Profile of the District 7 Race

Today's Sun covers the three-way race for the District 7 County Council seat. District 7 includes most of south county as well as parts of Millersville, Gambrills, and Crofton. The race in District 7, which contains most of the rural land in the County, has heated up over the issue of big box development, with many contending that the incumbent, Ed Reilly, has effectively been shopping developers around the district for potential parcels.

Green Party challenger and smart growth activist, Robb Tufts, has campaigned into a "perfect storm" of sorts, with large scale development projects proposed in Edgewater, Lothian, and Crofton. Tufts opposes all three projects, and is supportive of the Watershed Restoration Fee and inclusionary zoning requirements to build the stock of affordable housing.

Democratic entrant, and latecomer to the race, Eric Lipsetts, also opposes the Lothian Target project and proposed Wal-Mart in Crofton, arguing that the Small Area Plans need to be incorporated into the zoning, rather than serving as merely "advisory." Lipsetts has been actively hostile to the idea of the Watershed Restoration Fund, decrying it as a "tax", despite an Attorney General opinion to the contrary.