Tag Archives: Jean Sperling

Montgomery County

Incumbents Reelected in Close Race in Village of Martin’s Additions

Three people competed for two seats yesterday on the Village of Martin’s Additions Council. Here are the results:

Richard Krajeck (incumbent), 148
Katja Hill (incumbent), 147
Katie Filipczyk Howard, 122
Write-Ins, 17

Former Town Manager Jean Sperling received four of the write-in votes. The Election Committee reported a creepy twist during the nominations process:

In a bizarre nominations twist this year, the Election Committee received seven anonymous envelopes in the mail, all with the same block printing on the front. Inside were typed lists, nominating a total of 41 people as candidates for the VMA Council. There was no signature from the unknown sender, and it looked like the names were drawn at random from the VMA directory, but the Election Committee dutifully contacted all 41 people. The startled “nominees” thanked the Committee for checking with them, said no, they did not wish to run for election, and said they had not given anyone permission to submit their names. No one on the list told us that he or she intended to be a candidate this year.
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Chevy Chase

Martin’s Additions Ousts Incumbent

The Village of Martin’s Additions, an independent municipality in Chevy Chase, held elections on May 14th for three of the five seats on the Town Council. All are elected at-large within the small town. Two incumbents, John Fleming and Bill Lebovich, sought reelection to second terms. They faced four challengers: Richard Krajeck, Katya Hill, Mark Weiner, and Katie Filipczyk Howard.

The major issue appeared to be the management of the Village by longtime Manager Jean Sperling, a resident of the Village. Hill and Krajeck were supported by the group that wanted change. Krajeck served previously for seven years on the Council, including as Chairman. Hill touted her work as a Project Manager at Fannie Mae.

Krajeck and Hill easily won the first two seats. Lebovitch held on by 12 votes despite winning support from just 36% of Martin’s Additions voters. Town Manager Jean Sperling resigned, as the faction seeking new management now controlled four of the five seats on the Council. Here are the results:

Richard Krajeck, 255 (64.9%)
Katya Hill, 246 (62.6%)
Bill Lebovitch, 143 (36.4%)
Mark Weiner, 131 (33.3%)
Jon Fleming, 123 (31.2%)
Katie Filipczyk Howard, 111 (28.2%)
Write-Ins, 3 (0.8%)

The percentages are calculated out of the 393 valid ballots. There were also 11 rejected ballots for a total of 404 voters.

Unlike in the nearby Town of Chevy Chase, people who wanted new blood in the Martin’s Additions had the novel idea of running candidates openly instead of an unethical stealth campaign backed by two sitting members, John Bickerman and Al Lang, of the Council. In the Town of Chevy Chase, the two councilmembers still refuse to answer questions. In contrast, the Martin’s Additions Council doesn’t face such questions, as they won the old-fashioned way.

Glad to see that the spirit of democracy still lives in part of Chevy Chase.

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