Wenschhof Interviews City of Frederick, Md. Alderman Candidate Andrew Kotkin

George Wenschhof

Tonight, my guest is Andrew Kotkin. He is one of nine Democratic candidates for Alderman who will appear on the ballot on September 15. Voters will choose five to go on to the general election on November 3. Please remember, the deadline to register to vote prior to the primary is August 17.

As has been the case with all of the candidates who have been my guest, Mr. Kotkin and I are communicating via computer from different locations within the city. I have not previously shared with him the questions I will be asking him tonight. This is a live conversation so remember to click on your computer "Refresh" button every fifteen minutes or so to see the next question and answer.

If you miss the live online discussion, the link to it will be placed in the right margin of my Home Page so you can read at a time convenient to you.

I met Andrew for the first time over the weekend and spent some time getting to know him. He and his wife fell in love with Frederick during a visit one afternoon on a weekend and later moved here. Andrew is from northern New Jersey originally. He and his wife have three young children and currently reside in downtown Frederick.

At this time I would like to welcome Andrew and thank him for appearing live online on Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof.

GW - I always like to get started by asking the candidate to tell the voters a little about themselves. Andrew, also share with the voters why you decided to run for alderman and why you feel they should vote for you. If you are supporting a mayoral candidate, let us know who and why.

AK-Thank you very much for having me tonight. It is truly a great service you are providing for the candidates and the voting public alike.

As you mentioned before, I grew up in Northern New Jersey, 10 minutes from Manhattan, and as a result had wonderful and worldly experiences growing up due entirely to our proximity to NYC. After moving to Maryland 13 years ago, we have learned to call this land home and specifically, Frederick home for the last 10 years. I have been in the construction industry ever since I learned how to drive my Uncle's 3-speed on the column trash truck when I was 13 years old. I have since parlayed my years of experience into the company I own now, Kotkin Management Group, LLC which is a construction and project management company that operates out of my home. This is one of the reasons I feel qualified to handle the job of Alderman, as it requires the skills of a solid manager of people, processes and budgets.

That being said, the main reason for wanting to run for office is based on a desire to serve. I serve my clients as they endeavor to fulfill there dreams, and would treat all residents of Frederick in much the same capacity. Many people I talk to just want to know there is someone looking out for them, and I can be that someone.

As for a Mayoral candidate, I have yet to make my decision, but am impressed with Jennifer and Jason alike. They both bring a strong skill set to the table. Nonetheless, whomever becomes Mayor, they should know that I will willing to work very hard with them, and for our City.

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GW - The annexation of three farms into the City of Frederick has become a campaign issue in this election. Mayor Jeff Holtzinger seems intent on having the current Board of Aldermen vote on these annexations prior to the end of his term. Mayor Holtzinger is also not running for reelection.

Do you feel there is a need to rush these approvals or do you feel the vote should be delayed a few months until the new Mayor and Board of Aldermen take office?

AK - I see no need for the approvals at this juncture. Moreover, this should not have been taking place when the governing body is about to change hands. I still have yet to hear a truly solid and valid reason as to why we are looking at annexation, other than having to be beholden to a water contract that, as I believed, was signed prematurely. Now we're tied to a +/- $50 million debt with that contract, and if the Mayor has to push these annexations through to produce the revenue to pay down that debt, than we need to question what else is going to come up with the remainig time he has on his term. I will not vote for the annexation(s) if it rolls over to the next Board, and I am sitting on it. Not without more planning and time to review all aspects, such as how it is supposed to benefit our City other than paying for water. I would much prefer seeing the City concentrate on infill and density to provide a concentrated amount of commercial tax revenue, as opposed to having to increase taxes for the residential tax base to fund the annexed properties until they can fund themselves, which by the way, a park will not do.

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GW - The passage of the early retirement buy-out plan by the Board of Aldermen has many voters angry and confused as to how this approval came to be.

As an alderman, you will be responsible for voting on many proposals. First, tell the voters how you would have reacted should you have been an alderman and been presented with the early retirement buy-out plan. Second, how will you assure the voters you will be diligent and vote in their best interest when it comes to the approval of programs that come before you?

