Rockville’s $307,093 Question: What Led to City Manager DiSpirito’s Resignation?
The cause of former City Manager Rob DiSpirito’s resignation in August remains a mystery except that we now know that it cost the City of Rockville $307,093.21, including $229,630.98 representing nine months’ salary and benefits and $77,462.23 for unused vacation time. It’s an extraordinary expense for the City of Rockville which so far remains unmentioned by the Mayor and Council and would be equal to:
- Ten years of the Senior Nutrition Program ($30,070 per year according to the upcoming agreement to be approved by Mayor and Council at Monday’s meeting).
- Salaries for three to four police officers ($70,036.00 – $105,429.00 annually according to the latest job posting).
- All computer and communication equipment expenses for the City ($259,880 in the FY 2024 budget)
- Janitorial services for all City facilities for a year (almost! annual expenses are $364,840 in the FY 2024 budget)
- Annual property tax for 175 houses (if $600,000 is the average cost of a house in Rockville and tax rate is $0.292 per $100 of assessed value on real property = $1,752.00 per house)
Why would someone who has gone through a Performance Improvement Program and then resign be entitled to a severance package? According to his 2016 contract, “the City shall have no obligation to pay the one-time lump sum cash payment and shall have the right to immediately terminated this Agreement without payment of any further compensation to the City Manager” if he commits “any act which involves moral turpitude.” Obviously, no moral turpitude occurred or he wouldn’t have received a severance payment.
So under what circumstances could the City Manager receive a severance package? His 2016 contract states that the “City may terminate the City Manager at any time for any reason including, but not limited to, a conflict in management style or philosophy” and if the “City Manager is still willing and able to perform the duties under this agreement, then, in that event, the City agrees to pay the City Manager a one-time lump sum cash payment equal to nine (9) months’ aggregate salary.” Hmm. So there’s a reason for his resignation, or should we say termination, but no one has provided an adequate explanation.
Rob DiSpirito has refused to explain why he resigned, but that’s because his 2023 Settlement Agreement requires that he “shall keep the terms of this settlement completely confidential, and that confidentiality is an essential element of the settlement itself” nor can he “directly or indirectly, engage in communication or conduct that disparages the City, its elected officials, officers, employees or agents or make any negative statements about the employment practices of the City.”
The Mayor and Council is not required to keep this confidential, but unfortunately, they’ve insisted on secrecy. Indeed, obtaining copies of the City Manager’s 2016 Employment Agreement and 2023 Settlement Agreement required invoking the Maryland Public Information Act. What is the Mayor and Council hiding that’s worth $307,093? If there’s a “conflict in management style,” let’s discuss it and stop guessing. Mayor and Council, where are you leading the City? Right now you’re being sneaky and opaque—exactly the opposite of good governance. Mayoral candidates Ashton and Pierzchala, will you be able to bring better governance and transparency? What will you do better and differently than Mayor Newton? Or is just more of the same?
October 30, 2023: Response from Mark Pierzchala, Rockville City Councilmember and candidate for Rockville Mayor:
In your October 29 post about Mr. DiSpirito’s departure, I remind you that in May, it was I who wanted to end the drama at that time. The Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) was unwarranted for such a senior manager.
The date of the closed August 17 meeting, concerning Mr. DiSpirito’s status, was chosen because that was after the 3-month ending of the PIP. Note that the August 17 meeting was held during the Mayor and Council summer recess.
I was the one who took the August 17 closed-session minutes. These were typed up immediately after that meeting and sent confidentially to my colleagues before 8 pm on August 17. The length of time it took to officially approve them, over 2 months later, is not appropriate. Indeed, Mayor Newton pulled them off the October 9 consent agenda.
The August 17, 2023 closed-session minutes were approved at the October 23, 2023 meeting, as were the September 11 minutes. Since the August 17 minutes were from a closed session, they are to be included in the September 11 minutes when these are put on the City’s website (the September 11 meeting was the next public meeting of the Mayor and Council). In the August 17 minutes, you will see the motions and results that led to Mr. DiSpirito’s departure. These minutes should soon be posted.
