Two Announce for Columbia Council

Much like the crocuses pushing up through the cold earth as a harbinger of spring, candidates are beginning to emerge for the Columbia Council seats in play this year. James Howard and Linda Odum have both announced their intentions to stand for election on April 25th.

James Howard is running for the Long Reach village seat which is currently held by Henry Dagenais. Hank has indicated that he will not be running for reelection. James has a pretty good understanding of the issues and challenges facing The Columbia Association as well as the county at large. Among other things he has served on the CA Financial Advisory Committee and the Howard County Public Engagement in Land Use Taskforce. I believe he would make a nice addition to the council. So far he is running unopposed.

Linda Odum is running for the Wilde Lake village seat which is currently held by Phil Kirsch. It is widely expected that Phil will run for reelection. In his last election he was strongly supported by the Liz Bobo political machine and he has pretty much marched in lockstep with Liz on Columbia issues. Linda served on the council before when she was the council representative from Long Reach before moving to Wilde Lake. Linda is a long time Columbian and it would be great to have her independent voice back on the council.

This year there will also be council elections in Dorseys Search, Oakland Mills, Owen Brown, River Hill, Kings Contrivance and Hickory Ridge.

Stay tuned