Two incumbents and a member of the Town’s Environment Committee were elected to the Town of Chevy Chase Town Council on Tuesday. Incumbents Al Lang and Kathy Strom, and environment committee member Vicky Taplin defeated four other candidates for the three available seats.
Lang, who has served on the council for more than six years, made waves recently when he came out against the Purple Line lobbying contract, in which the town hired lobbyists to fight against the Purple Line. In his candidate statement, he said he would promote solid fiscal responsibility and cited his vote against the $360,000 contract to Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney. “Sadly, this contract lacked critical elements; there was not a request for proposal; it was not a competitive process; and we did not negotiate price.”
Strom, a lawyer and former mayor of the town, said in her candidate statement that she would “defend the special qualities of the town against development at our borders by working for a better Purple Line” and preserving buffer zones between the town and Bethesda.
Vicky Taplin, a lawyer and town resident for the past 15 years, said in her candidate statement that she would “push to mitigate the negative effects of the Purple Line” and work to create more open space in the town. Taplin served as chairwoman of the environment committee from 2007 to 2010. Taplin received the most votes in the election, with Strom second and Lang third.
Here’s the final vote results:
Grant Davies: 366
Donald Farren: 163
Kathie Legg: 390
Al Lang: 400
Kathy Strom: 467
Vicky Taplin: 492
Deborah Vollmer: 74