AK - They're not the only ones confused!

I wasn't sure how anyone expected that this plan was going to be financially sound for the City in the first place. I would have voted against it. Two years salary? That's one heck of a severance. Plus benefits. And don't even get started on the rehires, though who could fault them(rehirees) for that, right? I can. They should not have been offered the buyout in the first place, but it showed the moral character of those that accepted the rehire afterward. Certainly did not have the best interest of the City when the Mayor came up with that one.

Elected officials have a duty to represent their constituants. This round of buyouts and rehires shows that what some people consider good for the City is not always what the residents of that City think is good for them! It comes down to political, or governmental transparency. The City has an obligation, beyond holding a few meetings, some at 3pm, to present items like this to the voting public for their input. It's their money that is paying those 2 year salaries, as well as the current rehired salries.

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GW - Andrew, when we were talking the other day, you mentioned you felt the city police department was doing a good job under the direction of Chief Kim Dine.

You also indicated as alderman, you would support looking for more funds to provide to the police department. I noticed on your campaign Blog http://www.kotkinforalderman.blogspot.com/ you talk about the need to increase the number of police officers and to institute what you refer to as "the bar shift". Tell the voters a little more about your proposal.

AK - Thanks for bringing that up, as police and public safety are very important to me and they directly effect our quality of life. The "Bar Shift" idea of patrolling came to me as I would watch and listen outside my window, after being awoken at 1 or 2 am, to all the problems that would arise after the bars and restaurants closed down for the evening. Issues such as fighting, public intoxication and subsequent urination and vomiting. Also, destruction of public and private property. I thought that if there was an increase in the patrols for that 2 or 3 hour timeframe, most of those occurances could be preemptively avoided. It would require more foot and bike patrols in areas where parks and sidestreets are involved, and staging areas for outside of downtown where drunk driving would be the primary issue. I think we can all agree that this might allow us all to rest a little easier at night. Quality of life anyone?

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GW - On your campaign Blog, you also discuss neglected properties located within the city. This has been a problem for some time as voters wonder what can be done to encourage or force property owners to clean up and renovate properties which have become "Blight" within a neighborhood.

Tell the voters what you would suggest to the mayor and board of aldermen to remedy this situation.

AK - An idea that I would propose, and do not credit me with this as it has been in use for decades all over the world to address problems like this, is to explore different methods of taxation such as Land Value Tax(LVT), or possibly Tax Abatements. Cities such as Harrisburg, PA and St. Louis, MO among others have been utilizing these options for years and have profitted from them, aesthetically and financially. The basis of the LVT is that you heavily tax the property itself, or land if you will, and lightly tax the improvements upon that land. Two taxes, but percentage wise they would be comparable to existing propety taxes we ll pay now. There is, within our current tax system, an element of LVT, but property value of the land itself is minimally taxed under this system. The object here is to provide incentive to restore, rehab or alltogether build on a piece of property, commercial or residential, without being "penalized" if you will, by an increase in you property tax due to the improvements made upon it.

This option requires an overhaul of the current tax system, and thus is sometimes not looked upon favorably. The other option is Tax Abatement, which is voluntarily applied for by the individual property owners. I think we are all familiar with this type of method. The beauty here is that it provides an incentive for businesses to come to Frederick and open up shop and right away see the financial benefits of the program. This provides more incentive to STAY here, which would be the ultimate goal.

Both of these options are ideas and are not set in stone. And frankly, they may not work here in Frederick, but they need to be explored regardless. This kind of thinking is important for the City. And if it is found to be flawed for us, then throw them away. At least they would have been explored, that's all we can ask for.

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GW - The recent action by Mayor Holtzinger to undermine the authority of the Historic Preservation Committee (HPC) has many questioning the checks and balances which should exist between the Mayor and Board of Aldermen.

The HPC, since its creation has received periodic questions pertaining to the rulings handed down by the commission. However, this is the first time a Mayor has allegedly instructed staff to disregard enforcing a fine levied by the commission. To the best of my knowledge, this issue remains unresolved.

While some decisions by the HPC may be open to questions, a property owner who is not in agreement with a decision by the HPC can file an appeal. I am not aware this has been done to date.

