probably offended our incumbents with my devil verbiage, I'll move on by giving you a crash course in this election, with hopes that you will do your homework on the candidates using the tools I'm about to provide, and then head to the polls on May 3.
Mayor Wayne Dougherty (who ran unopposed in his last election) has one competitor in this year's race-current council member, Mitch Shank.
And if for some reason you've been sleeping through our last two weeks of news coverage, there are a few other incumbents on the ballot as well, including council members John Correri and Randy Craig.
New candidates for council include James Lauer, Diane Lawder, Lori Maslin and Barbara Wagner.
I think it's important to note that 2009 wasn't the only year there was what could be considered an unambitious turnout of voters. In the May 2010 election, there were 1,179 ballots cast. There were 8,094 registered voters in the city.
And now for the cliff notes: you have more opportunities than ever before to get to know the candidates for this election. The table at the bottom outlines all of the already-announced public candidate forums and debates.
But that's not all. The crew here at Patch will also be hosting our own public debate for mayoral candidates Dougherty and Shank, toward the end of the month. More details on our event to follow.
While I truly believe most of you are already planning to head to the polls, I hope this column at least encourages you to study the opinions of the people who could be representing our city, and even those who already do.
I hope you attend at least one, but preferably several, of the upcoming public forums and debates to see with your own eyes how these individuals communicate with and react toward others.
No matter how much reading you do or how many council meetings you see on TV, it's not the same as meeting someone in person. Shaking their hand. Listening to your instincts.
Looking back, I can't say for sure whether the 18-year-old me would have driven herself to several different venues to listen and watch as candidates spoke and bantered in public forums, probably not even for the position of President.
But it's been a few years since then, and fortunately I now understand the immense responsibility of carrying a voter registration card.
I also know that taking someone else's word about a candidate for any position, or showing up completely unprepared to vote is just as bad (if not worse) than not showing up at all.

UPCOMING DEBATES/CANDIDATE FORUMS
DATE	HOST	NOTE	LOCATION
4.14	Chamber of Commerce	$17 Luncheon	Bayou
4.27	Residences at Bulle Rock	Open to all Bulle Rock Residents, or via Resident Invitation	Bulle Rock Residents' Center
4.28	OPAC	Open to Public	City Hall
TBD	Patch	Mayor's Race	TBD

Official ballot!

http://www.havredegracemd.com/pdf/hdg-municipal.pdf
Attached is a link to the official ballot for the May 3rd election.

Absentee Ballot information!!!

Did you know that you can vote anytime between now and the election on May 3rd?? Yes you can! All you need to do is sign up for an absentee ballot, and mail it in by May 3rd! Easy as that! The link to obtain your absentee ballot form: http://www.harfordvotes.info/Downloads.cfm?FormID=1619
So... in case you are afraid you will forget to vote on May 3rd... do it now!