The two candidates in what political observers say could be Baltimore County?s most competitive race identified school overcrowding and over-development as top priorities, but distinguished themselves on more regional issues at a candidates? forum.
Republican Wayne Skinner, a state employee and former County Council member who lost a re-election bid in 2002, drew the ire of forum organizers in Perry Hall when he criticized 16-year Democratic incumbent Vince Gardina?s efforts to relieve overcrowded schools in the District 5.
“The current councilman has been fighting for a new elementary school for at least five years,” Skinner said. “You don?t have it.”
Gardina has pushed for building moratoriums in the Carney and Cub Hill areas and convinced school officials to set an enrollment cap at Chapel Hill Elementary School.
Gardina said Thursday that he wants to strengthen rules to keep nonresident students out of county schools and identified open space funding, traffic, land for a new high school and incentives for energy conservation as other top priorities.
“There is definitely global warming,” he said. “We?re at a time when politicians can no longer ignore it. It surely is a major problem.”
Skinner said he supports expanding the moratorium to Perry Hall and adopting development impact fees to generate funds for public facilities in high-growth areas.
He named new parks and a senior center in the Honeygo area as key initiatives and said he would support an elected school board, revising eminent domain laws and term limits, and returning to all-paper ballots.
Gardina said he?s against term limits returning to an all-paper voting system and said he would support a locally appointed school board.
He said he was unsure about eminent domain laws.
