Vote could shake city
                    Tuesday's election to name new mayor, council members; Most wards
                    contested; 6 new aldermen potentially could join 8-person board
                    _____________________________________________________
                   By Amanda J. Crawford
                           Sun Staff
                           Originally published November 4, 2001

                    When Annapolis voters go to the polls Tuesday, the choices they make
                    could result in a significantly different government leading the city for the
                    next four years.

                    The city not only will get a new mayor to replace Dean L. Johnson, who
                    was defeated in the primary, but also could see a freshman class of six
                    new aldermen as races in five of the eight recently redistricted wards are
                    contested.

                    While incumbents Sheila M. Tolliver, a Democrat from Ward 2, and
                    Michael W. Fox, a Republican from Ward 7, are unopposed, the
                    council's three other incumbents face challengers. Classie Gillis Hoyle,
                    who defeated 20-year Alderman Samuel Gilmer in the Democratic
                    primary, is running unopposed in Ward 3.

                    Alderman Louise Hammond, 53, the two-term representative of Ward 1,
                    faces a challenge from 25-year-old Green Party candidate Isaac
                    Opalinsky.

                    Hammond is a Spa View Heights resident and part-time retail clerk at a
                    downtown shop. Her husband, John, served for 16 years on the council
                    before her election. She defeated Caryl P. Weiss 344-150 in the
                    Democratic primary.

                    Opalinsky, who sells solar power systems and lives on Duke of
                    Gloucester Street, came to Annapolis to attend St. John's College,
                    graduating in 1999. He is co-chairman of the state Green Party. If he
                    defeats Hammond, Opalinsky will be the youngest Annapolis official and
                    the first Green Party candidate to hold office in Maryland.

                    In Ward 4, Alderman Joseph Sachs, 67, a Republican serving his first full
                    term on the council, faces a challenge from former city police Officer
                    George O. Kelley.

                    Kelley, 44, who is pastor of Praise and Deliverance Tabernacle on Clay
                    Street, made an unsuccessful bid for the Ward 5 seat in 1997. He
                    intended to pursue that seat again before the city's redistricting this
                    summer placed his Annapolis Walk neighborhood in Sachs' significantly
                    altered ward.

                    Sachs, a Heritage neighborhood resident, is a substitute teacher who
                    served on the city's Board of Appeals and filled in on the city council for
                    seven months in 1993.

                    While Democrat Ellen O. Moyer battles Republican Herbert H. McMillan
                    for mayor Tuesday, two of McMillan's neighbors in the Hunt Meadow
                    community are vying for the seat he is vacating in Ward 5.

                    David H. Cordle, 43, chief criminal investigator for the Anne Arundel
                    County state's attorney's office and a colonel in the Army Reserve, is the
                    Republican candidate. Cordle, who recently served on the city's charter
                    review commission, faces independent candidate Wilford Scott.

                    Scott, 51, is chairman of the city's Planning Commission and the
                    Governor's Commission on the Capital City. He is an art historian and
                    lecturer at the National Gallery of Art.

                    Ward 6 Alderman Cynthia Carter, 62, faces a two-pronged challenge for
                    her seat. Carter, who is serving her first term on the council after a
                    successful write-in campaign in 1997, is a former outreach worker.

                    Riccardo Paradiso is the Republican candidate. The native of Sicily is a
                    former chairman of the Republican Central Committee and ran
                    unsuccessfully for the House of Delegates in 1998.

                    Carter's independent challenger, Julie M. Stankivic, 36, is a health
                    insurance specialist at the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
                    Services and president of the Spa Cove Community Association.

                    In Ward 8, Democrat Joshua Cohen and Republican Robert McWilliams
                    will square off to fill the seat being vacated by Moyer.

                    Cohen, 28, is Moyer's chosen successor. He is a former premier of the
                    Maritime Republic of Eastport. He defeated Douglas Lamborne in the
                    Democratic primary 391-213. A Web site developer, Cohen previously
                    served on the Eastport Civic Association and as community services
                    specialist for County Executive Janet S. Owens.

                    McWilliams, a 44-year-old real estate agent, unsuccessfully challenged
                    Moyer for the council seat in 1997. He is a former board member of the
                    Eastport Civic Association and the city's Republican Central Committee.

                    Polling places for Tuesday's elections will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
                    Information: city elections office, 410-263-7929.

                    Copyright © 2001, The Baltimore Sun