Wenschhof Interviews City of Frederick, Md. Alderman David Koontz

George Wenschhof

Today, my guest is Alderman David "Kip" Koontz (D). I met David Koontz some years ago and at one point we were neighbors living in apartments across from city hall.

Mr. Koontz first became known to many for his outspoken gay activism after his arrival in Frederick.

In 1998 he ran for state delegate in district 3. This was before the redistricting that occurred in 2002 resulted in creating districts 3-a and 3-b. Sue Hecht was the only Democrat to win in that election which saw Republicans Louise Snodgrass and Joseph Bartlett win to fill out the three delegate positions representing district 3.

In 2001, he unsuccessfully ran for Alderman in the City of Frederick election only to run again in 2005 and win. In 2005, he placed second in the Democratic primary with 2457 votes and also placed second in the general election with 4,491 votes.

I have not shared with him the questions I will ask today and we will be communicating via computer from different locations within the city. This is a live online conversation so remember to click your "Refresh" button on your computer every fifteen minutes to see the more recent question and answer.

The link to the discussion will be placed in the right hand margin of my Home Page so it can be easily accessed and read at any time convenient to our viewers.

At this point I want to welcome Mr. Koontz to Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof.

GW - David, let's get started by talking about why your decision to run for reelection was delayed until the last day permitted to file for office in the City of Frederick election. Over a year and a half ago speculation was rampant you were considering a run for Mayor.

Tell the voters why you waited until the last day to file for office and if you had seriously considered running for mayor. As a follow up, why do you feel the voters should chose you over any of the other Democratic candidates running for alderman?

Kip - Yes, I was seriously considering a run for mayor. In all honesty I believed Mayor Holtzinger would win re-election and considering what it has taken for me to be accepted in our city enough to be elected Alderman, I didn't believe it would have been beneficial to my constituents to possibly not be in office to assist them. I believe I have very effectively served the residents of the city by resolving, or at at least obtaining answers, to their concerns. Additionally, I have voted for a 4-cent property tax cut and I brokered bi-partisan agreements to ensure the placement of police and code enforcement officers that the mayor did not budget for nor find necessary.

I waited until the last day to file (I did announce earlier) because my partner JD has been quite ill this year, as have his parents. Family considerations are extremely important to me and we had to decide if our situation made a run for Mayor or even Alderman something to pursue this year.

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GW - David, you were past President of the Frederick Kiwanis Club and have always been active in the Evangelical Reformed Church. Voters enjoy getting to know more about the candidates. Share with them a little about yourself and some of your interests outside of politics.

Kip - I am actually an Assisting Minister at the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though I certainly embrace the UCC's tenets (ERUCC and Grace UCC). I am blessed to serve our congregation in this manner and am humbled by the love I receive from my church community. As a past president of Frederick Kiwanis I am proud to have served as President and Chair of our Young Children Priority One campaign, in which we raised and donated up to $20,000 annually to benefit children in our city and county.

For the past four years I have been very active in Greyhound rescue, doing what I can to save the lives of dogs that would otherwise be put down. I am the proud owner of four Greyhounds myself, and they give me and JD great joy.

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GW - The recent Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) decision which resulted in a fine to a downtown property owner has some voters on both sides of the issue upset. As you know, this has come up from time to time since the creation of the Historic District.

In this case, Mayor Jeff Holtzinger allegedly instructed staff to ignore a fine issued by the HPC and to the best of my knowledge there has been no resolution of this issue to date.

I have written in columns I question the Mayor having the power to override a decision made by the HPC when the remedy for the property owner who disagrees with a decision is to file an appeal. I further stated I felt city legal staff should be consulted and asked for an opinion in regard to the action taken by the Mayor.

You filed an ethics complaint against the Mayor regarding this matter. First, why did you feel this was a matter that fell under an ethics complaint and second, where does the ethics complaint stand?

Kip - I've never said there cannot and should not be changes with the HPC; in fact, there are new guidelines that would have been approved and would have prevented recent conflict if not for political posturing by the Mayor and certain other members of the Board of Aldermen.

