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Friday, August 9, 2013

Daniels Supports Aquatics Center for Frederick

George Wenschhof

John Daniels
John Daniels feels there needs to be more of a voice for the city in board of education funding decisions.

He is concerned there will be no pool included in the new Frederick High School construction and there remains no plan for funding an aquatics center.

Helping to create a group including representatives from the board of education, Frederick County government, the YMCA and other community stakeholders to examine where to locate and how to fund an aquatics center would be a priority for Daniels.

It seems I am always running into Democratic candidate for alderman John Daniels in my travels due to him being at many city meetings and local political events.  He ran for city alderman in the 2009 election and after falling short, remained involved in city politics, serving on committees and being active in the community.

Sitting down to formally interview him recently, I found him to be a thoughtful man who stressed to me that as alderman for The City of Frederick, he would be making informed “data driven decisions as opposed to gut driven decisions.”

Two of the areas of concern he has heard from voters as he goes door-to-door, is the number of “group homes” that are being created in certain neighborhoods and the existence of “blighted properties”.  The worry by residents is a high concentration of group homes and blighted properties in a neighborhood will adversely affect property values.

John told me he would like to see the city do some research on the group home issue and would move to get discussion going to create legislation to provide more enforcement tools for city staff in regard to blighted properties.

When I asked him about the underfunded city Pension and Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB) plans, Daniels said “I am comfortable with what has been done to date by the mayor and board” and would review when the city receives their next actuarial report.

To help spur economic development, John believes the runway expansion for the city airport needs to be completed.  The runway expansion combined with the new tower will lead to more corporate travel and commuter flights.  He wants the city to work toward removing obstacles so this project can move forward.

Daniels also wants to move forward Phase II of the Carroll Creek development and not drag this out.

Looking at innovative ways to generate power from the use of solar panels is another idea John Daniels would like the city to examine.  He cited placing solar panels atop city owned parking garages and hangers located at the airport as two examples.

John Daniels is one of eight Democratic candidates running for the five member board of alderman. 
 
The City of Frederick primary election is September 10.

Stay Tuned.
 
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