If you had been an alderman, how would you have reacted to this action by Mayor Holtzinger?

AK - First of all, I would like to state that I believe in the purpose and necessity of the HPC. Contrary to what some may feel, I believe the HPC has nothing to do with the culture of our Historic District, but rather with the architecture specific to our City and it's history. Not to mention that the guidelines followed were not made up on a whim by a bunch of people hell-bent on dictatorship, but rather by the Federal Government, which allows us the distinction of having a legitimate Historic District. Our downtown culture may be a product of the HPC, but it is not their primary concern, as I believe it to be.

As for the recent decision of the Mayor to intervene on behalf of the property owner, I was not able to find a clause in the Charter that allows a Mayor to overturn, or veto if you will, a decision made by a commission or Board, or their appointments, other than the Board of Alderman. I may have missed it, but the Charter is a big document!

If I was Alderman, I would have proposed that the property owner first try the appeal process. If they were unhappy with the outcome, and wanted further action, than maybe a meeting with one or two Alderman, the HPC commissioners and the Mayor would be an extra step that could be taken. Keep in mind however, anything done, could set precedent for future discrepancies. That hasn't been dealt with yet concerning this issue either.

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GW - Andrew, the time has flown by and now we are at your last question before your closing remarks. One of the issues you and other candidates have discussed is economic development.

Increasing higher paying job opportunities locally so more city residents can work where they live is a desire of many candidates. Tell the voters what you would propose to the mayor and your fellow aldermen which would help facilitate economic development within the city.

AK - As I eluded to before, I would like to see an exploration of other tax alternatives so as to jumpstart commercial development. I would also like to see a broader scope of business incubators, other than FITCI and the like. There are emerging technological fields and our geographic location makes us an ideal spot for companies to relocate(that's where incentives come in) or start anew(incubators) and get a foothold in our highly desireable location.

Any business we attract needs to be in a sustainable field, such as medical technology and the like, so as to insulate us from a wavering national, and global, economy.

I would also like to attract more university programs such as a law school or business college where undergraduates can go to stay in Frederick, and pursue loftier degrees that will result in loftier incomes.

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GW - Andrew, I want to thank you again for being my guest tonight on Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof. At this time, I would like to give you some time for some closing remarks.

AK-Thanks again George. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

I would like to close with this. I have a vision for Frederick's future. I prefer not to see us continue as we are, a quaint weekend getaway. But rather I see us becoming a beacon of Western Maryland, not just a City within Frederick County. I wish for us to become a major player in the politics and economy of the State of Maryland for the future. We can be the third point on a triangle between Washington, DC, Baltimore and Frederick. A model City that the rest of the State, Annapolis especially, will look to for ideas of how they too will proceed into the future. Lofty goals, I know. But all it takes a little vision, and eventually we will see the fruits of our labor!

Thanks again George, and thanks to everyone who has taken the time this evening to read this interview. I do appreciate it.

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Democratic Alderman Candidate Andrew Kotkin to be Guest Tonight

George Wenschhof

Andrew Kotkin will be the sixth Democratic candidate for alderman in the City of Frederick, Maryland election to be my guest on Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof. He will appear live online from 7:00 to 9:00 PM ET.

Democratic voters will chose five aldermen from nine candidates and one mayor from three candidates on September 15 to move on to the general election on November 3.

Previously, all three Democratic candidates for mayor; Jennifer Dougherty, Jason Judd, and Chris Simpson have appeared as my guest and links to their interviews can be found in the right hand margin of my Home Page.

You can also find the links to the conversations with aldermen candidates; Donna Kuzemchak, Kelly Russell, Michael O'Connor, Josh Bokee and Karen Young located in the right margin of my Home Page. Carol Krimm will join me this Friday while incumbent David Koontz and John Daniels will be my guests next week.

I encourage you to read all of the interviews before you go to the polls on September 15.

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Crowded Aldermen Field in City of Frederick, MD Election

George Wenschhof

As it is still early and many of the aldermen candidates have not started their campaigning, I want to first take a look at some past results and what happens now. A total of twenty candidates had filed by the 4:00 PM ET deadline of July 7. Eleven were Republicans and nine were Democrats.

