Brunswick will hold an election for three City Council seats on Aug. 3; filling a fourth vacated seat on the council will have to wait until October.

Councilman Jeremy Biser resigned his seat July 2 because his job requires him to relocate to Pennsylvania, according to an e-mail from city administrator Dave Dunn. A special election to fill the rest of Biser's term will be held Oct. 5.

The seats of Councilmen Tom Smith, Mary Elizabeth Bowie and Beth Johnson are up for election, and all three have filed for re-election. Along with the incumbents, residents Andrew Alger, Ellen Renfro and Angel White have filed to run.

Councilmen serve four-year terms and earn $300 annually, according to the city's charter. The council meets twice per month.

Mary Elizabeth Bowie

Bowie was elected to the council in a special election last year to fill a vacated seat.

Bowie said she initially decided to run as a way to better serve the community. She said her year on the council served to inform her about the process of city government.

"I enjoy working with the citizens of Brunswick," she said.

Bowie cited installation of the new, 15-minute parking signs at the post office to alleviate the problem of illegally parked cars as an achievement.

She said that maintaining the city's parks and recreation offering is the primary issue she wants to focus on if re-elected. Bowie acts as the council's liaison for senior citizens.

"I really enjoy working with seniors," she said. "They're so full of wisdom."

Beth Johnson

Johnson, 39, is self-employed and is seeking a third term as a councilwoman. Her first term lasted just one year, as she replaced a departing councilman in 2005.

Johnson said the most rewarding experience in her five years of service has been the ability to see all stages of a project as it progresses.

"You actually saw the budget get approved," she said. "You actually saw the bids come in. That's so cool, to see a project through from beginning to end. You don't normally see tax dollars, that's hard to for people to understand, actually seeing things through to fruition."

While she's enjoyed being part of the city council, she said the job comes with many challenges.

"Justifying spending money on things," she said is the council's biggest challenge. "Whether we borrow money or not, how do you make the budget work? There just aren't ways with the town to raise funds ... If you keep upping the pool costs people can't afford it. The balance is the hardest part, balancing meaning keeping things reasonable but still being able to pay the bills."

Tom Smith

Smith, 65, is an engineer facilities manager in Virginia and has served on Brunswick City Council since 2002, and also served on the council from 1988 to 1994 and as the mayor from 1994 through 2000.

He said he decided to run for City Council to be more involved with local politics, as he had lived in the city for 10 years at that point, "I figured, what the heck?" he said. "I wanted to give something back to my community."

Smith said he's running for re-election because the city has financial challenges ahead of it, both from pending lawsuits and the economy, and he wants to make sure the city handles it properly.

"I want to be here to make sure we live within our means," he said.

Smith said his favorite accomplishment of his time spent on the council was the acquisition of the land for Square Corner Park after the store on the location burned down. He said the city purchased the property for $5,000, and it was then turned into a small recreation area.

"We took something that was nothing and made it into something," he said.

Andrew Alger

Alger, a 21-year-old senior at Hood College in Frederick, has spent his whole life in the Brunswick area.

He attended Brunswick elementary, middle and high schools, and political science and law classes have sparked his interest in running for city council.

"I've always been really interested in politics," he said. "I've always had an opinion. I've always liked talking to people."

He said he wanted to run for a seat vacated in 2009, but was not yet old enough to run. The city requires candidates to be 21 years old by the filing date, and Alger made the deadline by just a few days. "I turned 21 on July 3rd," he said. "It was just enough time to get the paperwork in."

Alger said if elected, he'll try to work closely with the city's Main Street Maryland program.

"One of the things I'm really looking forward to is trying to help out the Main Street organization more," Alger said. " ... It's almost like an investment for Brunswick.

You're putting some money into these programs that will eventually help Brunswick. It's a small investment that can pay off."

Ellen Renfro

Renfro is the president of the parent teacher organization at Brunswick Elementary school. She did not respond to interview requests.

Angel White

White, 41, owner of Head-Quarters barber salon in Brunswick, said she decided to run for office to get more involved in the city, though she admits she doesn't have prior political experience. "I'm as green as they come," she said.

She's a member of the board for the Clubhouse for Kids, an afterschool program in Brunswick that provides homework help and activities for children, and said she wanted to do more for the city.

"I wanted to become more involved," she said. "I wanted to help with the city and make it even more of a place for people to want to be, to want to live and enjoy their lives, and also to work on being more of a transparent government. Be a voice for the citizens."

She said if she was elected, she'd work to make Brunswick more accessible to people who want to open businesses in the city.

"I want to be able to help with attracting more employers, so we can promote more jobs here in Brunswick, so that people can work on making it a place where we can work as well as live," she said. "And also to help the small businesses to be able to thrive."
by Tripp Laino | Staff Writer