It's Alegbeleye vs. Gardner in District 3 Council Race

There is now a second contested race in the Nov. 8 Bowie municipal elections, bringing the total to nine candidates seeking seven seats.

Babatunde Alegbeleye is running for the city council District 3 seat, which includes south of U.S. 50 near the Bowie Town Center.

Alegbeleye, 54, is a triage nurse at the national Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

He is running for the District 3 seat against Henri Gardner, 43, who is currently an At-Large council member. Gardner was appointed as an At-Large council member to fill the seat of Geraldine Valentino-Smith, who was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates.

Alegbeleye, a 16-year resident of Bowie, has just begun his second two-year appointment to the city’s diversity committee. In that role, he has made presentations to the council about different segments of American society. As examples, he has discussed the roles of prominent American women and Native Americans.

“I truly believe in diversity and inclusion, because all of us bring different things to table,” he said to Patch.

If elected, he said he would seek diversity and sensitivity training for city police, work to keep property taxes at the current level and press BGE to provide better service during times of crisis such as Tropical Storm Irene.

Gardner, a long-time technology consultant who owns and operates his own business, points to his accomplishments in office of co-establishing a job fair that resulted in the hiring of 73 city residents and the founding of a free weekend exercise program for residents at the Kenhill Center.

On the council for eight months, he said he is seeking a full two-year term because he wants to continue to assertively reach out to the residents of Bowie. He said he views himself as a facilitator in bringing together services to help residents.

“People are constantly telling me they need help in finding employment, so I will be exploring holding another job fair,” said Gardner.

The other contested race is in District 2, where Councilwoman Diane Polangin, running for re-election, is being challenged by Piero “Pete” Mellits. Mellits ran for the seat in 2009. Polangin received about 60 percent of District 2 votes cast, Mellits about 40 percent.

The last day a Bowie resident can file to run for the election is Oct. 7. Here are all the announced candidates for the Nov. 8 election:

•    Mayor
Mayor G. Frederick Robinson – unopposed. Elected 1998, re-elected 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
•    District 1
Mayor Pro Tem/Councilman James Marcos – unopposed. Appointed to vacant seat in 2007, elected later that year and re-elected 2009.
•    District 2
Councilwoman Diane Polangin – Elected 2007, re-elected 2009.
Challenger Piero “Pete” Mellits ran in 2009.
•    District 3
Councilman Henri Gardner – Appointed to At-Large seat in January 2011.
Babatunde Alegbeleye.
•   District 4
Isaac “Ike” Trouth – elected 2007, re-elected 2009.
•    At Large (two citywide seats)
Councilman Dennis Brady – unopposed. Elected 1994, re-elected in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Councilman Todd M. Turner – unopposed. Elected to District 3 seat in 2005, re-elected in 2007 and 2009.