The nine Democrats are in alphabetical order; Josh Bokee, John Daniels, David Koontz, Andrew Kotkin, Carol Krimm, Donna Kuzemchak, Michael O'Connor, Kelly Russell and Karen Lewis Young.

The eleven Republicans are; Shelley Aloi, Bill Ashton, George Bauer IV, Robert Cassidy, Joe Cohen, Senitta Conyers, Amanda Haddaway, William Huckenpoehler, Alan Imhoff, and John Shupe.

Interestingly, there is still time for candidates of other recognized political parties in Maryland to file. Stuart Harvey, Elections Director; Frederick County Board of Elections sent me the following " Candidates who are affiliated with another recognized party in Maryland (Green, Libertarian, Independent, or Constitution), may be nominated by their party by August 3, for the November ballot. The party would file the list of nominee(s) with the City. Those who are “unaffiliated” had a May 1 deadline to submit petition signatures of 3% of City voters to get on the Nov. ballot, and that deadline has passed. However, for the first time, the City will allow write-in voting in November."

I point out the alphabetical order as this will be how they appear on the ballot. A candidate who appears at the top of the ballot in a multiple candidate race can sometimes benefit from this placement.

Other things which play havoc with aldermen candidates is many voters do not vote for five aldermen. The under votes in the aldermen election are substantial. So it is important for the candidate to be the first, second or third choice of the voter.

Another little known and rarely used tactic by some candidates is to quietly urge their supporters to just vote for them and no other alderman candidate. This ensures no other candidate is receiving votes from their supporters and as long as they are the second or third choice of the other voters, their odds of winning are increased significantly.

This tactic, also known as "single shot" is rarely used for if it became public knowledge, it would backfire against the candidate.

In the 2005 City of Frederick primary, there were a total of 15 aldermen candidates. 8 were Republican and 7 were Democrats. The City of Frederick website has the results here.

The five aldermen in each political party receiving the most votes on September 15 will move on to the general election.

The primary voter turnout is even lower than the dismal 30% general election voter turnout average. One of the issues to ask these aldermen candidates is their position on moving the city election date to coincide with the presidential election cycle. This will result in more than doubling the voter turnout and also save the city money.

I first broached this issue back in 1997 and more recently requested and received a mayor and board workshop. Unfortunately, incumbent mayor Jeff Holtzinger has not moved this forward to a vote. I have a series of columns on my most recent effort located in the right hand margin of the home page. Take a moment and read them and vote for aldermen and a mayor committed to increasing voter turnout in the city.

Keep in mind, the city population is over 60,000 and registered voters are around 30,000. In the 2005 primary, the Republican receiving the most votes was Paul Smith. His vote total was only 1,531. The fifth place Republican who would move on to the general election was James Joyce who received 990 votes. Alan Imhoff was second with 1,305 votes. Both Imhoff and Smith would go on to win in the general election. Both are also running for reelection this year.

Randy McClement, who is running for Mayor in this election, came in fourth with 1,010 votes. He would finish ninth among the aldermen in the general election with 3,257 votes.

On the Democratic side, Marcia Hall who toyed with the idea of running for Mayor, finished first with 2,638 votes in the 2005 primary as more Democrats than Republicans voted in the primary. Ms. Hall is not running for office in this election. The number two and three finishers in the Democratic primary were David Koontz and Donna Kuzemchak with 2,457 and 2,394 votes. All three would be elected in the general election with Marcia Hall finishing first with 5,430 votes.

It is readily apparent a candidate does not need to receive very many votes with such a low voter turnout. With more candidates running than in 2005, the vote will either be spread out even more or the additional candidates may bring more voters to the polling booth. Unless voter turnout increases, a candidate will be able to move on to the general election with even less votes than the winning primary candidates received in 2005.

Incumbents typically have a name recognition advantage over other candidates and this can give them an edge. Four incumbents; Alan Imhoff (R), Paul Smith (R), David Koontz (D), and Donna Kuzemchak (D) are all running for reelection.