The issue is strictly that the mayor instructed staff not to impose penalties that are legally required to be applied whenever someone violates an HPC decision. Selective enforcement of HPC penalties for violations is unfair to law-abiding and code-abiding business and property owners in the city. That was the basis for my complaint against the mayor.

Also, there is little awareness among the public that the conversion from Professional Building to Volt was not an easy one. I met with the owners and legal staff on a couple of occasions in order to discuss what may or may not be possible in their reconfiguration of the interior, in order to help them with compliance.

I did everything I could to make them aware of the violation, as I knew it was going to become political.

As for the ethics complaint, it was made clear to me that even if I believe that the mayor acted outside his purview, which I do, this matter does not fall under that which can be considered "ethically unacceptable". I'm sure that everyone who has been made to comply with HPC guidelines when they don't believe they need to wished they also had the current mayor on their side to override the HPC rulings. Why have an HPC, then?

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GW - Let's now talk about the controversial early retirement buy out decision that took place during your first term. As confused and angry voters know, some city employees received two years of salary and then were hired back. One of the more recognizable employees was Ron Tobin who works directly for Mayor Holtzinger and is now one of the Republicans running for Mayor.

You were one of the aldermen who voted to approve this program, although reportedly little time was given to the aldermen to review. Later, you were one of the three Democratic aldermen who voted and passed a resolution to have an independent investigation of the program. Mayor Holtzinger vetoed this vote.

Tell the voters what led you to first approve the change and then later vote to investigate it.

Kip - The early retirement buyout did not work out as expected in hindsight. We expected no more than half of the eligible city employees to accept the buyout, according to staff surveys, and instead the rate at which employees availed themselves of the buyout turned out to be far greater.

In light of this result, I actually attempted to bring this back for review and only four alderpeople were at the meeting -- all three Democrats, Alderman Imhoff, and the Mayor were in attendance. Only Alderwoman Kuzemchek and I voted to reverse the decision. Alderpeople Hall and Imhoff voted to NOT review and then Mayor Holtzinger broke the tie.

We would like to take corrective action about those employees who have been re-hired by the mayor (it was not what we approved), but it is clear we don't have a veto-proof majority to overturn the mayor's action plan.

The entire way the early retirement plan was initially proposed appeared workable based upon the reviewing organization's assessment. It ended up as an unfortunate political mess. The one silver lining is that it actually did not cause the city to lose money, contrary to perceptions.

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GW - Another issue which is catching the attention of city voters is the proposed annexation of three farms into the City of Frederick. Two of the farms (Crum and Thatcher) are located north of the city and the other farm (Summers) is located west of the city.

Some voters feel the current infrastructure is woefully behind current development and the proposed annexations are premature. These voters want the vote delayed until the new mayor and board of aldermen take office.

Other voters feel the proposed annexations will provide economic development opportunities for the city.

Unless, the vote is delayed, this vote will come before you prior to the change in administration as a result of the election. Tell the voters your position on the proposed annexations.

Kip - I knew, for better or worse, that the annexation issue would arrive during my term in office. Previous administrations have passed expanded water agreement areas that we adopted, so that any properties waiting on our annexation list would then be able to come forward and be annexed when the time came.

We took great lengths to prepare for eventual annexation over the last four years with the passage of the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance to ensure orderly expansion occurs and the Moderately Priced Development Ordinance to ensure we build affordable housing in all neighborborhoods.

Additionally, with my leadership, this board made it clear that only developments that moved the city forward in some way (fire departments, parks, businesses we don't yet have, etc.) would be part of the annexation process.

While the idea of annexation and development might be frightening to some, I believe we have laid the proper groundwork for the directed and necessary growth for our future.

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GW - I remember you battling for additional police department funding and helping to broker a compromise with the mayor during a previous budget approval process during your first term in office.

You also point out on your campaign website http://www.kipforyou.com/, you "voted for more police and code enforcement officers".

Public safety is always a major concern of voters. During these tough financial times, do you support the city acquiring a site and building a new police headquarters or do you believe funding in the next administration should go toward a police substation or two and additional officers?