There is no reason for Mayor and Council to hide actions and votes from a closed session. Some of the information presented therein should be kept confidential, but the resulting decisions should be made public in a timely manner. That is what I will achieve as Mayor.
Financial Reports Reveal Top Contenders in Rockville Mayor and Council Race
UPDATE: This post was corrected and expanded to reflect the following: revision of funds raised in the mayoral race, charts clarifying loans and mayoral vs council candidates, and a minor error in Danniel Belay’s financial report.
In the Rockville Mayor and Council race, the first round of financial reports, due on October 9, 2023, have begun to paint a picture of the candidates with the most substantial resources and support. As the race for the six council seats intensifies, the field appears to have narrowed from twelve to eight contenders: Kate Fulton, Barry Jackson, Ricky Mui, David Myles, Paul Scott, Izola Shaw, Marissa Valeri, and Adam Van Grack.
However, not all candidates are faring as well. Financial reports indicate that Danniel Belay, Anita Powell, and Richard Gottfried are trailing, each having raised less than $500, a sum considered insufficient to garner substantial voter support in Rockville. Harold Hodges, another candidate, appears to be even less active in the race, having not submitted a financial report.
The mayoral race in Rockville is shaping up to be a complex contest. Candidate Mark Pierzchala has raised an impressive $48,352, but with a self-loan of $33,160 this period, his effective fundraising total comes to $15,192 (ignoring funds and loans carried over from his 2019 campaign).
In contrast, Monique Ashton‘s fundraising efforts have yielded $19,836, a figure that not only falls short of her opponent’s total but also those of council candidates Kate Fulton, Barry Jackson, and Adam Van Grack. Ashton has loaned her campaign $8,224, leaving her with a net fundraising total of $11,612, (ignoring funds and loans carried over from her 2019 campaign). This places Ashton among the middle of all candidates in this election but an improvement compared to 2019, when she had raised nearly $8,000 by the end of September.
Contributors to campaigns offer revealing insights into financial influences and influencers, but it is different in smaller local races as in Rockville. Donor analysis typically shows many candidates receive support from family, such as Adam Van Grack. However, this election reveals an unusual trend: incumbents Monique Ashton, Mark Pierzchala, and David Myles have not garnered substantial support from local residents, which would be expected if they had significantly impacted residents’ lives. This raises questions about the perceived influence of the Mayor and Council. Are their actions going unnoticed, or are they not making a significant impact? Notably, current Mayor Bridget Newton and her husband are supporting Monique Ashton, Barry Jackson, and Paul Scott.
For your own analysis, here are the individuals who made contributions of $500 or more, all of whom are based in Rockville unless stated otherwise:
Ashton, Monique: Aaron Stallworth (DC, $500), Antonio Quirindongo (NY, $1,000), Joseph Song (CA, $500), Simon Francis (DC, $1,000), Bridget Newton ($750), Fred Newton ($750), Cyrus Allafi ($500)
Pierzchala, Mark: Norma Pierzchala ($1,000), Joel Martinez ($1,000), Paul O’Brien ($500), Janet Gallant ($1,000), Carl Pierzchala ($1,000), George and Barbara Felber ($500), Benjamin Ross (MD, $500), Ingrid Chua ($1,000), Eduardo Alueta ($1,000; returned)
Belay, Danniel: None over $500
Fulton, Kate: Joel Martinez ($1,000), Beverly McFarland (Delaware, $1,000), Bill Fulton (California, $500)
Gottfried, Richard: None over $500
Hodges, Harold: No report
Jackson, Barry: Elizabeth Bartz (Ohio, $500), James “Jack” Jackson (Washington, $1,000), Peter Fosselman ($750), John Killpack (California, $1,000), Bridget Newton ($750), Fred Newton ($750)
Mui, Ricky (DBA Communities Electing Ricky Mui & Supporters of Mui Ricky Fai): Jacob Miller (Washington, $500), Mark Pierzchala ($500), Michael O’Brien (Pennsylvania, $500)
Myles, David: Duncan Maru (NY, $1,000), Tommy Roberts (GA, $500)
Powell, Anita: None over $500
Scott, Paul: Christopher Cash ($1,000), Bridget Newton ($750), Fred Newton ($750)
Shaw, Izola: Steven Van Grack ($520.87), Michael Rubin (MD, $520.87), Kimberley Propeack (MD, $500), Quinton Zondervan (MA, $1,000)
Valeri, Marissa: None over $500
Van Grack, Adam: Steven Van Grack ($1,000), Brandon Van Grack ($1,000), Claire Bohenegel (DC, $1,000), Gail Van Grack-Aks ($1,000), Ryan Van Grack (MD, $1,000), Citizens for Brian Feldman (MD, $500), Terry Lierman (MD, $1,000).