While name recognition has it's benefits, it can also become a detriment if voters want to see a change. In this primary, this is something that remains to be determined. There is extreme dissatisfaction by city voters with the action the mayor and board took in regard to the early retirement buy-out program for city employees. Paying a employee 1-2 years salary to retire early and then hiring them back is not something that is understood by the voters. Whether the voters express this dissatisfaction by not voting for incumbents will be known on September 15.

As I mentioned yesterday, when I was discussing the mayoral candidates, the upcoming vote on three annexations into the city could also easily become a motivating force for voters. If voters do not want these annexations and feel they are premature, this could also be a factor if incumbent aldermen vote in favor and other aldermen and mayoral candidates express their opposition to the annexations.

Another overriding issue will be the perception voters have of the current mayor and board. After, what many felt were four years of bickering between the mayor and board during the 2001-2005 term, the current board of aldermen have been on the most part amenable to requests made by the mayor. However, some have said not enough questioning by aldermen took place over the last four years.

So, being an incumbent running for office can have it benefits but also work against them.

Newcomers have to work on receiving name recognition and with so many candidates that can sometimes be difficult.

Aldermen candidates and the voters also need to keep in mind they are electing a legislative body. The alderman position does not have executive authority.

The city has a charter form of government and voters elect their mayor as the executive. It is also known a s strong mayor form of government which means the mayor is the day to day administrator. The mayor also controls the gavel and as such, the agenda.

The City of Frederick elections have not in the past had publicized "slates" running for office. However, it is important for the voter to examine the position of aldermen candidates on issues and compare them to the positions their choice for mayor has on the same issues. The mayor needs the consent of the aldermen to move their agenda forward.

We have links to all of the Democratic candidate campaign websites located in the right hand margin so please take the time to check them periodically as I am sure they are updated from time to time.

In my next post on the City of Frederick election, I will look at the Democratic candidates for aldermen.

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

Democratic Mayoral candidates:

We conducted our first of a series of online "Meet The Candidate" forums for Jason Judd and Jennifer Dougherty and were pleased that we were able to post their live answers to your questions without a glitch. I was concerned as to how my recently acquired computer skills would hold up!

You can read the questions and the responses by Jason Judd here. Jennifer Dougherty's responses can be read here. We will be holding these the beginning of each month throughout the primary campaign. If you miss the live date, we will post links in the right hand margin of our Home Page so you can easily access and read. They are a great way for you to get to know the candidate so make sure you post your questions when we ask for them and tune in for the candidate's live responses. I will also be interviewing the candidates at a future date and will keep you posted on when.

Jason Judd continues to attend house parties as he meets city residents and is planning a Chili primary fundraiser at his family's home in Yellow Springs. The date is Sunday May 3 and the cost is $25 per person and $40 per couple or family. All types of chili will be served, including vegetarian. To RSVP email carolynjudd8955@hotmail.com or call (301) 695-5766.

Jennifer Dougherty continues to gear up her city campaign after taking a short respite from her recent campaign for the 6th district congressional seat. It appears former city Public Information Officer Nancy Poss will be helping her in her campaign. Dougherty's press releases today sound like themes from a congressional race as she talks about the need for the city to "Get Off the Grid" with ideas on how the make the city use of energy more efficient. You can read her ideas on this here. She also talks about her idea of a "Civilian Conservation Corps 2.0" to help save the watershed. You can read her proposal here.

Democratic Aldermen candidates:

Kelly Russell who was the first to file several months ago, finally held a formal announcement yesterday. We published her announcement column yesterday and it can be read here.

Michael O'Connor and Andrew Kotkin are the other Democratic aldermen candidates who have filed to date.

All of links to the websites for the Democratic candidates are conveniently located in the right hand margin of our Home Page. I encourage you to check them out.

Incumbent aldermen David Koontz and Donna Kuzemchak are expected to run for reelection and this would bring the number to five.

Frederick County Young Democrat President Burke Miller informed me he was accepted into Law School and will not be running for alderman. Best wished for Burke. He has done a great job reestablishing the Young Democrats in the area.

Former City of Frederick Director of Planning and later Director of Community Development James Schermschal informed me he had given it some thought but he is busy aiding his parents who are in assisted care. He informed me his father just turned 89! Happy Birthday!