Kip - I have been more than proud to support our city's Police Department and have said so for years, even preceding my term as Alderman. We need to move Central Command into its own office so that the Department can have the space and facilities it deserves. We are doing them an utter disservice by having them squashed in the Court House and Court Street Parking Garage Basement.

In the last two budget cycles, the mayor did not include adding additional police, even though I had requested them. My conversations with city residents revealed that they were appalled with the mayor's decisions in this matter. I negotiated a budget compromise that included a series of new police cadet classes; even though the mayor did not support these, they were ultimately approved two consecutive years, and I count this as one of my proudest achievements as Alderman.

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GW - David, we are now to the last question before your final remarks. You also mention on your campaign website you "want to grow our tax base in sensible ways".

Tell the voters more about how you intend to do this.

Kip - While "growth" is seen sometimes as a dirty word, in order to ensure our tax base grows responsibly we need to ensure we grow with the right type of light industrial, bio-tech, commercial and residential mix in order to spread around and diversify the revenue sources needed by the city. This will ensure that the tax burden is distributed fairly.

As we infill, redevelop and expand we must keep these principles in mind.

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GW - Thank you again for taking the time today to appear on Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof. At this time I would like to give you the opportunity for some closing remarks.

Kip - I have been very happy to serve the citizens of Frederick the last four years. I've voted to decrease our property tax rate and to increase our park space. I have worked to help pull the Weinberg Center for the Arts out of a serious financial deficit and thank the Manager and Board for their efforts towards getting the Center operating in the black, which had not been the case for years, if not decades.

I have voted for serious and significant infrastrucuture improvements and a sound direction for future development. I championed a partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Frederick which allowed more than 200 children to participate in the program. I voted to rescue children's parks and recreation programs from the chopping block. My record for advocacy for the improvement of the quality of life in Frederick speaks for itself.

It has been a great honor to serve as Frederick City Alderman, and I hope the citizens of Frederick give me the opportunity to serve for another four years. Thank you!

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Democratic Alderman Candidate David Koontz to be Guest Today

George Wenschhof

This week, I conclude my interviews with the Democratic candidates for mayor and alderman in the City of Frederick. Today, on Air-it-out with George Wenschhof, incumbent alderman David "Kip" Koontz will join me live online from 2:00 - 4:00 PM ET.

I have previously had as my guests, all three Democratic candidates for mayor and seven of the nine Democratic candidates for alderman. You can read all of my conversations with the candidates by clicking on the links provided in the right hand margin of my Home Page.

The remaining Democratic candidate for alderman, John Daniels will be my guest Thursday August 20 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM ET.

The primary election will be held on September 15 and the deadline to register to vote prior to the primary is today.

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Chatter

George Wenschhof Bio

The race for Mayor of the City of Frederick is shaping up as a do-over of the 2005 election. All indications are former Democratic Mayor Jennifer Dougherty will announce her candidacy any day now. While another former Mayor Ron Young, her Democratic opponent in the 2005 city election, is supporting newcomer Jason Judd. The other Democratic candidate for Mayor is Jack Lynch.

For Ms. Dougherty, this will make her sixth attempt for public office while it is the first for Mr. Judd and Mr. Lynch. It was just last year Ms. Dougherty won the Democratic party nomination for Congress in the sixth district of Maryland. While she did not do any better in the general election than the Democratic nominee Andrew Duck did in the 2006 election, she did win the City of Frederick with 56% of the vote.

She did work hard at mending fences after the 2008 Congressional primary so look to see her continue to work at finding common ground among city voters. So far, in addition to her closest advisers, she has been reaching out to members in the community to discuss her interest in running for Mayor. Upon hearing of former city alderman Bill Hall's intention to run again Ms. Dougherty placed a call and had a conversation with him. She has also met with alderman Marcia Hall who recently announced she would not be running for any office this year. Marcia Hall had briefly entertained running for Mayor.

If Dougherty wins, she will be 2-6 in her attempts for elective office and at .333, that would make her a superstar in major league baseball today. If she would lose, at 1-6 and .166, she would be out of baseball and most likely any future quest for elected office would be over as well. The often visible and reported disagreements between Mayor Dougherty and Republican aldermen became a distraction during her term in office. However, if she has learned to lay off the high fastball and learned to hit the curve ball, expect a very competitive race and a good shot at returning to city hall.