The Board of Supervisors of Elections requires candidates to file their campaign financial statements on simple yet confusing forms (or are they simply confusing forms?) that always trip up candidates and require correction (to see how widespread this problem occurs, count the number of amended returns in 2019). For this round, there seem to be a couple errors that deserve closer scrutiny but do not seem to affect my overall conclusions:
- Rockville United lists an in-kind contribution of $200 to Paul Scott, which does not appear in Paul Scott’s report.
- Danniel Belay lists $100 as a balance forward, however, there is no previous campaign finance report. I suspect this was a self-contribution to open a bank account for the campaign and is recorded incorrectly.
- Anita Powell lists $283.95 in contributions as loans but they are actually campaign expenses.
Candidates Share Their Vision for Rockville at October 5, 2023 Forum
Community Reach of Montgomery County, in partnership with Rainbow Place Shelter, hosted a Rockville Election 2023 Candidate Forum at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre on October 5, 2023. The Forum, which was a significant event in the lead-up to the November election, saw candidates take to the stage to present their qualifications, experiences, and key policy positions. It’s important to note that the candidates’ statements were not independently verified, or as Ronald Reagan loved to say, “trust but verify.”
Candidate forums are a valuable opportunity for voters to hear directly from the candidates on a range of important issues but if you didn’t attend or don’t have time to watch the 90-minute replay on YouTube, I’m offering ChatGPT-generated summaries (with some light editing) to the candidates’ responses to the major questions in the attached six-page handout (thanks TM!). This will enable you to swiftly share your preferred candidate’s stance on issues with friends and family, strategize on the optimal choices for Mayor and Council seats, or potentially identify which candidates may be unclear, evasive, or inconsistent in their responses.
If you’re a candidate, these summaries could serve as a tool for reviewing your positions and assessing how effectively you stand out from others. Do the summaries accurately capture your ideas? Did any crucial points get overlooked? How do your views align or differ from other candidates? Are your statements well-rounded, or do they lean towards being too abstract or too specific? Do any of your opponents exhibit a significant lack in knowledge or critical thinking?
A Week of Surprises on Rockville’s Campaign Trail
It’s been a very strange week on Rockville’s campaign trail, starting on Monday at the Mayor and Council meeting and ending with a conversation in the parking lot after the Candidate Forum on Thursday night.
The Mayor and Council meetings often start with a half hour of proclamations highlighting a particular person, anniversary, or community issue, each read out by a council member without any drama. The October 2, 2023 meeting followed this tradition with the 45th Anniversary Art in Public Places Program, Arts and Humanities Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and Walktober but things went strangely awry. In the agenda, David Myles was assigned to Domestic Violence Awareness Month, an ironic choice give his recent arrest for an assault on his wife. That must have caught someone else’s attention in City Hall because Myles was reassigned to Breast Cancer Awareness Month at the last minute. Council Member Myles, who participated in the meeting remotely, didn’t agree with the change and voiced his concerns during his presentation, and then proceeded to discuss domestic violence instead of reading the proclamation on breast cancer awareness. Mayor Newton attempted to interrupt him but they merely wound up talking over each other, making an uncomfortable mess, leaving it to the Mayor to read the proclamation on Breast Cancer Awareness Month. You can watch this unfold online at “Proclamation Declaring October 2023, at Breast Cancer Awareness Month (CM Myles).”
