With 12 people running for three seats on the Havre de Grace City Council and the office of mayor, many voters indicated that they voted for candidates they knew best.
Preliminary election results were not available as of press time. But many voters interviewed by The Examiner said they were supporting Councilman Gary Wasielewski for mayor.
“If you have an idea of who a person actually is, you do get an idea of how they?d lead,” said Charlene Smith, a resident of Garfield Road.
She said she voted in part due to the connections she had to several of the candidates: Her daughter had Wasielewski as a high school teacher; Smith had council candidate Randolph Craig’s father ? County Executive David Craig ? as her own teacher in middle school; another candidate had a daughter in the same Girl Scout troop as Smith’s daughter.
In such small-town elections, introducing oneself to voters was just as important as creating a platform, said Councilman Wayne Dougherty, now running for mayor.
As a history teacher at Havre de Grace High School, Wasielewski was cited by many as the best-known candidate.
“Some of the [council?s] prior decisions and the leniency toward builders should have been looked at more,” said Diane DeMeo, a resident of Bayview Estates who said she voted for Wasielewski in order to get “new blood” into the mayor’s office.
Despite being one of three current councilmen seeking to unseat Mayor John Correrri, Wasielewski was often considered the newest and best to address development.
“I’m very much against runaway development, which I feel has occurred here,” said Rob Hood, another resident of Garfield Road. “I hate to see what was beautiful farmland become like what’s up on the hill,” he said, pointing toward the immense new Bulle Rock development.
Officials said turnout was good on the sunny spring day, with candidates set up beneath canopies outside St. Patrick’s Church Hall, shaking hands and distributing pamphlets to voters. More than 950 ballots had been cast as of 2:45 p.m., well before the rush of voters after work. There are approximately 6,750 active registered voters in the city.
“I think the majority of people know who they’re going to vote for at this point, but you have to say hello and let them know you’re interested,” said Councilman Fred Cullum, also running for mayor.