Look for Ms. Dougherty to focus on the important issues facing the City of Frederick today and the need to have experienced leaders in office. The city budget and finances will surely be one of the major areas which will receive her attention.

Meanwhile, Jason Judd will need to shake the image of being the surrogate for Ron Young. His Union work experience also continues to be a issue with some city voters. Interestingly, when he submitted and we published his announcement column (we announced in July 2008 we will do the same for all Democratic candidates), Mr. Judd never once mentioned his work for Unions in describing his work experience.

Perhaps this was an oversight, but Mr. Judd should not avoid discussing his work with the Services Employees International Union (SEIU). An opponent could easily perceive this as a weakness and try to exploit his past work experience. The positives of what unions have accomplished for working men and women should be acknowledged and not ignored.

Not helping Judd break the surrogate label, was a letter to the editor from Ron Young that appeared in the Frederick Gazette today. Here he says he is not just against Jennifer Dougherty but is supporting Jason Judd because.... Interestingly, Mr. Young brings up and questions the residency of current Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger. Funny, due to the fact Ron Young did not meet the residency requirements that were in place when he wanted to challenge Jennifer Dougherty in the 2005 primary. This led to the squabble among elected city officials, ultimately resulting in a one year residency requirement which Ron Young did meet. Along the way, as the residency squabble was playing out, Republican Jeff Holtzinger whose residency was just outside the City of Frederick's boundary, became eligible to file and did so.

Do not look to see the residency issue be an important factor with the voters in this election. In fact, many are tired of hearing about residency and instead want the candidates to focus on the issues.

As to the city aldermen race, Kelly Russell remains the only Democrat to file for office. A link to her website is located in the right hand margin of our site so go and check it out. James Racheff sent me an email recently saying he will not be running for aldermen. He has a new job and young children he loves spending time with and does not want to miss those precious moments. Mr. Racheff will stay involved with politics by helping out on the Judd for Mayor campaign. Look for Mr. Racheff to run for office in the future.

Although alderman David "Kip'" Koontz has considered running for Mayor, do not look for him to do so if Jennifer Dougherty announces soon. He will be competitive for reelection for alderman. Incumbent Donna Kuzemchak will most likely run for her fourth term and will also be a favorite for reelection. As mentioned in a previous column on our site, former two term alderman Bill Hall is expected to announce his run for alderman after switching his voter registration back to Democrat. He will be a formidable candidate.

As I indicated last week, Burke Miller, the President of the Frederick County Young Democrats is weighing entering the race. He will know more after he makes his decision on Law school over the next several weeks. Another possible candidate that has surfaced in conversations I have had with Democrats is Michael O'Connor who was recently the host of the local cable "Pressing Issues" political discussion show. He ran previous for state delegate and lost. Mr. O'Connor is knowledgeable of city issues and would be a competitive candidate. Another name that was mentioned to me by several individuals is Josh Bokee. I have not met him but was told he serves on the Whittier Neighborhood Advisory Council (NAC) and may be interested in running for alderman.

Stay tuned....

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City of Frederick, MD Democratic Chatter

George Wenschhof Bio

I wrote back on January 20 the 2009 race for the Democratic party nomination for Mayor of the City of Frederick, Maryland could wind up being a battle of the surrogates of the Democratic candidates in 2005. In that election, former four term Mayor Ron Young took on incumbent one term mayor Jennifer Dougherty. Ron Young beat Jennifer Dougherty but then lost to current Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

The surrogates were shaping up to be Alderman Marcia Hall who appeared to have the support of Jennifer Dougherty and newcomer Jason Judd who has the support of Ron Young. Marcia Hall had said she was running for Mayor on Katherine's Heerbrandt's "Frederick's Forum" WFMD AM radio talk show on January 11.

I indicated in my column on January 20, this would be the case unless Jennifer Dougherty could not resist the temptation to enter the race herself. Whether Jennifer entered the race or not, it looked as if the Dougherty supporters would be facing the Young supporters again in the 2009 Democratic primary.

