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The Race for County Executive: Introducing the Candidates
Part I of a two-part Series
by Mark Croatti and Kimberly DeBarge
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"Welcome to tonight's county executive candidates' forum," announces the moderator in the auditorium of the Anne Arundel County Board of Education on February 24." On stage, seven men sit along a rectangular table in front of more than fifty people, ready to present their qualifications to succeed Democrat Janet Owens, who is limited to two terms.
Baltimore teacher Tom Angelis glances around the room with a wide grin, as if welcoming back a class after a long weekend; former delegate Phil Bissett, the 2002 Republican nominee who lost a close bid to unseat Owens, nods confidently; Delegate David Boschert, the Marine, sits with his chin up, almost at attention; former Annapolis mayor Dennis Callahan sifts through his notes; Sheriff George Johnson IV smiles confidently; Delegate John Leopold looks relaxed; and Assistant Superintendent of Education Gregory Nourse, whose office is in the building, seems right at home in the familiar surroundings. As the glare of the spotlights brightens their smiles, the buzz of conversations comes to a stop.
Together, these seven men represent 51 years of legislative experience; 40 years in law enforcement; and 100 total years in government service, dealing with transportation, budgeting, taxes, health care, and recreation. Of these seven very experienced, sometimes similar candidates, three-Leopold, Boschert, and Bissett-have served in the Maryland House of Delegates. Boschert was an Anne Arundel county councilman for 10 years and is currently vice chair of the county delegation. Bissett was the 1997 Maryland Chamber of Commerce's Legislator of the Year, and Leopold, who served in Hawaii's legislature before moving to Maryland in 1981, was voted the 2000 Legislator of the Year by the National Republican Legislators Association. Boschert and Bissett served on subcommittees dealing with alcohol and gambling regulations. Many have experience with law enforcement; Angelis and Johnson have been police officers, while Bissett was on the Southern District Police and Community Relations Council. Boschert was a Marine, and Callahan served in the Army.
For environmental experience, Angelis and Callahan have directed the Anne Arundel County Recreation and Parks department, where Nourse was a supervisor; Leopold is on an environmental subcommittee in the state legislature; and Bissett sat on the South County Environmental Commission. Education? Take your pick-Assistant Superintendent Nourse has lectured at the University of Maryland and the University of Baltimore, Boschert has taught at Anne Arundel Community College, Angelis teaches at an alternative high school in Baltimore, Boschert has sat on subcommittees for higher education affordability and accessibility in the legislature and is a member of the State Planning Committee for Higher Education, and Leopold has served on the legislature's Education Committee and remains the only Republican ever elected to the Hawaii State Board of Education.
How about public transit? Bissett was the director of MARC (the Maryland Transit Administration's commuter rail service), Boschert is the executive director of the Annapolis Regional Transportation Management Association, and Leopold is on a transportation subcommittee in the legislature and was a member of the state's Special Committee on Rail Mergers. Callahan and Johnson have budget experience: Callahan as mayor and as a department director, Johnson as sheriff; Boschert and Leopold have served on legislative tax and revenue subcommittees; and Nourse was a county budget and management analyst. These men also share personal connections. Angelis and Leopold were born in Philadelphia. Boschert and Callahan have switched political parties, Boschert to Republican and Callahan to Democrat. Callahan and Leopold are melanoma survivors.
Up on stage, however, the only similarity is that they all want to be county executive. So for the candidates, the forum was another chance to argue why. The 2-hour discourse focused on topics to be covered in the June issue. Here we present the personal side of the men who would be county executive.
The Teacher
In a word, Republican Tom Angelis is cheerful. At the March 8 forum he worked the audience, microphone in hand, to connect with the voters. His career has been lively; he moved to the area at 18 to attend American University, worked on Capitol Hill for Illinois Senator Charles Percy, and became a police officer during the Watergate crisis. He recently earned a graduate degree in teaching from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and has taught for 5 years. Angelis' diverse background has more continuity than you might think, especially when teaching at an alternative high school in Baltimore, where policing can be part of the job description. He envisions being county executive with the unique insight of a man who has both enforced the law and encouraged students to abide by it.
The Youngster
At 49, Phil Bissett is the youngest candidate, yet he has spent a substantial amount of time in the spotlight. After handily winning the 2002 Republican nomination over Angelis, he lost to Owens by a heartbreaking 6,151 votes despite being outspent 6-1. In 1994, Phil was named Legislator of the Year by the State's Attorneys' Association for his work protecting the rights of victims of violent crimes and supporting law enforcement. The Maryland Chamber of Commerce named him Legislator of the Year in 1997 for working to curb lawsuit abuse. In person, he was brimming with confidence that he would attract enough conservative voters to win the 2006 general election, never mind the Republican primary. Stressing his grassroots support-"I could make one phone call and have 350 volunteers on the street in front of this restaurant"-his motto has been "Live Here, Learn Here, and Earn Here." He declared his candidacy only 9 months before the general election in 2002 and came out of nowhere to nearly pull off a startling upset. He has been running ever since; his staff meets weekly and he's confident that with Owens ineligible, his name recognition makes him the man to beat.
