Eric Hartley: Democrats' win is not a mandate

Jerking a thumb over his shoulder to point at the assembled Democrats on stage Tuesday night, a local political operative offered a quick and blunt assessment: "That's (expletive) scary."

He was in a bad mood because his candidate had lost, but he was right. It is a little scary, even if you're a Democrat.

Eight people stood on the stage in a downtown hotel ballroom: Mayor-elect Josh Cohen and seven of the eight members of the incoming City Council - all Democrats.

Ward 2 Alderman Fred Paone, who will be the only Republican in city office, walked around looking a little shell-shocked.

One-party rule is a dangerous thing. It can leave no one to say, "The emperor has no clothes."

And after a campaign season where there was so much talk about change from a two-term Democratic mayor, are we just going to end up with more of the same?

Cohen understands the risk. Sitting to chat as his victory party was wrapping up, he nodded vigorously when I brought it up.

"The burden of proof is on us," he said forcefully, to show that a council full of Democrats can be fiscally responsible and change the way things are done.

Despite their 8-to-1 margin, Democrats should approach their work with humility because this was no mandate.

Most people did not vote for Cohen for mayor. In a city where there are about twice as many Democrats as Republicans, his 45 percent to 42 percent win over Dave Cordle is not impressive. He might well have lost had independent Chris Fox not taken 12 percent of the vote.

It's Bill Clinton in 1992, not Barack Obama in 2008.

Cohen lost handily in Eastport, the ward he represented for five years as an alderman. Cordle got 48 percent of the votes there to Cohen's 38 percent.

Alderman Ross Arnett, who won re-election in Eastport with a narrow 53 percent of the vote, said: "I'm now a Democrat in a Republican ward."

Rock Toews, a political novice who admitted he hadn't even read the city's Comprehensive Plan, got more than 46 percent of the votes in Ward 8. Arnett said he plans to work with Toews and listen to those in his ward who didn't vote for Arnett or Cohen.

"I heard the message loud and clear," Arnett said.

Other Democrats had relatively easy wins. In Ward 5, Mathew Silverman ran against a Republican with questionable personal finances. Classie Hoyle and Kenny Kirby won in overwhelmingly Democratic wards 3 and 6, respectively.

Paone, the lone Republican, who won re-election unopposed, said it's unclear what the results say about what people want, since so many didn't vote, even in a watershed election.

"I think a lot of the people that do a lot of the complaining don't show up at the polls," he said. "What did we have, 36, 38 percent? Where the hell was everybody else?"

Michael Dye, chairman of the Annapolis Republican Central Committee, said he was "flabbergasted, stunned, disgusted." Not that his party lost, but because so few people voted, even with city manager and tax cap as issues and a hard-fought campaign for mayor.

"You start wondering, does Annapolis deserve to have a government? Do its citizens care enough?" Dye said. "If we lost because 15,000 people came out and voted, I think I could handle it better."

Dye said strong Republican candidates lost across the board, so he's not sure where the party goes from here.

And where does the city go? Paone said he's not convinced Cohen and the Democrats will be much of a change from outgoing Mayor Ellen O. Moyer's regime.

"There are some major changes that have to happen, and I'm skeptical that someone who has followed many of the present mayor's policies so closely will want to make some of the changes that are necessary," Paone said of Cohen.

Still, despite the lopsided partisan split, Paone sounded a hopeful note.

"I think there are enough people on the council who are going to be willing to look past strict party lines and look at issues directly."

During his campaign, Cohen pledged to change the "tone" in City Hall.

That's important, but three's a lot of substance to change, too. There will be tough decisions to make, starting with how to close an expected $5 million budget gap that Arnett said will require huge property tax hikes for the next two years if something isn't done to control spending.

"Right now the budget is the 800-pound gorilla, and we've got to do something about it," Arnett said. "I don't think raising taxes is the solution. That's going to bring us a taxpayer revolt and a tax cap, and I can't blame people."

Cohen will be making some substantive announcements soon, including naming his city administrator, city attorney and perhaps finance director within a week.

Without the substance, Cohen admitted, "changing the tone is window dressing."