Candidates emphasize protecting Rockville character, affordability and recusal rules for conflicts

In closing remarks at the Rockville "Meet the Candidates" forum, candidates emphasized a mix of priorities—protecting the town's character, managing growth, affordability and fiscal stewardship—and outlined how they would handle conflicts of interest.

"First and foremost, we protect what we have here," candidate Miss Arnold said, describing preservation of community character as her top priority and listing affordability and town finances as additional priorities. Jeff Ballard named water, growth and opportunity as primary concerns: "I would take my priorities the same as the town's priorities...water and growth and opportunity."

On conflicts of interest, candidates described existing municipal ethics practices and said recusal is appropriate when a council member has a personal stake. "Any municipal officer is supposed to step aside if there is an issue for the town that may conflict with something in interest that they have," Mayor Leach said. Several candidates said they would follow the land‑use code and recuse themselves in specific cases.

Why it matters: candidates framed priorities in practical terms tied to other forum issues (water, traffic and zoning) and pledged to use existing land‑use rules and recusal when personal interests arise.

Clarifying details: speakers referred repeatedly to following the town land‑use code when making decisions and to using ethics recusal when a direct conflict exists. No candidate proposed changes to the code or an ethics ordinance during the forum.

Looking ahead: candidates asked residents to vote and said they would work to build consensus and keep communication channels open if elected.