Residents voted for a mix of outsiders and those seasoned in village politics as they went to the polls Saturday to choose new members for the Columbia Association Board of Directors.

On the seasoned front, voters narrowly re-elected Phillip Kirsch, 62, a retired software developer, giving him a fourth term on the CA Board. For the second year in a row, he defeated Realtor Linda Odum, 67, a former board member, this time by only 10 votes.

Kirsch won, 308-298, a smaller margin than the 35 votes he won by last year.

During his campaign, Kirsch said he supported roughly 90 percent of the General Growth plan but wanted to see shorter development phases, housing for a full spectrum of incomes and a more park-like design for Symphony Woods.

In the Wilde Lake Village Board race, the only one of the 10 village board races that was contested this year, five of the six candidates won seats. The highest vote-getter was Nancy Alexander, followed by Helen Kolbe, Edwin Sroka, Vincent Marando and Bill Santos.

Terry Kuhn had the lowest vote total and did not win a seat.

In Hickory Ridge, voters picked Gregg Schwind, 42, a trial attorney and six-year member of the village board as their new board representative. Schwind defeated University of Maryland graduate student Sharlene Ferguson, 22, by 20 votes, winning 135-115.

Schwind has lived in Columbia for eight years and cited downtown redevelopment as one of the major issues facing the board this year during his campaign.

Results were not immediately available for Wilde Lake, but voters there were deciding between incumbent Phillip Kirsch and former CA board member Linda Odum, who unsuccessfully challenged him last year, but lost by 35 votes.

Both have several years of experience on the CA board.

Columbia voters also choose a few candidates who are coming in fresh to CA politics.

In Long Reach, they choose Russell Swatek, 62, a retired computer software programmer and manager as their new representative. He defeated James Howard, 29, a systems analyst who served on CA’s appointed budget committee, 301-164.

During his campaign, Swatek said he hoped to revive Columbia’s community spirit, expressed concern about the density in the proposed downtown Columbia plan and said he wants to make CA more transparent.

In another race, Dorsey’s Search voters chose Kathleen Dragovich, 46, a consultant for two nonprofit organizations as their new representative. She defeated Dan Woodruff, 56, a management consultant and current chairman of the Dorsey’s Search Village Board by 23 votes, 101-78.

Dragovich, a 10-year resident, said during her campaign she wanted to improve communication between the board and residents. She also said she wants to see more affordable housing in downtown redevelopment efforts and more of an effort to preserve open space.

Three CA board members gained their seats this year without any competition.River Hill representative Michael Cornell and Oakland Mills representative Alex Hekimian ran for re-election unopposed and first-time CA candidate Shari Zaret, who replaces Evan Coren in Kings Contrivance, was also unopposed in her race.

The new members will be replacing three longtime members of the CA board who decided to step down this year: Miles Coffman in Hickory Ridge, Henry Dagenais in Long Reach and Tom O’Connor in Dorsey’s Search.

RESULTS:

Wilde Lake
Phillip Kirsch 308
Linda Odum 298

Hickory Ridge
Gregg Schwind 135
Sharlene Ferguson 115

Long Reach
Russell Swatek 301
James Howard 164

Dorsey's Search
Kathleen Dragovich 101
Dan Woodruff 78

Wilde Lake Village Board:
Nancy Alexander 454
Helen Kolbe 430
Edwin Sroka 400
Vincent Marando 392
Bill Santos 381
Terry Kuhn 341

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