Village elections will be held on Saturday, April 26 from 9AM – 3PM at Kahler Hall. If you will have some spare time and would like to spend a couple of hours assisting our Election Chair, George Cronin, with the Election Day Event, please contact us at 410-730-0770. Volunteers will be needed between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. on election day.
There are three Board of Director vacancies and one Columbia Council Representative vacancy; the terms of office are two years for all vacancies.
The candidates for the Harper’s Choice Village Board are Alicia S. Kong and Robin Procida. As there are more vacancies than candidates and per Section 2.03A of the HCCA Bylaws, the qualified candidates “…shall be deemed to have been elected by the members and the Board of Directors shall appoint such nominees to the available director positions for the term provided for in Article 8 of the Association’s Articles of Incorporation.”
The candidates for the Harper’s Choice Columbia Council Representative are Robert T. Fontaine and Alan A. Klein.
Statement of Bob Fontaine
Columbia’s needs must be addressed in a future-thinking manner so that it can continue to thrive. The Columbia Association is key to furthering that goal, so I am running to serve on the CA Board of Directors/Columbia Council.
I moved into Harper’s Choice in 1988, and I’ve lived in all its neighborhoods, in a condominium, townhouse, and single family home. I’ve been a tenant and a landlord. My kids went to local schools, and my in-laws moved to Longfellow in 1968 and have lived here since. I am a member of the Harper’s Choice Village Board. l understand this community.
As an attorney in government who advises two state boards, I am familiar with large budgets and the workings of boards. I believe the CA Board of Directors/Columbia Council should provide direction, not directions, and make decisions that will foster a better Columbia for all, now and in the future.
Statement of Alan Klein
We are privileged to live in Columbia, whose visionary founder, Jim Rouse, created our community based on social and economic justice. As beneficiaries of those principles, we have a responsibility to carry them forward.
We need to create new conversations among our neighbors in Columbia about CA. Do the proposals by CA for luxury spas and gimmicky attractions in Symphony Woods fit with Jim Rouse’s vision or do they simply mirror the materialism we see is so many places?
Recently CA has placed too much emphasis on its own corporate interests rather than those of residents. We must return Symphony Woods to CA control so that we can create the kind of “Central Park” that Jim Rouse envisioned.
I ask for your support in becoming your CA rep so we can work together to manage our precious open space and recreational facilities, which were left to the people of Columbia.