The six candidates running for the three open Columbia Association board seats come from different backgrounds, but the majority of them agree the association must improve its relationship and openness with members.
Harper?s Choice
Cynthia Coyle, vice chairwoman of the Harper?s Choice Village Board, is running against David Willemain, a manager for the Baltimore Department of Public Works, in the village of Harper?s Choice.
Association Board Member Wolfger Schneider is not seeking re-election.
Coyle supports a general reform of the organization.
“It acts and behaves more like a corporation than a homeowners association,” she said.
Willemain seeks a better working relationship between members and the Columbia Association.
“There isn?t the level of cooperation there should be with the county and with the villages,” he said.
Wilde Lake
Philip Kirsh, the Wilde Lake Village Board chairman and a retired federal employee, is competing against William Santos, a mechanical engineer who is vice chairman of the Wilde Lake Village Board.
Association Board Member Joshua Feldmark is running for County Council in District 4.
Kirsh sees cooperation between the association and village boards as fundamental for passing policies in residents? best interest.
“I?ve been on the Wilde Lake Village Board for six years, and a lot of what I would have like to have done has been delayed or derailed by problems with the Columbia Association,” he said.
Santos wants better communication to help the association board treat the village boards as equals, rather than subordinates.
“There should be a more organic relationship,” he said.
Town Center
Newcomer Gail Broida, of Lakeside, is challenging Town Center incumbent Jud Malone on open meetings policies.
“The payers of the C.A. assessment need to know what?s going on from the people who are spending the money,” Broida said.
“Open meetings are not enough … We get a small amount of time to understand the issue. We need to get beyond that,” Malone said.
The three uncontested seats up for re-election are Miles Coffman, of Hickory Ridge, Barbara Russell, of Oakland Mills and Pearl Atkinson-Steward, of Owen Brown.
Association Board Members Tom O?Connor, of Dorsey?s Search, Phil Marcus, of King?s Contrivance, and Henry Dagenais, of Long Reach, are not up for re-election.