Frederick News Post columnist Katherine Heerbrandt reported in her column yesterday that Karen Lewis Young will be filing for aldermen soon. Karen is married to Ron Young and was a former President of the Board of Directors of the Weinberg Center. If she and Jennifer Dougherty were elected it would promise to be a better show than the Bill Hall - Jennifer Dougherty showdowns during Jennifer's term as mayor. When Karen was President of the Weinberg Board, she and Jennifer were constantly battling over the future direction of the Weinberg Center.

Rumors persist that former two-term alderman Bill Hall will also enter the race after recently changing his registration back to Democrat. He would be an automatic favorite as he is well liked in the community.

Carol Krimm, a member of the local Democratic Central Committee continues to be another possible candidate for alderman. She attended the city workshop last Wednesday evening and spoke of how the city should not have neglected to file the required paperwork with Frederick County Government to receive their reimbursement from the tax equity program.

When I ran for alderman in 1997, I spoke of how the county tax equity program no longer was equitable for the City of Frederick and the double taxation rate for city residents was unfair. The formula for the City of Frederick needed to change back in 1997 and still needs to today.

As other names surface and candidates announce, we will keep you posted.

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Buzz 3-27-2009

George Wenschhof Bio

The City of Frederick election campaign is in the early stages with the deadline for candidates to file not until July 7. We plan to hold online forums for the Democratic candidates after the filing date. However, there is already plenty of buzz flying around pertaining to the two Democrats who have filed for Mayor.

Jason Judd is the newcomer and Jennifer Dougherty is attempting to reclaim the position she held from 2001 to 2005.

I felt and the candidates agreed, it is never too early to interact with the voters so we will be holding "Ask the Candidates" forums with online questions beginning next week.

We plan to start with Jennifer Dougherty next week. From Monday through Wednesday you will be able to ask your question to her on the post we publish. We will then rank them and on Thursday evening at 7:00 PM ET she will answer live as we post the questions. This will continue for one hour. In our post on Monday we will provide you with the details on how to ask your question.

The following week we plan to do the same with Jason Judd. We are still waiting to hear from Mr. Judd as to what week suits his schedule best. Ms. Dougherty is ok with either week. So, get your questions ready on the issues that matter to you and enter them next week!

If we receive positive responses from you, we will do more of these "Ask the Candidates" questions as the campaign continues and we will also include the Democratic candidates for the five member Board of Aldermen.

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I sent a late email to both Jason Judd and Jennifer Dougherty yesterday and asked them if they had any initial comments on the Budget submitted earlier this week by Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

Ms. Dougherty replied with: Yeah, a few thoughts on the budget...
Proving it is hard to condemn and pay for parkland, he cut playground and pool programs. Cut police but increased engineering. Raised water and sewer - that fund is 77 percent higher in his 4 years.
Getting into the nitty gritty and more to follow.

We had not heard from Jason Judd by the time we published this post. If we receive a comment(s) from him on the proposed budget we will publish an update on this post. Mr. Judd emailed me his initial response Friday evening. In part, he said the following: The Mayor's budget shows pretty plainly the damage done to the City's fiscal health in recent years. We've seen our per cap. City tax levy climb 25% over the last seven years--that’s an inflation-adjusted 25% and that's a lot of money. City spending in the years of the real estate bubble took a big bite out of our families’ budgets, but we're now $10.5 million in the hole and we've doubled our long-term debt.

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Speaking of Democratic alderman candidates, Kelly Russell, who was the first Democrat to file for Alderman, recently sent me the following email:

Hello Frederick friends!