I also indicated I believed neither Alderman Donna Kuzemchak or David "Kip" Koontz would run for Mayor. Instead, they would run for reelection as Aldermen and be favored.

When Marcia Hall announced at the February 19 Mayor and Board meeting she would not be running for any elected position this year, the odds for Ms. Dougherty to enter the race increased as I indicated in my column dated February 24.

I also pointed out in that column that Jack Lynch who at that point was the only Democrat to file for Mayor was a long shot and he remains so today. Mr. Lynch has genuine concerns for future growth for the city but in order for him to mount a competitive campaign he will need to raise money and develop his organization.

The fund raiser planned by Jason Judd was also mentioned in that column and on February 26, Mr. Judd had well over 100 attend the event at Cafe Nola in downtown Frederick. In fact, he informed me they had 150 attend per their head count. Ron Young spoke and it is obvious Jason Judd has some organization supporting his race. He also surely added to his campaign coffers that evening. A good start for his campaign. However, before anyone gets too excited, I was one of several hundred who attended Ron Young's campaign kick-off for the 2005 campaign. After raising a reported $130,000, he lost to current Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

Judd is following up on that event with an official announcement kick-off of his campaign on March 11 at the Delaplaine Center. You can read more details on that event here. We will be publishing his announcement column on why he is running for Mayor within the next several days. He informed me I would receive from him no later than today. We will do the same for all Democratic candidates as they announce their candidacy.

I met with Jennifer Dougherty yesterday morning and she indicated she was indeed considering running for Mayor and would make an announcement within the next one to two weeks. She has been keeping busy talking with her closest campaign advisers and voters in the community.

We spoke of a wide range of topics. The economic aspects of Mayor Holtzinger's pension plan and buy out along with his purchase of land for a City park were two areas of concern for Ms. Dougherty.

She also spoke of lessons learned from the 2005 city primary and felt she handled the 2008 6th district congressional primary in a much better manner, avoiding the fractured nature of the Democratic voters in the 2005 city election. In that primary, she beat favored Andrew Duck who was the Democratic nominee in 2006. She went on to lose to incumbent Republican Roscoe Bartlett by the same margin as Duck had lost by two years previously.

Let's see what she decides to do. If I were a betting man, I would say she will run for Mayor. After all, she realizes she won 56% of the vote in the city last year in the Congressional election. If she did enter the race, she would be the Democratic front runner.

Meanwhile, Aldermen Donna Kuzemchak and David "Kip" Koontz have to be mulling running for Mayor now that Marcia Hall has dropped out. However, do not look to see either do so if Dougherty announces for Mayor.

As to Jack Lynch, he indicated to me he had met with Frederick County Commissioner Kai Hagen several weeks ago. Hagen is supporting Jason Judd and suggested to Lynch that he withdraw and run for Alderman. Lynch indicated to me he did not see himself running for Alderman.

In regard to Democratic candidates for Aldermen, Kelly Russell continues to be the only one to file to date. She continues to be extremely quiet.

One new face to possibly look for is Burke Miller, the President of the Frederick County Young Democrats. He is a very impressive young man and would make an excellent Aldermen. He has applied for Law School and work along with his involvement with the Young Democrats may keep him from filing. He indicated to me he is interested and would have a better idea come May.

Stay Tuned...

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Frederick Co. MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

I started these weekly local posts only one month ago and they have rapidly become widely read among our local viewers. If you have some local Democratic news you feel we should be sharing with our readers, send me a email at GeorgeWenschhof@gmail.com and I will try to include in a future post on the site.

City of Frederick Election - The biggest news since last Tuesday was the announcement by Alderman Marcia Hall at last Thursday's City of Frederick Mayor and Board meeting she will not be running for office this year. Several weeks ago, on Katherine Heerbrandt's Saturday morning radio show "Frederick's Forum" on WFMD 930 AM radio, Marcia Hall indicated she would be running for Mayor.

