Keys Steal Home

George Wenschhof

The owners of The Frederick Keys out lasted and out maneuvered The City of Frederick as they secured a favorable long term extension for the use of Harry Grove Stadium as their home field ball park.

Watching the video broadcast of the mayor and board workshop held last week, it became apparent, the mayor and a majority of the aldermen were content to move forward to ratify a less than satisfactory lease.

The perfunctory vote will take place during the September 15 mayor and board meeting.

Unless, legal action is pursued, questions raised by the competing team for the use of the stadium will never be answered.

Frederick Atlantic LLC Managing Member John Lavoie’s email which contained his concerns over the award process and subsequent lease negotiations with The Keys was read into the minutes as Lavoie requested, but his questions were never answered.

In addition, during the workshop held last week, Alderman Shelley Aloi methodically compared the proposed lease by The Keys to their existing lease, pointing out the new proposed lease was not an improvement.

The financial analysis from Alderman Karen Young which showed the city stood to lose money over the term of the lease also had little sway on the mayor and remaining aldermen.

All of which signals the deal is done and The Keys are staying put.

Congratulations are in order for The Keys negotiating team who secured their support among the aldermen prior to when the Request for Proposal (RFP) was issued by the mayor.

Being a lifelong Baltimore Oriole fan, I am pleased to see their single-a affiliated team remain in The City of Frederick. Albeit, with terms less than desirable for The City of Frederick and the stadium lease agreement stubbornly reached after much wrangling by The Keys.

As one who was raised in The City of Frederick, it was embarrassing to watch the sloppy manner in which the RFP process transpired; much of which resulted due to lack of communication.

McClement earned my kudos for issuing a RFP after lease extension negotiations broke down with The Keys earlier this year.

However, a thumbs down now goes to Republican Mayor Randy McClement and city administrator Josh Russin for their repeated stumbles throughout the RFP process.

All of which has shed light on an even bigger problem at city hall.

Since becoming mayor, McClement; a self proclaimed student of the city’s charter, has often pointed out to questioning aldermen, the mayor is the elected administrator and the board of aldermen is the elected legislative body.

It was the same three aldermen who questioned the mayor’s unilateral issuance of the RFP for the use of the stadium, who will most likely vote to ratify the lease with the Keys on September 15.

While, the mayor is technically correct as to the roles of the elected city officials, it was The Keys negotiating team who showed they knew how to count to three.

This lack of communication by the mayor with the aldermen will continue to plague city residents who want issues dealt with in a timely and effective manner.

Whether it is the ratification of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) contract, what to do with the boondoggle property the former administration purchased for use as a Park, or how to redevelop the neglected and rapidly deteriorating west end of the city, communication has been lacking as well as a lack of clarity of the action to be taken on each issue.

Without, a theme or "vision" for The City of Frederick promoted by the McClement administration, a lackluster and seemingly adrift city government has been the result over the first twenty months since the all new mayor and board took office.

New city administrator Josh Russin informed me that after recent discussions with the mayor, he will begin to schedule regular meetings between the aldermen and the mayor to facilitate communication.

Let’s hope the young man has better success with this effort than he did in negotiating the stadium lease.

In these challenging times, city residents deserve better from their elected officials.

Stay Tuned…..

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