Tuesday, February 5, 2013

In Quest to Become 2014 MoCo Exec, Doug Duncan Assembling Slate of County Council Candidates to Challenge Incumbents

PLUS: DOUG DUNCAN WORKING FOR PRINCE GEORGE'S DEVELOPMENT EFFORT

UPDATE: A knowledgeable source alleges that Doug Duncan did not volunteer to The Gazette that he was assembling a slate of candidates; rather the comments that appear below were in response to a question from a reporter. Indeed, several MoCo politicos have expressed skepticism that Duncan was actually forming a team of County Council candidates. Hmm.

Maryland Juice recently noted that area journalists were wondering where former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan was hiding. Many felt that he disappeared from the public spotlight shortly after announcing a 2014 run for MoCo Executive. The Washington Post's Bill Turque, however, was able to track Duncan down for comment, and it turns out he's been hanging out at Cosi (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: Duncan says he is alive, well and still running in 2014.... "I’m raising money, organizing a campaign and meeting a lot of people," he said in a phone interview Wednesday evening. "I find it a little odd that people say they haven’t seen me... We’re going to run the best campaign I’ve ever run...."

For the moment, those wondering where he’s been can probably catch him at the Cosi in downtown Rockville....

DUNCAN ASSEMBLING TEAM TO CHALLENGE COUNTY COUNCIL INCUMBENTS - Doug Duncan is not simply planning on running for County Executive in 2014; as in his past runs for office, he plans on assembling a slate of County Council candidates to team up with. Notably, Duncan does not want to slate with any incumbents and will instead be bringing challengers onto his slate. This is an interesting move, given that some of the County Council incumbents are previous Duncan slate-mates. Check out the report from The Gazette's Kate Alexander (excerpt below):
GAZETTE: Duncan is considering a slate of County Council candidates to share the ballot, but is not considering incumbents. "I’m taking a very close look at that, I’m giving that very close consideration, I’m considering that very heavily," he said of assembling a slate.

Two council members elected on the 2002 "End Gridlock" slate that nabbed Duncan his third term as executive still sit on the council, George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park and Nancy Floreen (D-At large) of Garrett Park. Current county Economic Development Director Steve Silverman and former county councilman Michael Subin were also on the 2002 slate.

But Duncan is looking elsewhere for his possible 2014 team. "I think we need a team of people who are working together with the same vision for the county," he said. "Right now I’m focusing on people that are outside of the council...."

DOUG DUNCAN CURRENTLY WORKING FOR PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY DEVELOPMENT EFFORT - Another mystery surrounding Doug Duncan has been solved by the media. Many had been wondering how Duncan was currently supporting himself financially. It turns out that the would-be leader of Montgomery County may be working against smart growth efforts in Prince George's County. The Washington Post's Jonathan O'Connell flagged Duncan's involvement in a recent article (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: Smart growth advocates have applauded Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III’s commitment to support new projects near the county’s 15 Metro stations, but as the county executive considers the best place to put a new $650 million regional hospital, he is making them nervous.

Baker plans to hold a forum Feb. 28 at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex to begin vetting four possible sites for the hospital. Two of them, the shuttered Landover Mall and the newly built Woodmore Town Centre, are nearly three miles from a Metro station in locations that require pedestrians to cross a Capital Beltway interchange.

To the pro-transit crowd that has backed Baker as he presses the federal government on the importance of locating agencies near Metro stations, choosing either site would be a mistake...

The competition from other developers however, is likely to be stiff. Lerner Cos., owner of Landover Mall, has hired Doug Duncan, former (and maybe future) Montgomery County executive, to help sway the decision its way. Lerner executives did not respond to inquiries, and Duncan declined to comment. "That’s not what they hired me to do," he said....

MORE ON THE RETURN OF DOUG DUNCAN SOON!

No comments:

Post a Comment