Cohen trying to change the vibe at City Hall

After eight years in office, representing Annapolis from two different vantage points, Democratic nominee for mayor Josh Cohen now wants to run the town.

His career is an almost textbook example of political ascent. He worked in a few civic organizations, was elected to the city Democratic Central Committee, then later to the City Council.

When a seat on the County Council opened up, he ran for that and was elected.

Now that Mayor Ellen O. Moyer is leaving her position because of term limits, he's running for her job.

But Cohen is anything but typical in the way he became the Democratic nominee.

Cohen finished second in the primary with 1,344 votes, behind Zina Pierre, who had 1,461.

Her path to victory was unusual. According to traditional Annapolis political wisdom, the candidate who wins Wards 1, 2 and 8 wins the race. Cohen won those wards, as well as Ward 7, but Pierre took all the others, some by a landslide.

In the wards she lost to Cohen, her defeat wasn't as severe as many political insiders anticipated.

While Pierre received more votes, her general election campaign was brief. The Friday after her victory became official, details about her troubled financial history and questions about her residency surfaced.

Five days later she announced she was leaving the race, and the city Democratic Central Committee convened and named Cohen the nominee. Members said they chose him because he was the runner-up and for his "electability."

Since becoming the nominee, Cohen has maintained his platform from the primary, but has also gone on the attack.

He has criticized the Republican candidate, Alderman David Cordle of Ward 5, for flip-flopping on creating a city manager. Cordle now has a bill that would create such a position, but had previously voted against similar legislation.

In return, Cohen has taken hits from Cordle for leaving commitments early, ranging from his one year at St. John's College to his last term on the City Council, and now, possibly, his unfinished term on the County Council.

Cordle also argues that Cohen "grew up in Ellen's shadow" and was "mentored" by her. He said a Cohen administration would be like an extension of Moyer's.

Cohen said Cordle's claims are inaccurate; he has not received any support from Moyer and he's independent of her. He and Moyer have been in many of the same organizations, so it's only natural they would have supporters in common, he said.

In the weeks leading to the election, Cohen has pointed out instances in which he disagreed with the mayor. For example, he is against giving more 2 a.m. licenses to bars in the Historic District, while Moyer recently submitted legislation that would do just that.

He also has recently criticized the mayor for not putting a charter amendment by Cordle on a council agenda. In addition, he has decried the Moyer administration's "litany of high-profile mistakes."

He also said his first objective, if elected, is to change the tone of City Hall, making it more friendly and professional.

"If you look at me and Ellen in terms of tone, I think we're different," he said. "Ellen is a polarizing figure. She's not someone people have lukewarm feelings about."

Political road

Cohen, 36, was born, raised and has spent nearly all of his life in Annapolis. He graduated from The Key School and then attended St. John's College in Santa Fe, N.M., for a year before he was kicked out - he said he didn't apply himself while there.

He returned home and attended the University of Maryland in College Park and graduated with a degree in economics. He also has completed work toward a degree in public administration. He has spent most of his career in the criminal justice field and has worked as a parole and probation officer.

He currently works for the Maryland Crime Victim's Resource Center, a nonprofit advocacy group for victims of crime.

Cohen lives in West Annapolis and is married, with two daughters.

He was elected to the council in 2001 to represent Eastport, his then home. He was re-elected in 2005, but left the position a year early after he was elected to the County Council, a job he will leave if he becomes mayor.

He has also served on the city's Democratic Central Committee and a variety of civic board and commissions.

This would be his first time in the executive's seat, as it would for all the two other candidates, Cordle and independent Chris Fox.

Depending on the results of the council races, five supporters of a city manager form of government could end up in power, enough to create that position - a change Cohen does not support.

"The whole city manager issue is just a surrogate for professional management," he said. "There's no question we need professional management."

While against charter amendments that would force the city into a city manager form of government, Cohen said he will hire and empower a qualified manager to run the city's day-to-day operations.

But Cordle has criticized this plan, saying that a certified professional will not be interested in this job because it will not be an official city manager position, as recognized by the International City/County Management Association, a group for professional municipal managers.

Tax cap

Cohen, like Fox, is opposed to a city tax cap and said he disagrees with the proposal's wording.

The cap, as written in a failed petition for a referendum, and as proposed in legislation put before the council by Cordle, would limit the amount of tax revenue the city can collect per year to an increase of 4.5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.

Cohen said he is concerned that inflation could go into the double digits. If that happens, the city would be powerless to overcome the discrepancy, he said.

But he said he plans to limit city spending by asking all department heads to submit spending requests that are 5 percent lower than the previous fiscal year. Some departments' final budget appropriations may actually be smaller than that, others higher.

"That's my starting point for discussion" he said.

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Editor's note: This is one in a series of profiles of the three candidates vying to be elected mayor of Annapolis on Tuesday.

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Tomorrow, Dave Cordle.