The Candidate Forum on Thursday, October 5 hosted by Community Reach of Montgomery County with Rainbow Place Shelter at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre demonstrated the extraordinary challenge that voters will have when faced with a dozen council candidates. Although we’re mid-season, most candidates haven’t managed to distinguish themselves and are relying far too much on platitudes and vague statements about leadership, neighborhoods, vacancies, residents, funding, taxes, transparency, experience, city services, safety, housing, green space, diversity, partnerships, and sustainability, so they all seem to offer the same ideas and solutions. Here are some potential distinctions among them, but can you identify who they are (and more importantly, does it matter?):
- “I’m the only candidate that lives in Town Center.”
- “I led the effort to tie funding for our needs-based organizations to the cost of inflation.”
- “There’s a need for more live music in Town Center and throughout the city of Rockville.”
- “While on the Charter Review Commission…[I] routinely brought up the issues of justice and equity.”
- “I am disappointed in the vacancies in Town Center.”
Confusing matters, many talked out of two sides of their mouth: “we’re doing well on diversity but need to do more” or “we are a safe community but must hire more police” or “we need more live music and parks but we have to reduce expenses.” Part of it is due to the pressure to avoid alienating potential voters, but it’s also due to the nature of Candidate Forums: demanding simple answers to complex questions. At the Forum, a couple candidates had 90 seconds to answer:
- What are the problems you currently see facing Town Center and how do you intend to address them?
- Nonprofit organizations cover many services for city residents that Rockville helps to fund through grants. Is there too much funding going to nonprofits or not enough? Is the city funding the most important services? Does the city get the best bang for its buck through the nonprofits that provide those services or would you recommend increasing city staff to provide such services?
Complex, compound questions can be tricky for both seasoned politicians and newcomers. Experienced politicians will sidestep parts of the question, while new candidates may struggle to provide clear answers due to lack of knowledge or experience, resorting to vague statements to avoid embarrassment. Neither helps voters make informed decisions. For clearer answers, forums should pose simple, open-ended questions. Providing questions in advance could also lead to better responses. While spontaneous answers can reveal a candidate’s values and superficial knowledge (gotcha!), they don’t necessarily reflect their critical thinking on specific topics like Town Center, Red Gate Park, or the city budget.
But even if questions are provided in advance, some candidates will be unprepared. The October 5 Candidate Forum addressed the referenda questions on the November ballot, which have been discussed by Mayor and Council for the last year (see Board of Supervisors of Elections Recommends Lowering Voting Age to 16 and Mayor and Council to Choose Earmarks and Decide Upcoming Election Changes), so every candidate should be prepared with an answer. The issues of lowering the voting age to 16, permitting noncitizens to vote, setting term limits, and creating representative districts are quite familiar to Council Members David Myles and Monique Ashton, yet were strangely unwilling to state their conclusions. In his closing remarks, Myles stated that “voting is private matter” and provided an “outline of his philosophy” so that voters might guess at his answers (perhaps he prefers that the City Council vote in secret?). Mayoral candidate Monique Ashton held up an illegible handwritten sign that elicited groans from the audience, who eventually was asked to read it out: “I will listen, convene, and do what I think is best for Rockville.” It’s a non-answer that anyone running for office can spout, but certainly not appropriate for a current council member running for mayor. Voters “hire” the Mayor and Council to lead the city; we need to know what you think and where you’re taking us.
Finally, the strangest event of the week occurred after the October 5 Forum in the parking lot. I ran into a candidate for the Rockville council who pointed out an error in my post about their voting record. They told me they had voted in the 2019 election and thought I had used an incorrect 2019 voter list provided by the City of Rockville. They also mentioned that they had notified the City Clerk about this mistake. So, on October 6, I contacted the City Clerk’s office to request an updated voter list, as the one they gave me in September 2023 seemed to be incorrect. They responded quickly, but instead of giving me a corrected list, they directed me to the State of Maryland. This was very strange. The City Clerk’s Office didn’t show any concern about the potential error in the 2019 voter list—it could suggest there are errors in the voter list for the upcoming election. Hmm. There are several ways to get at this without the City’s cooperation. It’s slow and costly, but I’ll keep at it. Hopefully, I’ll have answers before the election.
