WASHINGTON (WMAL) – A member of the Bowie City Council was ousted in the city’s first ever recall election Tuesday. Sixty-nine percent of those who cast ballots in the election voted to recall Bowie City Council member Diane Polangin. A whopping 15 percent of District 2 residents showed up at the polls according to a press release on the city’s website.
“She just wasn’t listening to her constituents. Simply put,” said Fiona Moodie with Bowie Citizens for Accountable Government, which is the group that led the recall effort.
At issue was Polangin’s approval of a 225-unit apartment complex on the site of the failing Marketplace shopping center. Polangin said the original plans called for a 400-unit complex on the site, but she successfully negotiated that down to 225 units.
“I thought I did a good job. Nobody went and appealed that decision,” Polangin told WMAL.
Polangin added nobody came to her to voice their opposition to the apartment complex either, and she wishes they had taken the issue up with her directly because her door is always open.
But Moodie said members of her group met multiple times with Polangin to talk about their concerns about the complex. Moodie said there were also countless hours of testimony about it and even a petition with 1,000 signatures.
“The fact that she’s claiming ignorance on this, frankly it’s a lie,” Moodie told WMAL.
The citizens group calls the deal to change the zoning for the property to include residential use “a sweetheart deal” that was made without input from residents.
The vote, however, does not mean the apartment complex project will be nixed. It will move forward for now.
Polangin told WMAL people believed if they signed the recall petition then the apartment complex would not be built.
“They were sold a bill of goods, unfortunately,” Polangin said.
The citizens group has filed a lawsuit to stop the project from moving forward. The group argues the project violates the city charter’s density rules. A lawsuit is before a District Court judge.
While the future of the apartment complex is uncertain at this point, so is the fate of other city officials. Moodie said more recall efforts may be made to get rid of other politicians the group feels are not listening to their constituents.
Meanwhile, a special election will be held in the next two to three months to fill the District 2 seat. Polangin said she could run in the special election to fill the seat, but she isn’t sure if she’ll do that.