The RFCA election and annual meeting is this Wednesday, Sept. 8, at 7:00 PM in the RFES cafeteria! Hope you'll be there; this is your opportunity to really help shape the community.
Nominations will also be accepted from the floor the night of the election, so even if you haven't put your name in as a candidate yet, you can still do so at the meeting (see page 2 of the September newsletter.) All Rodgers Forge residents can attend and vote, as long as they've paid their dues, which can even be paid that night.
Here are all the bios of RFCA candidates that I've received so far. Some of these people I know and some I don't (except for phone conversations to discuss bios) but I'm really excited that we have all these new faces and fresh energy for the board.
JESSICA BROWN-STROTT, running in the 4th District
I have been in around RF since 2001 having lived on Stanmore Road and now Regester Avenue. I grew up in Newark, DE, earned my bachelor's degree in English from Towson University and my master's degree in teaching from Johns Hopkins University. I am currently an adjunct English professor at the Community College of Baltimore County and an active member of the Rodgers Forge Elementary School PTA.
Prior to joining CCBC, I was an elementary school teacher and academic coach in the Cherry Hill neighborhood of Baltimore City. Additionally, I worked in public relations and spent five years at BGE/Constellation Energy in corporate communications. I'm married with two kids, 9 and 2 years old.
I am a resourceful and optimistic person and I hope to bring some new perspective and ideas to the board. Rodgers Forge is a great neighborhood -- I'd like to do my part in keeping it that way.
[Jessica is the one who spoke at Back to School Night on Tuesday and who somehow made the PTA election entertaining.]
MIKE CALWELL, running in the 6th district
I moved to Rodgers Forge in 2000 and live here with my wife and two daughters, who both attend Rodgers Forge Elementary. I grew up in Homeland and attended Calvert Hall College and University of Phoenix. I'm a Principal Consultant at an IT integrator in Columbia, MD.
I've been active in the Rodgers Forge Citizens on Patrol for several years and have represented the COP at events throughout the area as well as patrolled the neighborhood on numerous occasions. My interest in joining the board relates to my desire to keep Rodgers Forge a safe and stable place for the great families who are drawn to this excellent neighborhood. In my free time, I enjoy golf, mountain biking and small home improvement projects. [Mike is the one who arranged to have the home-security consultant speak at RFES to show us how to keep our homes protected from break-ins.]
WILLIAM A. GROTHMANN, running for at-large seat
I was born and raised in the Towson area, growing up across York Road from Rodgers Forge on Regester Avenue in Stoneleigh. I have been a part of the local community my entire life, minus my college years and a brief post-graduation "experiment" in Atlanta, GA. As a boy I may have spent more time at the Rodgers Forge Tot Lot and the Dumbarton Rec fields than I did in my own house.
My elementary school years were spent at St. Pius X, where my family were members of the parish. I attended Loyola Blakefield in Towson for middle and high school. Then it was on to Washington College in Chestertown, MD where I played lacrosse and came away with a BA in business. My wife Alicia and I moved into Rodgers Forge with our daughter Georgia (18 months), when we purchased 32 Murdock in May of this year. Our second daughter, Andy, was born on September 1, 2010. We are looking forward to raising them in the Forge.
I am currently employed in the construction/home building industry as a salesman for an interiors company.
My interest in becoming a board member is centered around my general concern for keeping Rodgers Forge, it's homes and public spaces, a desirable and valuable place to live and to invest in homeownership. [William is the RF resident who spoke at the June RFCA meeting and encouraged cleaning up the Tot Lot.]
DEL SCHMIDT, running for an at-large seat
I was born and raised in Roland Park and attended school at Gilman where I graduated in 1999 and currently serve on the Alumni Board of Governors and assist with annual giving efforts. I then went to the University of Maryland where I met my now wife, Meghan, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2004.