Rockville’s Neighborhoods: A Key Factor in Local Elections?
If you want to run for a spot on the Mayor and Council, you need to be at least 18, registered to vote, and have lived in Rockville for at least a year before the election (for this race, that means living here since November 7, 2022). But when people vote, they often pick candidates who they feel are like them and will represent what they care about. So, where a candidate lives can be really important, especially if they live in a neighborhood that’s similar to the voter’s.
Looking at the map, you can see Rockville is split into three parts by major highways. To the west of I-270 is the “wealthy west,” where the average house costs more than $600,000. Adam Van Grack is the only candidate from this part of Rockville. To the east of #355 (Rockville Pike/Hungerford Drive/Frederick Road—actually, the dividing line is Metro) are the “middleburbs,” where houses typically cost between $300,000 and $600,000 and is home to Anita Neal Powell, Izola Shaw, Marissa Valeri, and Richard Gottfried.
Right in the center of the city is the “mixing bowl,” where house prices vary the most and has the greatest number of candidates: Paul Scott, Barry Jackson, Mark Pierzchala, Harold Hodges, Kate Fulton, Monique Ashton, Ricky Mui, Danniel Belay, and David Myles.
In past elections, the richest neighborhoods usually had the most people voting. If we think they’ll vote for people who are like them or share their interests, we will likely see Barry Jackson, Adam Van Grack, Kate Fulton, Ricky Mui, and David Myles take five seats on the next city council. If we continue this logic, there is one more seat available on council so it will be a tight race between Paul Scott, Anita Neal Powell, Izola Shaw, Marissa Valeri, and Richard Gottfried. The contest for Mayor between Mark Pierzchala and Monique Ashton, who both live in wealthy neighborhoods, will be more complicated. Voters will likely consider additional factors like experience, background, personality, and age.
As for age, once again this council election attracted candidates that span at least three generations. The Millennial generation (born 1981-1996) is solely represented by Danniel Belay; Gen Xers (1965-1980) by David Myles, Monique Ashton, Ricky Mui, Izola Shaw, Kate Fulton, Barry Jackson, Marissa Valeri, Adam Van Grack, and Harold Hodges; and Boomers (1946-1964) by Paul Scott, Richard Gottfried, Mark Pierzchala, and Anita Neal Powell. Most people who vote in Rockville are from Generation X. If they vote for people who are like them, we might see a lot of candidates like David Myles, Monique Ashton, Ricky Mui, Izola Shaw, Kate Fulton, Barry Jackson, Marissa Valeri, Adam Van Grack, and Harold Hodges on the city council. But the people who vote the most are Baby Boomers, so Paul Scott, Richard Gottfried, Mark Pierzchala, and Anita Neal Powell could also have a good shot at winning.
The Rockville United campaign committee, which includes Monique Ashton, Kate Fulton, Paul Scott, Izola Shaw, and Marissa Valeri, could really shake things up in the city council if voters decide they want a big change. However, it’s hard to find information about this team online, and usually, people prefer to pick their candidates one by one. But remember, teams like Rockville United can be a great way to make the most out of limited resources.