Ms. Hall's reason for not running for any office was due to family issues. I had speculated she would be the front runner for the Democratic Party nomination, if former Mayor Jennifer Dougherty could stay out of the fray. The battle in the Democratic Party primary would have then been a battle of the surrogates of Ron Young - Jason Judd and Jennifer Dougherty - Marcia Hall. A somewhat remake of the 2005 Democratic primary.

Jack Lynch is the only Democratic candidate who has filed for Mayor. At this point, he is considered a long shot in securing the party nomination on September 7, 2009. However, as current Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger proved, nothing is a given until the voters have cast their ballots. In 2005, Holtzinger first beat heavily favored Joe Baldi in the Republican primary and then went on to upset Democrat Ron Young in the general election to become Mayor.

Before supporters of Jason Judd, who is likely to file his candidacy for Mayor within the next month, get too excited, Jennifer Dougherty still looms as a potential Democratic candidate for Mayor. I spoke with her briefly last Friday after Marcia's announcement and she indicated to me that this certainly does change things. In subsequent emails, she indicated she would be discussing entering the race as the issues facing the City of Frederick are big ones.

In the 2008 6th district election for Congress, Ms Doughery won 56.51% of the vote in Frederick County election district 2 which is the bulk of the voters in the City of Frederick. If she would announce her candidacy for Mayor, she would be the front runner in the Democratic primary.

Expect Dougherty to make an announcement sooner rather than later as incumbent Democratic aldermen Donna Kuzemchak and David "Kip' Koontz will be reevaluating their interest in Mayor with this announcement by Marcia Hall. If Dougherty files for Mayor, do not look for Kuzemchak or Koontz to run for Mayor. Otherwise, expect one or both to seriously consider a run for Mayor.

Meanwhile, Democrat Jason Judd continues to explore his candidacy for Mayor and is holding a fun-raiser on Thursday February 26 at Cafe Nola in downtown Frederick. The suggested donation is only $20 and the Band "Hard Swimming Fish" will be performing. The event begins at 7:00 PM and Cafe Nola is located on E. Patrick Street.

Last Sunday, Democratic mayoral candidate Jack Lynch met with the Frederick Young Democrats and discussed his positions on future growth for the City of Frederick.

On the Republican side for Mayor, incumbent Mayor Jeff Holtzinger filed his paperwork last Friday, making his reelection bid official. As I indicated last week, I had heard he would announce shortly after Randy McClement, the local deli owner, had filed for Mayor. There continues to be chatter among some Republicans that now that Holtzinger has filed for Mayor, Mr. McClement may withdraw and file for Alderman. Mr. McClement ran for aldermen in 2005 and lost and the thought is his run for Mayor is a bit of a reach.

Mr. McClement is a nice and thoughtful man. However, his chances of securing the Republican party nomination for Mayor is about the same as his supporter, Maryland delegate Rick Weldon (district 3-b which does not include the City of Frederick), getting on the ballot in the state of Maryland and winning a race as a Unaffiliated candidate. Yet, as I mentioned earlier, that is why we hold elections so voters and not pundits decide who is elected to office.

It is still early, as the filing deadline for candidates is not until July 7, 2009. So, there is still plenty of time for others to join the race.

The only Democratic alderman to file remains Kelly Russel, who so far is running a stealth campaign. Should neither enter the race for Mayor, Donna Kuzemchak and David "Kip" Koontz remain favorites to be reelected as aldermen.

Yesterday, I received a email from Ken Berlin who indicated he will not be running for alderman. He also indicated he is not bitter over his loss in the 2005 election and said he had met a lot of nice people during his campaign. However, he doesn't like how some things are being done by the current Mayor and Board.

Stay Tuned.

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City of Frederick Asks for Input on Election Date Change

George Wenschhof Bio

As many of our readers know, I proposed a change in the date of the City of Frederick election date to coincide with the Presidential election. You can read more on my position here. This election date change will result in more than doubling the current weak 32% voter turnout and also save the taxpayer some of the costs associated with holding a separate election.

Bipartisan support for the change resulted in the Mayor and Board of Aldermen holding a workshop to discuss this issue. During the workshop held on January 14, 2009, the Mayor and 4 of the 5 Aldermen supported the change. Only Republican Alderman Paul Smith was opposed to the change. You can read more about that meeting here.

