Candidates for the open Howard County Council District 1 seat had opposing plans for improving the county?s public schools.
“There is a lack of participation from the school system in the planning process. There is no excuse for that,” said Tony Salazar, an attorney for Provident Bank.
The County Council should work with the school system to study the ways the redevelopment of downtown Columbia will affect the school system, Salazar said.
The proposed changes could draw up to 5,500additional residences, according to the Department of Planning and Zoning.
Current School Board Member Courtney Watson said she would focus on helping the school system pay for new initiatives, such as all-day kindergarten and defibrillators in schools.
“The County Council needs a member who understands the challenges public education faces today, including the constant stream of unfunded mandates put upon local school systems from the federal and state government,” Watson said.
The candidates offered solutions to the dissent between residents and the planning and zoning department.
Salazar said the department should hire a liaison for community organizations and make information about the planning process more understandable.
The planning and zoning department throws “out raw data, and [doesn?t] analyze it. If the department of planning and zoning puts a waiver application on their Web site, we have no way of knowing what the effect will be on our county,” he said.
Watson said tighter restrictions should prevent developers from building new houses in the midst of existing communities that do not want them.
“We have a lot of established neighborhoods that are being negatively impacted. We need to review the regulations and improve them,” she said.
