Chevy Chase Town Council Candidates Spar Over Surplus

Update, Wednesday, May 8, 3 p.m.: The winners of Wednesday's Town of Chevy Chase Council election are Pat Burda and John Bickerman, Town Manager Todd Hoffman told Patch.

Original post, Monday, May 6, 4 p.m.: Three Town of Chevy Chase residents are running for two council seats in Tuesday's Town of Chevy Chase Council election.

The two incumbents—Mayor Pat Burda and Councilwoman Linna Barnes—both have served on the council for some years. Their challenger, John Bickerman, has lived in the town for seven years, and this is his first run for town council.

Bickerman, an environmental mediator for more than 20 years, would like to see more discussion by the council about the town's approximately $8 million or $9 million surplus, which he says the council has no plan on how to use.

The surplus—which Bickerman says is about $9,000 per household—was "not an issue until I raised it in the campaign," he told Patch.

"One of the things we could do [with the surplus would be] ... to bury some of our power lines," Bickerman said. While Pepco has said that would cost about $80 million, "Pepco’s words shouldn’t be taken at face value," he said.

Burda, who has been on the council since 2009 and has been mayor for the past year, agrees that the town's reserves are high, thanks to an unexpected influx of income tax revenue over the past year, she said.  Burda said that burying Pepco's lines underground could cost $20 to $80 million. It would be better to "[push] Pepco to make those improvements we think they should have made years ago," she said.

The town doesn't have the authority from the state to return the surplus money to residents, she added.

Barnes, who has served for 10 years on the town's council, added that "the reserve always relates to the state income tax and that is very unpredictable because it depends on what’s happening with the economy and what fluctuates there."

A few years ago, "our revenues were down considerably, by 50 percent," Barnes said. "The town had to cut some services and to figure out what things could go and what things could be postponed. It’s very unpredictable." 

"This was a surprise to us when the revenues had started coming in so strong [this year]. It speaks of a real recovery," Barnes said.

Burda added that "I think we have great opportunity here," to expand the town's parks system, put in new LED streetlights, install generators or start single-stream recycling, a project Bickerman agrees would be a good one for the town. In single-steam recycling, residents wouldn't have to sort out their recyclables for collection.  Everything would go in one bin.

"We have just started this big conversation [about the surplus and will] make decisions over the course of this year," Burda said.

Also, part of the reserves need to be there for a rainy day fund, Barnes added. And because the town doesn't borrow money for capital projects, the town has to save up money for any big projects—such as street work and sidewalk repair—that it wants to undertake.

Bickerman argues that $1.2 million is fine for reserves, not $8 million or $9 million.

One way to reduce the surplus is to eliminate the town's property tax, which was proposed by Barnes for the upcoming fiscal year, and will be voted on at the May 8 council meeting.

In their campaigns, both Barnes and Burda have stressed their experience in working with local officials and developers.

Barnes ran for town council in 2003 "on the issue of building projects and construction, and how we had to come up with more reasonable building controls on the way construction happens." Her work led to getting the town a new building ordinance.

It's "important to have people [on the council who] have made connections in the county," she added.

Burda agreed, saying that "having some experience, either in being on a committee or attending events, are important qualifications to being a good leader, and I worry that experience is being minimized and is not being treated as an asset."

"I’m running again because I feel like I do still have a lot to offer to the community both as somebody who is a good listener, [and as someone] who is working to build our sense of community and neighborliness," said Burda—who has been an instrumental member of the Connecticut Avenue Corridor Committee, formed to ensure that local residents would be heard regarding the development in Chevy Chase Lake.

Burda added that she brings to the council her experience in working with the county council and planning department, which will be useful to the town with the upcoming development of the Bethesda central business district master plan, she said.

Barnes agreed: "It's important to have people [on the council who] have made connections in the county."

The experience that Bickerman would bring to the table may be different, but no less important, he said. As an attorney and mediator at Bickerman Dispute Resolution, PLLC, he has been "involved in all sorts of town and city disputes across the United States. Many of the disputes that he has helped settle deal with the same sorts of issues [including development issues] that the town is dealing with. He is also a budget economist.

Bickerman believes that he would bring a fresh voice to the council. So far, he says, "we've been very ineffective in promoting concerns of development" in and near the town.

"I'm running to bring the town together. I think our town has been unnecessarily divided. I believe I can get everybody to work together," he said.

The Town of Chevy Chase holds its 2013 annual election on Tuesday, May 7, at the Town of Chevy Chase Town Hall, 4301 Willow Ln., from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.