Garrett Park to elect mayor on Monday

The mayor serves a two-year, unpaid term.

Both candidates have a long track record of public service to the town.

Mayor Carolyn Shawaker, a Garrett Park resident since 1969, ran unopposed in the 2004 and 2006 elections, after serving on the Town Council for four years.

Shawaker told residents that she would like to use her experience gained from four years as head of the 900-resident town to complete unfinished tasks. She is the Montgomery County representative for the Maryland Municipal League and worked with the state to install a traffic light at Kenilworth and Strathmore avenues as well as other street repairs.

‘‘I have spent a gazillion hours on this and I’ve learned a great deal,” she said. ‘‘My dedication is to the town.”

Twenty-eight year resident Chris Keller served on the council from 1995 to 2005, then volunteered on several town committees.

He said that his experience from decades of living in town, serving on various town committees and volunteering on projects with neighbors, qualifies him to address the needs and concerns of residents.

He has been a member of the Historic Preservation Committee, Parks Committee and Arboretum Committee, the group charged with maintaining and refreshing the town’s menagerie of trees, since 1991.

‘‘I believe that my abilities, experiences, temperament and resourcefulness and 10 years of experience on the council would lend to being an effective mayor,” he said.

Keller said his patience and ability to lead others would help the council to work together.

‘‘The council needs to work effectively and needs to have strong leadership and guidance,” he said. ‘‘There needs to be a sense that everyone participates in a common capacity.”

Shawaker said she has stressed civility at the council meetings, especially when dissention has arisen.

‘‘The council has differences of opinion,” she said. ‘‘In a representative democracy there should be differences of opinion.”

Both candidates said they are committed to implementing the town’s capital improvement plan, a study of repairs for town-owned roads, sidewalks and buildings, estimated to cost $300,000.

Tony Altar, a former council member, asked about the effectiveness of the Arboretum Committee and its communication with residents.

Keller and Shawaker agreed that the town Arboretum Committee could do more to inform residents about decisions to remove or plant trees near people’s homes, despite the trees being in the public right of way.

‘‘I respect the views of the [Arboretum] committee, but urge them to be a little more inclined to discuss their decision with the community,” Shawaker said.

Keller said that caring for the trees is a ‘‘long-range and multi-generational undertaking” and decisions to take down and replant trees are never made lightly.

‘‘The arboretum has been in existence since 1971, and there has been a consistent policy of replanting trees for diversity,” he said. Trees are only taken down when they are dying and pose a danger to residents, he said.

The candidates were also asked about their views on preserving the character of the town, especially when it comes to tearing down smaller homes and building larger ones on the same lot.

Around 60 of the more than 350 homes in town were taken down and replaced in four years, Shawaker said.

A 2007 law that granted zoning authority to incorporated municipalities could be used to balance needs of individual families with the desire to preserve traditional architecture, she said.

‘‘I think we’re waiting to see how [it affects] other communities with smaller lots,” Shawaker said.

Keller agreed and said that preserving the green space and historic characteristics of Garrett Park is important, but the residents should be the ones to tell the council how much to preserve and how much change to allow to homes and lots.