Candidates for City Council Expands to 14
By September 7, the Board of Supervisors of Elections had certified two candidates for Mayor and twelve candidates for Council for the upcoming November 7, 2023 election. Danniel Belay, Richard Gottfried, and Anita Neal Powell are the latest additions, so if candidates were selected randomly, the chances of gaining a seat on Council decreased from 67 to 50 percent. But Councilmembers are not elected randomly and rely on their campaign strategies and voter motivation and preferences. Here’s the current list of candidates:
- Candidates for the Office of Mayor
- Monique Ashton
- Mark Pierzchala
- Candidates for the Office of Council
- Danniel Belay
- Kate Fulton
- Richard Gottfried
- Harold Hodges
- Barry Jackson
- Ricky Mui
- David Myles
- Anita Neal Powell
- Paul Scott
- Izola Shaw
- Marissa Valeri
- Adam Van Grack
Unexpected Resignation: Rockville City Manager Rob DiSpirito Departs Post
Rockville City Manager Rob DiSpirito resigned yesterday on Thursday, August 17, effective at 5:00 pm. The Mayor and Council accepted his resignation and appointed Deputy City Manager Barack Matite as acting city manager, effective immediately. DiSpirito had served as Rockville’s city manager since January 2017. DiSpirito was interim senior manager of the Sarasota County (Florida) Planning and Development Department when appointed in December 2016 and previously served as the city manager of Dunedin, Florida for nine years and city manager of Oberlin, Ohio for 11 years. Barack Matite was previously City Manager of Eudora, Kansas (population 6,449) and holds a master’s in public administration from the University of Kansas.
It’s unclear what prompted the resignation, but we can assume it’s related to the Mayor and Council Closed Session meeting yesterday, which was to conclude the Performance Improvement Plan that the Mayor and Council instituted 90 days ago. Unfortunately, once again the Mayor and Council is unable to follow Maryland Open Meetings Act and failed to post the adjournment of the meeting, which was held exclusively on WebEx. In Maryland, “After a public body has met in a session closed under § 3-305, it must include a summary of the session in the minutes of its next public meeting. Public bodies may instead include the summary in the minutes of the public meeting held that day—that way, the public will see the summary sooner—but should follow a consistent practice or include a cross-reference in the later set of minutes so that the public knows where to look” (Chapter 6, OMA). I strongly recommend the latter approach to provide greater transparency to government, but so far, the Mayor and Council has been reluctant to go down this path. What are they trying to hide? Perhaps this an issue for the upcoming election.
The City Manager is the “executive officer and head of the administrative branch of the City” and one of three employees that report directly to the Mayor and Council (Chapter 2, Rockville City Code). City Manager Rob DiSpirito served six years. The previous City Manager, Barbara B. Matthews, served almost four years, when she was fired by the Mayor and Council in a contentious 3-2 vote (Mayor Bridget Newton and Councilmembers Beryl Feinberg and Virginia Onley voted to terminate her employment; Councilmembers Mark Pierzchala and Julie Palakovich Carr voted against). City Manager Scott Ullery retired in December 2011 after seven years following conflicts with Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio over the management of the City. Notice a pattern? Ironically, most of the current city council members have NO experience supervising employees at a management or executive level, yet make crucial decisions about hiring, supervising, and terminating these types of employees. Are management skills an increasingly important qualification for Mayor and Council?
Follow-up: On August 19, 2023, Barry Jackson, candidate for Rockville City Council, insisted that current Mayor and Council should not begin the search for the new City Manager but instead that the “newly elected Mayor and City Council hire a City Manager through a transparent and thorough process.”
Can You Buy Your Way onto City Council?
Election campaigns, even small local ones like Rockville City Council, require time and money. With the absence of a local newspaper to reach voters, candidates have to either spend most of their time walking door to door or most of their funds to print and mail campaign literature. In 2019—the last election for Mayor and Council—candidates for Council spent from $424 to $48,776 on their campaigns. Does money matter in local elections? Absolutely, under the right conditions.
As can be seen in the chart above, the candidates who spent the most money (Ashton, Feinberg, Myles, and Pierzchala) were elected to City Council—with one notable exception (Gottfried). The difference? Gottfried had less than a handful of individual contributors to his campaign; his campaign was mostly self-funded. The successful candidates had lots of money and contributors, and those who tended to spend less per vote had more Rockville residents as supporters. I suspect local supporters are more influential on the election than contributors who live out of town.