Mayor Jeff Holtzinger issued a media advisory yesterday asking for input from citizens on the proposed change. Following positive response, the next hopeful step would be for the Mayor to advertise and schedule a Mayor and Board meeting to formally vote on the proposal.

The President of Frederick Young Democrats, Burke Miller informed me they are planning to go door to door to share with voters their support of this change.

Below is the contact information for the Mayor and Board of Aldermen. Take the time to either call or email them with your support for this change of the election date to coincide with the presidential election.

Mayor@cityoffrederick.com - Jeff Holtzinger (R)
(301) 600-1380
Mhall@cityoffrederick.com - Marcia Hall (D)

(301) 600-1382
dkoontz@cityoffrederick.com - David Koontz (D)

(301) 600-1386
aimhoff@cityoffrederick.com - Alan Imhoff (R)

(301) 600-1632
psmith@cityoffrederick.com - C. Paul Smith (R)

(301) 600-1863
dkuzemchak@cityoffrederick.com - Donna Kuzemchak (D)

(301) 600-2966

It is way past time to increase the number of voters who determine who your city elected officials will be. When you contact your officials with your support for the election date change to coincide with the presidential election, let them know democracy works best, when higher number of voters participate in the process.

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Frederick Co. MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

Today, after requests from many local Democrats, I start what will be a weekly post which will appear on Tuesday. It will cover whatever I happen to be hearing about Democrats in Frederick County, Maryland.

If you have some buzz to share with our readers, you can either post what you are hearing by clicking on the "Comments link" at the end of this post or you can send me an email to georgewenschhof@gmail.com and I will try to include in a post.

Today, we will take a look at who may be the Democratic candidates in the City of Frederick Elections. Next week on Tuesday, we will look at what will likely be the issues in the City of Frederick election.

City of Frederick voters will be electing the mayor and five aldermen this year. Candidates can now file for office at City Hall and the deadline for filing is July 7. The primary election will be held on September 15 and the general election will take place on November 3, 2009.

For Mayor:

Jack Lynch has already filed after announcing his intentions six months ago on our website. Although he announced early and was the first to officially file, he is still working at putting together his campaign organization. He struggled a little getting out of the gate when he talked about moving the Fairgrounds which are not owned by the city government. Mr. Lynch is a nice gentleman who has some good ideas about future growth of the city and an overall vision for the future. Let's see if he can get his message out and have it resonate with the voters.

Marcia Hall, a two term Alderwoman, basically announced January 11, 2009 her bid for Mayor on Katherine Heerbrandt's Saturday morning WFMD AM radio show. Ms. Hall has been rumored to run for some time - she may as well go file and make it official. The old standard political advise of waiting to officially file when you are in office for fear people will scrutinize your every vote no longer holds in this case. Everyone is already looking at her every move. She is well liked and also managed to stay out of the "fray" during the Dougherty administration.

She will be a formidable candidate and her supporters will surely point out as the top vote getter among the Aldermen in the 2005 election, she received more votes than incumbent Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

Detractors will say she has not often been clear on her positions on an issue and will try to label her as wishy-washy. Her biggest challenge will be delineating the differences between herself and Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger (should he run again) on the issues. Her voting record as Alderman will be thoroughly examined and pointed out by her opponents.

I interviewed Jason Judd for three hours prior to a column I published on December 19, 2008. He is a thoughtful and deliberate candidate who has experience in community organizing. I have witnessed this first hand as city residents from many different "clicks" in the community have come to me to express their support of his run for Mayor. There is also a strong possibility former four term Mayor Ron Young will manage his campaign. Mr. Young raised over $100,000 in his campaign for Mayor in 2005. He beat incumbent Mayor Jennifer Dougherty handily in the Democratic primary but lost by a few hundred votes to current Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

The rap that will come up against Jason Judd will be his work for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) with detractors trying to make an issue they don't want union representation in the City of Frederick.

His close advisers have been offering ideas as to when to officially announce and I have heard closer to April is the preferred date.