The City of Frederick's Shared Use Path Plan is a plan to provide viable routes to facilitate travel throughout city without an automobile. There are six corridors in the plan: Carroll Creek, East Street, Fredericktown Village, Monocacy Boulevard, Monocacy River, and Rock Creek. You can read more here: Shared Use Path Information

The corridors have about 25.7 miles of proposed pathways. Of the 25.7 miles, approximately 8 miles have been constructed. In the future, developers will help build additional miles of pathway as part of their development plans. Here is a map: Shared Use Path Map

As a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus package), there is money being made available to states for Transportation Enhancements funds, a pool of money that funds many bike and pedestrian projects. States have only 120 days to obligate their funding, and it is critical that Frederick gets its fair share to assist in completing the Shared Use Path.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) has a web page where you can use a form letter or an online form to write to Governor O'Malley to urge allocation of funds for Frederick's project. I encourage you to take a few minutes to send a letter. This is a concrete step we each can take to help move Frederick toward a more sustainable future! Let's get started now!

Here is the link: Washington Area Bicyclist Association

Thanks!

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The other Democrat to file for alderman is Andrew Kotkin and you can read his website by clicking here.

His first post on his site is entitled "Five Points" and discusses why he is running for office. So, go to his site and check it out!

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

I began the first of what will be ongoing posts pertaining to the City of Frederick election back on January 20.

Jennifer Dougherty made official, what I had predicted in that first column, when she announced her candidacy for Mayor yesterday. By announcing yesterday, Dougherty who is Irish will be in the news today on St. Patrick's Day.

Also yesterday, Jack Lynch announced his withdrawal from the race and his support for Jennifer Dougherty. Mr. Lynch was a former columnist with Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof.

Mr. Lynch has always come across as sincere in regard to his positive vision for the future of the City of Frederick. He will stay involved by working on the Dougherty campaign and managing the website. Look to see him stay involved in local politics. It is entirely possible he will surface in a future campaign for elected office.

We published posts yesterday on the Dougherty and Lynch announcements.

Meanwhile, the Judd for Mayor campaign continues moving forward with plans to begin canvassing City of Frederick residents this coming weekend. In a recent email sent to supporters, Jason Judd indicated he wants every voter to have a copy of his Brochure.

The alderman race grew by one Democrat yesterday when Andrew Kotkin filed his paperwork with City Hall. I spoke with him yesterday and he sent me a press release on his announcement.

Mr. Kotkin has lived in Frederick for nine years and owns a residential project management company. He and his wife have three children under the age of six. He emailed me the following as to why he is running for alderman:

"Quality of life issues, in my mind, are some of the biggest concerns for the citizens here in the City, and at the rate we are continuing to grow, we will need a government that has the willingness to listen to those concerns and voice whether it is acting in the best interest of those citizens it claims to represent."

I informed him we will publish a column from him detailing the reasons he is running for alderman and he indicated he will send to us. We have offered the same to all the Democratic candidates when they make their announcement. You can contact him at Kotkin4alderman@live.com

It still looks as though incumbent Democratic aldermen Donna Kuzemchak and David "Kip" Koontz will run for reelection. Their entry would increase the number to four Democrats running for alderman. The fourth is Kelly Russel who was the first to file.

Michael O'Connor also informed me he is moving closer to announcing he is running for alderman. Political junkies know him as the host of "Pressing Issues" a political discussion show that was broadcast by Comcast. I remember when he was a reporter with Adelphia cable and we actually had a local television news station. He is obviously knowledgeable of city issues and will make a competitive candidate. Look to see him announce within the next several weeks.

Popular former alderman Bill Hall will make it six Democrats running for alderman when he makes his announcement. He was the top vote getter in the 2001 election and will be looked upon as a favorite to win a seat on the five member Board of Alderman.

I also mentioned Carol Krimm, who is a member of the Frederick County Democratic State Central Committee, as a possible candidate in my January 20 post on the site. She would make it seven Democratic candidates and if successful and elected, she would be the first from the local Democratic central committee to win election to public office since 1997. Blaine Young, who was the chair of the committee at that time won and served one term as alderman. He is now a registered Republican.

Burke Miller, the President of the Frederick County Young Democrats indicated to me yesterday he was still considering a run for alderman. He plans to call Democratic activists to receive some advise prior to making a decision.

He would make it 8 candidates vying for five seats in the Democratic primary. The above eight Democratic candidates are all solid so look for an exciting Democratic primary. In all likelihood, the number of alderman candidates will grow by another two to three candidates.

We plan to offer online forums for the Democratic candidates after the filing deadline July 7, so stay tuned.

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