Looking more closely, successful candidates in 2019 needed at least 5,000 votes and spent between $3 to $10 per vote. In other words, to win a City Council election in Rockville required $15,000 to $50,000—mostly raised from local residents. If a candidate can’t raise those funds locally, they will need to put in a lot of their own money. At the other end of the spectrum, small campaigns who spent $500 to $5,000 didn’t have the capacity to gain sufficient support to cross the 5,000-vote threshold. If there are candidates you’d love to see on City Council, give them your financial support. A contribution of $25, $50, or $100 can make a big difference, especially in September.
The middle-sized campaign of $2 to $5 per voter ($10,000 to $20,000) seem to rely not only on the number of local contributors but also a thoughtfully-crafted campaign. To get out the vote, candidates have lots of ways to spend money (mail, literature, photography, videos, buttons, yard signs, t-shirts, social media, advertising) and time (parades, events, walking door to door, planning meetings, Community Forums, phone calls) but some are more effective than others. Campaigns of this size can’t shoot from the hip; they have to plan and manage carefully. Cotte Griffiths, Hedrick, Lee, Mullican, and Pitman fell into this nebulous and fraught category, so this year’s candidates may want to talk with a couple of them for advice. Perhaps the enlargement of the Council by two seats will allow more middle-sized campaigns to succeed. BTW, Kuan Lee’s expenses are low in the chart but he had over $10,000 in outstanding unpaid bills at the end of 2019, so his expenses are actually closer to $13,000.
The chart also shows that campaigns ramp up in September and at full-speed in October. November is very quiet by comparison because the election is held early in the month. I suspect that Labor Day will begin the campaign season in Rockville and it will include the usual craziness of mud-slinging and dirty tricks (yes, it unfortunately happens in Rockville).
The data for the chart is derived from each candidate’s campaign finance report, which are submitted monthly during the height of the campaign season. Rockville developed its own campaign report forms and they desperately need to be revised because most candidates are unable to complete them properly and have to submit amendments regularly—some of them months later. Plus, key information can obscured because the forms allow candidates to reimburse themselves for expenses—the public can’t see where the cash is flowing, which is the primary purpose of campaign finance reports. The Board of Supervisors of Elections needs to revise the form and establish a standard of performance that no more than 25% of reports in any periods are amended.
City Council Campaign On Its Way with Ten Candidates
The 2023 campaign for Rockville Mayor and Council officially started on May 11 when the Board of Supervisors of Elections (BOSE) certified the petitions of Mark Pierzchala for Mayor and Izola Shaw for Council. As of May 25, there are currently two candidates for Mayor and eight candidates for Council—a total of ten people running for office.
- Candidates for the Office of Mayor
- Monique Ashton (currently on Council)
- Mark Pierzchala (currently on Council)
- Candidates for the Office of Council
- Kate Fulton
- Barry Jackson
- Ricky Mui
- David Myles (currently on Council)
- Paul Scott
- Izola Shaw
- Marissa Valeri
- Adam Van Grack
That’s low compared to 2019 (13 people) and 2015 (11 people), so I suspect more candidates will be added, especially with the number of seats on Council increasing from four to six. Indeed, Harold Hodges’ petition for Council is expected to be certified in June but I’m guessing that incumbents Bridget Newton or Beryl Feinberg won’t run again if they haven’t already submitted petitions. The deadline to submit petitions is Friday, September 8. If you want the latest information, the City Clerk’s office is maintaining a list online (BOSE meeting minutes and videos are not always available).
The big challenge for the candidates is getting the attention of voters. Yard signs and direct mail will be essential, but it is incredibly expensive (especially as postage rates increase on July 9) and can create a campaign budget that easily crosses the $10,000 line—which can discourage good candidates for office. Candidate for Council David Myles demonstrates the tenacity required when running for office nowadays. In the last election, he knocked on the doors of every voter at least twice. Last week, he already dropped off a brochure at my house.
The big challenge for voters is sorting through the candidates’ slogans and platitudes (lower taxes!, fight crime! end government waste! stop overcrowded schools!—if you hear any of these, choose someone else who understands the issues better). With no local newspaper covering Rockville on a regular basis to provide an independent perspective, voters will have to rely on what the candidates say (hmm, sounds mighty biased to me). It will be the candidate’s postcard in the mail, one of the three candidate forums, meeting candidates as they walk the neighborhood, the Rockville 11 special broadcast, or the City’s voter’s guide. I’ll try to do my part in navigating the noise, so check back regularly. Comments and suggestions are welcome.