We spent our first 4 years out of college living in Federal Hill. Once the two of us were engaged to be married we decided that we wanted to purchase our own house and live in a more family oriented quiet neighborhood. Without thinking twice, we landed here in the Forge in November of 2008 on Overbrook Rd. We couldn't be happier. We now live here with our yellow lab, Bodhi and are looking forward to spending many years here raising a family.
What turned us on most about the Forge was its centrality to the City and County urban centers while maintaining county property taxes, top notch public schools, a safe environment to raise children and a general sense of community amongst its residents.
I currently work at my family's real estate firm, Chase Fitzgerald & Co., based out of Roland Park. I am the 4th generation in a long line of family members to own and operate the company. It was started by my great-grandmother Dorothy Fitzgerald in approx.1930 and is currently run by my mother Carol Schmidt as well as my grandmother Patsy Ross serving as the office manager. We have deep seeded roots in the North Baltimore City/Central Corridor of Baltimore County for nearly 80 years.
I was approached by a friend of mine, Tyler Mays, treasurer of the RFC board about running for an at large position. I noticed that most seats are going unchallenged and figured that it is important for any governing body to keep a cycle of fresh blood circulating with new ideas. If elected I look forward to providing my input in making this community the best it can possibly be. Because I am still relatively new to the neighborhood, I felt the at-large positions would be the best fit for me to learn the processes and inner-workings of the board. Using my expertise of the current real estate climate of the neighborhood and past experiences serving on other boards, my contributions will most certainly be an asset. Going forward, if I felt my contributions could be greater, I would most certainly consider running for higher positions.
STUART SIROTA, running for an at-large seat
Stuart Sirota has lived in Rodgers Forge since 2005, with his wife Lisa and three young children. Two of his children attend RFES. Stuart is a professional urban planner who been recognized nationally for his work as an innovator in planning walkable communities. Stuart is the president of a planning consulting firm located in Rodgers Forge in the Tasco Building at 6600 York Road. He can often be seen on his daily commute which is a short walk or bike ride down Hopkins Road between his home and office.
Stuart has volunteered a great deal of his time to local Rodgers Forge civic issues, including:
- Representing the Rodgers Forge PTA on the elementary school redistricting committee. If not for his individual efforts on the committee to stand up for the Rodgers Forge community, many children who live in Rodgers Forge would have been bussed to the new West Towson Elementary school.
- Initiating a new “Safe routes to School” program at RFES.
- Assisting residents with Stevenson Lane traffic calming issues.
- Assisting the Rodgers Forge Board in preparing a guidebook for homeowners relating to the National Register District designation and in developing a high quality reference map of the District.
Stuart believes that his background and expertise in community planning would be an asset to the Rodgers Forge Board of Governors. He is particularly interested in the following topics:
- Improving communication between the Board and residents through greater use of web-based media tools;
- Fostering greater responsiveness to Rodgers Forge among County and State officials;
- Promoting new opportunities for civic engagement and social interaction in our community;
- Enhancing walkability and creating more sustainable transportation options for Rodgers Forge residents.
[You'll remember Stu's name from the whole redistricting process; he made sure there was at least one scenario that didn't cut Rodgers Forge in half.]
KAREN RODRIGUEZ, running in the 1st district
Karen Rodriguez lives in the 400 block of Dunkirk Road in District 1 with her JHU Police Officer husband, four children, and one cat. She works full-time as a Marketing Analyst for ViPS, a healthcare IT company in Towson; is an active member of Woodbrook Baptist Church, where she chairs the Annual Ladies’ Tea and coordinates monthly Family Fun Days (both of which are open to the community); organizes monthly clothing drives for a women’s shelter in Baltimore; and arranges self defense opportunities on behalf of the Rodgers Forge Citizens on Patrol. She drinks copious amounts of caffeine and isn’t afraid to admit she likes Barry Manilow. [Karen is the one who organized those self-defense trainings at Woodbrook for Rodgers Forge residents.]
If you are running for a board seat and want to send me your bio, I'll add it to this list and post again. forgeflyer(at)gmail.com.
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