George Wenschhof
 |
| Jeff Holtzinger |
The long
anticipated entry into the City of Frederick mayoral race by Jeff Holtzinger is
now official with his filing for the office at city hall.
The former
one term mayor will face incumbent Randy McClement in the Republican primary.
The race
for mayor promises to be the one to watch in the city election where voters
will elect a mayor and a five member board of aldermen.
Already in
the race for mayor, are Delegate Galen Clagett and alderwoman Karen Young who
will face each other in the Democratic primary.
Rounding
out the familiar faces is former Democrat Jennifer Dougherty, another one term
mayor, who on her fifth run for the office, has filed as an unaffiliated
candidate.
The Republican
and Democratic primaries will be held on September 10 and Dougherty, who will
not have a primary, receives a free pass to the General Election to be held on
November 5.
In an email
exchange with Holtzinger, I asked him, for publication; “what are the main
reasons you are challenging the incumbent Republican mayor?”
He
responded with “I have nothing against Randy personally and know he is viewed
as nice guy, which is a good thing. However, I think he has been very
ineffective as Mayor.
My
observation is that he appears to have difficulty making decisions and has not
taken charge as, in my opinion, the Mayor should be doing. This does not mean
you need to act like a dictator but you need to be willing to take the lead and
make decisions.
As a consequence, very little has been
accomplished other than projects that were started and/or initiated prior to
this Administration taking office. The City has tremendous in house resources (employees)
and I think these resources could have been utilized to get needed public works
projects designed, permitted and ready to move toward construction as funding
becomes available.
I
also am of the opinion that the current BOCC is a very pro municipality Board
and that more could have been done jointly with this BOCC to further City
interests. My background and experience both inside and outside local
government matches well with the major issues that face the Mayor of the City
of Frederick.”
I
added “Also, sure to come up, will be questions pertaining to your
city residency. The city website has your address as 232 Dill Ave.
How long have you lived there?”
Holtzinger responded with “Yes, I
am sure. I established residency well before November 2012. I am a renter and
yes I am aware that how I established residency may/will be problematic for
some voters.
I followed up with the question “In regard to your establishing
residency, do you actually live at 232 Dill Ave.?”
Holtzinger
responded with “Yes I stay there, but I do run back
and forth alot.”
When
I asked Jennifer Dougherty in an email if she had a quotable comment on
Holtzinger’s entry into the mayoral race she responded with “it does give an
opportunity for the issues to include Hargett Farm and the Early Retirement
Buy-Out - both still costing the City taxpayers. So I guess Randy, and perhaps
Shelley (alderwoman Shelley Aloi-R), can talk about those issues in their
Primary.”
Mayor
Randy McClement was attending the Maryland Municipal League convention and was
unavailable for comment.
The
deadline for candidates to file for office in the city election is July 2.
Stay
Tuned…---
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