The election for Mayor and six Councilmembers to four-year terms will be on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Rockville will conduct its second vote-by-mail election with ballots mailed to all registered voters who live within Rockville city limits by October 13. Ballots must be returned via an official drop box, by mail to City Hall, or in person on Election Day at City Hall and Thomas Farm Community Center. All ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. More details at Voting and Elections on the city website.
Rockville City Manager Faces Performance Improvement Plan in Surprise Session
In an extraordinary last-minute Closed Session held on Thursday morning, May 11, 2023, the Rockville City Council put the City Manager Rob DiSpirito into a three-month Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) for reasons unknown. Improvement Plan (PIP) is a formal, structured process designed to help underperforming employees identify and overcome performance issues. It outlines specific goals, expectations, and timelines for improvement, along with support, resources, and regular progress evaluations to facilitate success and growth.
When the Council came out of Closed Session, Councilmember Monique Ashton quickly moved for the PIP and was supported by Councilmember Beryl Feinberg. Mayor Bridget Newtown rushed for a vote without a discussion, but was interrupted by Councilmember Mark Pierzchala to note that, “I don’t know how the sequence of events unrolled but I’m not going to vote for it. I think things have moved past the point where a performance improvement plan is going to be effective. So I’m gonna vote against it. I had asked to make the first motion but that was not allowed, apparently. I’m not sure where that came from. Thank you.” The motion passed 4-1 with Councilmember Pierzchala voting against. A brief three-minute video is available at https://youtu.be/fIu7e9cHhoo, but of course, the closed session portion is held in secret and it’s unclear how long they debated the issue.
I typically discourage Closed Sessions because they are secret and prevent voters from knowing what’s happening—and Closed Sessions usually deal with major issues. Fortunately, Maryland has an Open Meetings Act to keep council and board meetings available to the public so they can be “in the room where it happens.” A quick introduction is available as FAQs, but here are a fundamentals:
- The Maryland Open Meeting Act lists 15 topics that the City Counci) may choose to discuss behind closed doors under specific conditions. These topics or “exceptions,” include personnel discussions about particular individuals, the receipt of legal advice from the public body’s attorney, and subjects that must be kept confidential under other laws. A discussion on “the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of an employee over whom the Mayor and Council has jurisdiction” is an appropriate reason for the Closed Session on May 11.
- Public bodies must make an agenda available before each meeting, either when notice is posted, if the items of business are known then, or as soon as practicable, but no later than 24 hours before the meeting. There is an exception for meetings held in response to emergencies. This Closed Session was not publicized as an emergency and the the agenda was posted on the city website on May 10 at 5:20 pm, that’s less than 18 hours in advance, so is in violation of the Act. Furthermore, it was not sent out as an email to those who subscribe to the City Council’s agendas (thanks to a blog reader who alerted me to this meeting).
- This meeting was not publicized an emergency, so why the rush? Two councilmembers had difficulties attending in person. Councilmember Myles was absent at the start of the meeting and showed up virtually later. Councilmember Ashton started the meeting virtually and joined in-person by the end. How much of the Closed Session discussion did they miss? Councilmember Ashton didn’t even notice that the vote to go into Closed Session occurred.
Most management leaders will emphasize that employees are the organization’s most important assets so how well are these assets being managed in the City of Rockville? Most of the current councilmembers lack significant experience in supervising employees and the City Council has a poor record of managing its most senior staff. The City Manager, City Attorney, and City Clerk have each been dismissed during Mayor Newton’s tenure. After a while, the only common denominator to these problems is the City Council.
The City Council needs to provide a better explanation for this decision and how they handle Closed Sessions. Or it’s time to rethink their privilege to serve.
May 21, 2023: This post was corrected to show a vote of 4-1 in the caption of the photo.
Max for Rockville 