The Marine
We ask Delegate David Boschert, "Why did you switch parties?" A huge grin appears on his face. "Just like Ronald Reagan-I have friends on both sides of the aisle." A picture of the young Boschert on patrol in Vietnam hangs near his office window. He was instrumental in getting a POW/MIA flag flown on the grounds of the Statehouse. "The Marine Corps is the job that prepared me to be county executive," he pronounces, a surprise considering his legislative achievements. Boschert looks us right in the eyes. "It was the Marines that taught me discipline, loyalty, and self-confidence." He points out that he is the only candidate to have served on the county council. "If you want to lead, you have to serve in county government," he declares proudly. Boschert also knows when enough is enough. Annapolis may be a boater's paradise, but he's done with trying to stay afloat. He lost a boat in a mid-1990s blizzard when the roof of the building housing the boat collapsed under the weight of the snow. Her 23' replacement, the Captain's Council, wedged herself under a pier during Hurricane Floyd and, well, drowned. Boschert laughs about this story now, adding, "Obviously I just wasn't meant to be a boater." However, being county executive is something Boschert believes is meant to happen.
The Mayor
Dennis Callahan's home is on the water, overlooking Annapolis Harbor. When we enter we go "below deck," and see a sign saying "Captain's Quarters." Everything is boat-related, in its place, and immaculately clean. Callahan is comfortable in control, a management style that led to victory in the 1985 Annapolis mayoral race (in 1989 he lost a bid for re-election). He was particularly tough in the war on drugs, a major issue in the Reagan era. Callahan explains how the Jamaican drug posses bringing cocaine into Maryland tried to do business in Annapolis, but he was extremely aggressive in confronting them. They drew up a hit list, he says, with three names-one of them was his. He wore a bulletproof vest, and his wife cried when starting her car. The posses machine-gunned a couple of houses in Robinwood, so he had his office windows replaced with bulletproof glass. He maintains that he has always been conservative but switched parties for political expediency, yet he is confident his decision won't cost him votes. "If I lose, it won't be because of party affiliation." He knows what it takes to make a payroll. A businessman who founded a medical laboratory for clinical testing in addition to a tuxedo shop-and ran them for several years simultaneously-Callahan relishes the idea of being a chief executive again. "I like establishing budget priorities," he says.
The Sheriff
Democrat George Johnson IV has held the office of Sheriff of Anne Arundel County for 11 years, after being a police officer for 23 years. At his campaign headquarters we observe he is determined and well-organized. Johnson believes that his long career in public service is perfect preparation for the job of county executive. He knows legislators statewide and has attended conferences involving national law enforcement officers. The fiscally conservative Johnson, as president of the Maryland Sheriff's Institute, raised funds to educate deputies independently of the county budget and saves the county more than a million dollars annually. He is relentless in bringing attention to the brain drain of teachers to better-paying jurisdictions, as he sadly pronounces that the Anne Arundel County teachers' pension is "abysmal-last in the nation." Johnson also encourages creative ideas to fund education, including taking a look at the concept of independent school districts.
The Great Emancipator
One of Republican Delegate John Leopold's favorite activities is to dress up as Abraham Lincoln-he's a dead ringer in the proper attire-and urge his fellow lawmakers to change the Maryland state song from "Maryland, My Maryland" to something that goes a little easier on our 16th president, whose portrait hangs over Leopold's desk. Leopold focuses on fighting for the needy and neglected He has served on committees and advisory councils representing disadvantaged children, persons with disabilities, and cancer control. He saved the Department of Natural Resources library from budget cuts and worked to award funding to victims of well water radium poisoning. But he's not all about spending-he fought against a proposed maglev train, which he says would have cost half a billion dollars. "The man above the dollar," he says, echoing Lincoln. Born in Philadelphia, he did graduate work in Mandarin Chinese at the University of Pennsylvania. and written biographies of Samuel Adams and Harry Truman. Like Lincoln, he climbed the political ladder as a young man, winning election first to Hawaii's House of Representatives and then as the youngest state senator in Hawaii's history, at the age of 31. In 1978 he lost the race for governor of Hawaii, garnering 44 percent of the vote. He moved to Maryland in 1981, following in the migrating footsteps of his mother, who came to Baltimore from her native Latvia He was elected as a Maryland delegate in 1982. "I'm very proud of the fact that within a year of arriving in both Hawaii and Maryland, I was able to get elected," he says, beaming. "It shows the people trust me." It also gives him national name recognition. Leopold has been appointed to councils representing the interests of the underprivileged and the physically challenged by four different presidents (Lincoln wasn't one of them).
The Assistant Superintendent
Greg Nourse, a Republican, has never run for public office before. Asked how he would respond to questions about his lack of political experience, he explains, "As assistant superintendent, I work with educators, developers, and members of state and local government, so I'm very comfortable running for office." He has worked on campaigns in Pennsylvania and Illinois, and is quick to highlight his experience with financial matters as an analyst for Anne Arundel County's budget office. As assistant superintendent he oversees an annual budget of $730 million, almost three-quarters of the county's entire operating budget. Before becoming assistant superintendent, he worked for 10 years as a supervisor for the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks.
For all their similarities, and even their differences, these men agree that this county executive race is wide open. With such a talented pool of candidates, choosing one above the others promises to be very difficult.
Next: Part II takes a look at the critical issues facing the county and where each candidate stands.
Mark Croatti teaches American government at the United States Naval Academy and the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC), where Kimberly DeBarge is a graduating senior and a writing editor for UMBC's weekly newspaper, The Retriever.
Name: Tom Angelis |
Name: Phil Bissett |
Name: David Boschert |
Name: Dennis Callahan |
Name: George Johnson IV |
Name: John Leopold |
Name: Gregory Nourse |