Harfordnow has prepared the questions below from email submissions and blog entries. We will be emailing these questions to each of the candidates for mayor and city council in Aberdeen.

The next candidate in our "5 Questions for the Aberdeen Candidates" series is Rick Denu, who is running for city council. Rick is a former corporal in the Aberdeen Police Department. You can read more about Rick Denu and his ideas for the city at his website: Denu For You.

What preparations do you believe Aberdeen needs to undertake for BRAC? Do you feel like we are prepared or on the right track? How will you prioritize the preparations needed?

Some time ago the County Executive established a committee which Aberdeen’s Mayor was a part of called B.P.A.C. That committee was charged with creating a mission statement and action plan relating B.R.A.C. The B.P.A.C. recommendations were the result of four subcommittees’ findings in the areas of land use; transportation and infrastructure; education, technology and workforce development; and public safety, health and community services, were used by the B.P.A.C. Executive Committee to cultivate the County’s implementation strategy, identify timelines, and pin point lead agencies. B.P.A.C. has grown into what is now called the Chesapeake Science & Security Corridor Consortium which Aberdeen’s Mayor is a part of. Presently all grant funding requests for municipalities are placed with this office and to date Aberdeen has requested over nine-hundred thousand dollars in grants for a water study (University of MD) and for a government information system (K.C.I. Technologies). Additionally, the consortium has implemented a grant funded demographic study (SAGE Group) and a public facilities & land use inventory study (Tischler) which are presently finished or near completion. When completed, these studies will clearly identify the present state of affairs and what will be needed in the future as a result of B.R.A.C. I feel that we are slightly behind the curve as far as time, however do feel the region is on track in identifying the needs and solutions associated with this issue. The two key issues that Aberdeen faces regarding B.R.A.C. are water and transportation. The water issue is being studied and a solution has been identified, but funding has not presently been secured. The issue of transportation, i.e.: roadways and multi-modal transportation systems have been adopted by various Maryland State institutions, such as M.D.O.T. and M.A.R.C. Aberdeen government and its citizens must be an integral part of those agencies planning to ensure those issues are addressed properly.

Currently Ripken Stadium is not being used as a revenue source for the city. What methods do you recommend to capitalize on the success of the property?

Ripkin Stadium is a no brainer and the answer is NOT to sell it. What the citizens need to understand is that the Ripkin family would not have engaged in such a large scale investment if there were no monies to be made and secondly that the City can not even find a buyer that would even just take over the loans. What needs to be done is for our government to listen to the recommendations of its own Stadium Board by aggressively promoting the venue for off season events and selling much more advertising on and around the stadium.

Last year, through referendum, the citizens of Aberdeen voted to stop the Wetlands Annexation. However, there are still plans to bring the land into the city. Do you support the latest Wetlands plan? Do you feel the city should be looking to annex more land into the city’s limits? If so, what benefits do you believe annexation provides?

I’m very familiar with the initial annexation plan of the Wetlands property into the City of Aberdeen and all that was attached. I do feel some of the motives on the behalf of our government were not completely forthright and coupled with the failure to inform the citizens of that plan prior to its introduction were large reasons why that proposal had failed; aside from the fact our government also failed to follow the recommendation of its own planning board to not include R3 zoning. Sadly, I’m less familiar with the second proposal of that annexation and need to review the plan before I can comment further on whether or not I would or would not support it.

In answer to the second part of the annexation question, is no not presently. The City of Aberdeen has and identified problem relating to its water supply; a problem that has been discussed for the greater portion of a decade and with no solutions. The City has now undergone a water study seemingly credible and five volumes long which clearly support’s this fact. Presently, there is preliminary planning for a fresh water treatment plant with a de-salinization aspect which was imposed by M.D.E. I feel that conceptually this preliminary idea is viable and needs to be explored further in an attempt to reduce its cost while still providing a quality and expedient source of water for our existing residents and possible future residents before we can even consider the annexation of any more properties into the City proper. With that said, that is my vision, but the citizenry must guide its government solidly on the issue.

Property taxes and service fees have increased greatly over the past few years. How do you propose to lessen the burden on Aberdeen residents?

I believe that the budget is the key to this question. In the past administrations, the City Manager who is a projects and personnel manager was largely charged with the creation of a budget for the Mayor and Council. My future plan is utilize the expertise of the Finance Director to compile a budget based on real needs and not that of a wish list, nor an investment in programs and project that do not yield results. The Finance Director is highly educated in financial planning, the laws governing expenditures and deals with revenues and expenditures on a daily basis. I believe that in addition to this concept the need for a defined procurement process is also in order. Presently the City makes purchases across the board without regular competitive bidding, contracts, interoperability, compatibility, nor accountability of purchased resources. The last portion of fiscal responsibility is to stop spending on frivolous items and adhere to the budget as it was adopted.

What new methods do you believe need to be implemented to combat crime in Aberdeen? Do you believe that current tactics are effective in cleaning up the city?

I believe the officers of the Aberdeen Police Department have been doing an excellent job of policing given the resources availed to them by their leadership over the years. With that said, I do not believe the current strategy of placing poorly equipped officers in small number or ineffective groups are the answer to reducing crime over the long term. The present leadership of the Police Department has implemented a Community Policing Plan, while I believe we need a Community Policing Culture and that has not come to fruition after nearly seven years. We need to continue to evolve our police force in to the well equipped, well trained and community minded culture we’ve been promised or told for some time.

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