Gaithersburg has no choice; it’s time for change

It will be out with the old and in with the new in Gaithersburg.

It’s been awhile since the city has seen such significant turnover among its leadership. Incumbents have largely dominated the council, including a sweep by the three retiring council members in 2003. This election, like few others in the city’s history, brings guaranteed change.

Seven candidates are vying to join Michael Sesma and Henry Marraffa Jr. on the council. None of them has significant experience with the city government. Some have served on advisory committees or study groups, but there is an overall absence of higher-level government service. Traditionally, the Planning Commission has been a training ground of sorts for council members, and it would have been a benefit to the city if this election’s candidates had similar experience.

Still, there are some faces familiar to City Hall among the hopefuls who seem to have a strong grasp of the issues. Cathy Drzyzgula leads the pack. An Olde Towne resident, Drzyzgula, 51, served on the well-reasoned Day Laborer Task Force and has extensive experience with the city’s Historic Preservation Committee. She brings the most knowledge of city issues and is a top choice for the council. We expect her to be a strong voice in the long-stalled effort to revitalize Olde Towne.

Jud Ashman, 36, is Drzyzgula’s slate mate and another sound pick. A resident of Orchard Place, this is his second bid for the council. He ran on a controlled-growth ticket with Michael Sesma in 2005 and today says he favors ‘‘responsible” growth. His only formal service to the city is as a relatively new member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Election Participation. He served two years as chairman of the activist group Citizens for Smart Growth and has served as a school cluster coordinator since 2005. While he lacks formal experience with the city, his background on the issues is thorough and his close observation of city government gives him the footing to grow on the council.

Both Drzyzgula and Ashman favor enforcing the city’s anti-solicitation ordinance — the controversial measure that makes it a misdemeanor crime for day laborers and contractors to conduct curbside hires. The issue of day laborers has been a divisive one in Gaithersburg, and will no doubt continue to be a hot button. It is our hope that as council members, Drzyzgula and Ashman will recognize the difference between the roles of activist and city leader and work to help contain the rhetoric and inflamed emotion of future debates on day-laborer and immigrant-related debates.

Kentlands resident Ryan Spiegel, 29, is the youngest of the council candidates, and our pick for the third seat. He is young, but he understands city issues and has a fresh energy and perspective that will benefit the council. Spiegel believes it is time for Gaithersburg’s elected leaders to stop governing the city as the rural farming community it once was and encourages a look at policy changes that would advance finance plans to the models of other big cities.

Without judging their merits, we think it would be healthy for the city to at least examine the potential benefits — and pitfalls — of new directions, including a move from the city’s long-standing ‘‘pay as you go” approach to financing capital projects to financing through bonds. It will be dynamic voices on the council like Spiegel’s that will enable those discussions to take place. He opposes the anti-solicitation ordinance and will help provide balance on that issue.

The polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 6.