It's nice to see School Board Member Nancy Navarro in the race. Our school kids are our future. And I'm sure that Mrs. Elena Fennel reminds Mark of the importance of the Latino population every day. Mark's unique experience with Citizens Against Government Waste will bring a new perspective to this campaign, the council and the county's budgets for the next three years. I'm sure that even after Mark and Nancy face each other on May 13, Mark, as a life-long county resident and new member of the Council, will continue to work in harmony with School
Board Member Nancy Navarro.

I welcome Ms. Navarro into the race. Diverging viewpoints openly expressed will deliver the best concensus of opinion for the district.

However, the facts of the matter are the middle class is being absolutely decimated with higher taxes. We are in a recession. Many of our senior citizens can't even afford to live in the county anymore. Ike Leggett will soon release his budget detailing the necessity of surpassing the Charter Limit on property tax collection. Which I have pledged not to support.

VOTE FENNEL ON APRIL 15 FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF!

Mark D. Fennel
Republican Candidate for County Council in the Special Election

Every cloud has a silver lining. I am terribly sorry that Marilyn Praisner had to pass away. But without her death, Leggett and the Knapp council would have continued raising taxes, especially property taxes, until the end of 2010 no matter what misery they caused, no matter how many foreclosures they brought about, regardless of how many they kept out of the housing market and no matter the thousands that voted with their feet, as my brother did, and left the county.

Now, we have a chance for change, for some hope. Mark Fennel is a long time employee of Citizens Against Government Waste, a nationally known non-profit organization. He is committed to the charter property tax limit. Under our 2008 ballot question, Fennel will be able to stop efforts to tax our way out of a recession.

And we are in a recession, no doubt. Gambling revenues in Las Vegas dropped 1.3% in January. The first drop since 2001!

Gasoline is headed to $4 a and Leggett wants to raise gasoline taxes. Water, Metro and electricity bills are up. We have already had increases in computer, sales, income, corporate and car taxes. Any more and Leggett and Knapp would be booed on sight.

Fennel has a point of view absent from the council now. Without this special election on Tax Day, we may have never had this chance to save ourselves.

I think I speak for many Montgomery County parents when I say that I can't help but feel betrayed when the President of the Board of Education jumps at the first opportunity to ditch the Board mid-term to advance her political career in the Council.

What about the commitment to schools, teachers, and OUR KIDS that she spoke about so passionately while running for her Board seat so recently? Marilyn Praisner's Council seat is available now! On to bigger and better! What does she know about the diverse and complex needs of Council District 4? Unlike former Board members who were later elected to the Council AFTER SERVING OUT THEIR BOARD TERMS, Ms. Navarro has now shown that her own advancement is what she cares about, not our kids, not the stewardship of our school system, and certainly not the advocacy of Montgomery County Council District 4.

I am extremely disappointed.

Didn't Governor O'Malley run for Governor while still serving as Mayor of Baltimore? Aren't Senators Clinton, McCain and Obama running for President while still serving as U. S. Senators?

Dear Very Disappointed Parent in District 4

I do not think that many parents in Montgomery County will miss Nancy Navarro should she be elected to the County Council, but I am also inclined to say that due to the fact that other candidates are more attuned to what Marilyn Praisner stood for, Navarro is not likely to win the seat.

Unfortunately, the fact remains that the Board of Education is used by many merely as a stepping stone to much greater things.

The standard is not what Marilyn stood for. The standard is what do the nearly 200,000 people who live in the 4th District need now. The economy is far worse than in November, 2006. And we have had the tax-increasing special session since then.
The council needs to change the course they have had for years. Vote for change! Vote for hope for the future! Vote for Mark Fennel on April 15(tax day) and May 13.

Too much campaign spin coming from the Fennel/Praisner people on here. Very annoying and very transparent.

Stop it. Though, I at least can accept that the Fennel/Ficker forces are not posting anonymously.

Campaign Spin is your real name?

I have decided only one thing in this race...that I will not be voting for Navarro. She has left the families of District 5 high and dry in terms of representation on the BOE. Hell, you can't even get her to return your call even when it involves a school in the very district that she represents. I'm going to give Steve K. and Don P. a good hard look before I decide.