Although city elections are still several months away, one result is guaranteed: College Park will welcome a new mayor in 2010.
Stephen Brayman, who in his eight years as mayor oversaw the expansion of the city’s police force and the passage of a controversial rent control law, announced at last week’s College Park City Council meeting that he will not seek reelection.
His decision leaves former District 3 Councilman Andy Fellows as the only formally announced candidate in this year’s mayoral election. Fellows, a six-year member of the city council and a former Graduate Student Government president, has the support of his predecessor.
“I fully support Andy,” Brayman said. “I’ll formally endorse him when and if he wants me too.”
The mayor signaled his departure two years ago, after Fellows decided not to run in the 2007 mayoral race and Brayman said he expected to support him in 2009. But this winter, Brayman showed signs of second thoughts and said he was considering a reelection campaign.
Ultimately, Brayman opted to forego a fifth term, saying he was proud of his tenure and wanted to spend more time with his wife and two daughters.
“I’ve had a great run at the office; I think I’ve set the bar high,” Brayman said. “I’m satisfied.”
He added he thought it was time to leave.
Fellows, the Chesapeake regional director for the grassroots environmental organization Clean Water Action, has a record of working closely with university administrators and supporting environmental causes in the city. As mayor, he said he would focus on improving relations with the university and the county to promote smart growth.
“I believe there’s still a ways to go in terms of coordinating development together,” he said.
He said he’d focus developing the areas near the College Park and Greenbelt Metro stations, adding that he’d aim to diversifying the downtown’s dining and nightlife options so that it doesn’t become an afterthought to the much-anticipated East Campus development.
Achieving this goal, he said, would require some input from a broad group of constituents.
“We need to make sure the community voice is heard, and I include students in that community,” he said.
Fellows said he admired Brayman’s dogged work ethic and considers the mayor a friend.
“He’s one of the hardest working mayors I’m aware of,” he said. “That’s one set of expectations that will be hard to live up to.”
During Brayman’s tenure, the city has also seen the development of two high-rise student housing complexes, with plans for several more in the works. But landlords have also sued the city, claiming a rent control law that was passed under Brayman discriminated against students.
Last year, Brayman eyed crime. Several years of rising crime rates and three riots gave the city a national reputation for ruckus. In response, Brayman was a vocal advocate for raising taxes so the city could hire three contract police officers to patrol College Park full-time.
While Brayman’s work ethic is universally admired, elements of his management style have rankled colleagues. He’s famous for cutting off input from fellow councilmembers – particularly District 2 Councilman Jack Perry. District 4 Councilwoman Mary Cook emerged as a critic of the mayor, calling him a “bully” who strong-armed council members into agreeing with him.
“The mayor has strong opinions and he’s aggressive and he likes to win,” District 2 Councilman Bob Catlin told The Diamondback in February. “He has power and he likes to use it.”
Perry, who has served in city hall for more than 20 years, colored Brayman’s strong will differently.
“Steve went to the University of Maryland and had one life experience, but he doesn’t want to give my life experience any merit,” Perry said.
While Brayman isn’t running for reelection and said he has “no plans” to run for a higher office, he said he would be involved in this fall’s elections.
“I think the city would be better served with a few new councilmembers,” he said, declining to name the councilmembers he would prefer to replace.
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