Although Jennifer Dougherty was probably the only Democratic candidate for Congress who was unable to benefit from the enthusiasm generated by the Barack Obama campaign, do not discount the possibility of her running for Mayor again. The only demographic area Ms. Dougherty won in the 2008 congressional race was the City of Frederick. However, that was due to city Democrats being united against incumbent Congressman Roscoe Bartlett.

Ms. Dougherty has become the perennial candidate having now run five times and only winning once. It is obvious she enjoys the debate on the issues and being critical of other candidates. Unfortunately, after her disastrous one term as mayor, she reminds many of the character played by Robert Redford in the movie "The Candidate" when he said after winning the election; "What do I do now?".

Should she run again, she would further divide the local Democratic party more than she has already done as many will remember she did not support Ron Young after he defeated her in the primary. Many believe she urged her closest supporters to vote for Republican Jeff Holtzinger in the general election and therefore was a factor in Young's loss to Holtzinger.

Anyway, some other Democrats may join the race, but it is shaping up as another male-female battle once again in the Democratic primary. If Jennifer Dougherty can resist running against Marcia Hall as she was unable to do against Andrew Duck, this primary could end up being a battle of surrogates of the 2005 Democratic candidates for Mayor. Jason Judd will have Ron Young's support and Marcia Hall would have the support of Dougherty. Marcia Hall may actually be better served if she kept some distance from Ms. Dougherty.

Do not look for either aldermen David "Kip" Koontz or Donna Kuzemchak to enter the race for Mayor. Both three term incumbent Kuzemchak and first term Koontz will most likely file for Aldermen.

For Aldermen:

Donna Kuzemchak won for the first time in 1997, campaigning loudly about the need for a stop light on a street near her neighborhood with her concern about the safety of school children. In the last election, she was the fifth leading vote getter among the Aldermen candidates. The one thing about Donna is you do not have to wonder how she feels on an issue - she will let you and everyone else know. She will be a strong candidate for reelection.

David "Kip" Koontz - while he may really want to run for mayor, he is a strong candidate for being reelected as alderman. He ran for elected office several times unsuccessfully prior to being elected. His supporters will probably urge him to stay as alderman. He will be another strong candidate and is likely to be reelected.

Both David and Donna have to consider the "what if question" - that is, if I run for mayor and lose, where do I go from there. Losing a city race and trying to run for county or state office in 2010 is not a promising proposition. Waiting to run again in the next city election is too long of a wait.

Kelly Russell - Is she a Republican or a Democrat is the question most voters are asking me. She is the only Democrat to officially file for aldermen to date. Those who know her well are confused in regard to where she stands. She openly gave her support to Republican Harold Domer in the 2006 race for Frederick County Sheriff. Mr. Domer's supporters could easily be classified as former Republican City of Frederick Mayor James Grimes supporters.

Just recently, Ms. Russell supported Democrat Jennifer Dougherty in her bid for Congress. In the only race she won, Dougherty defeated Grimes in the 2001 City of Frederick election. There is no secret the Dougherty and Grimes camps do not support each other. Many voters have expressed a distrust of Ms. Russell so her campaign at present looks to be a tough one.

Carol Krimm - She presently works for state delegate Galen Clagett. She had worked for delegate Sue Hecht until Sue was defeated soundly by Alex Mooney in her attempt to win the state senate seat in district 3 in the 2002 election. Ms. Krimm would be competitive in this race if she filed.

Stephen Slater - He recently moved into the City and will meet the residency requirement by the time the election is held. He is the son of Tom Slater who lost two races when he ran for state delegate and city aldermen. He is an attorney who currently works with his father's law practice. Stephen helped a start-up of the Frederick County Young Democrats prior to when his father ran for alderman in 2005. He was instrumental in them helping his father in his failed bid for alderman. That chapter of the local Young Democrats faded shortly afterward.

Although the name may give him some recognition, his father did not win an election and voters do not know Stephen's position on any city issue so his work will be cut out for him. However, he could easily make the primary cut with his challenge being the general election.

Both Slater and Krimm are members of the Frederick County State Democratic Central committee. This may be a dubious distinction as no one from the central committee has been elected to another office since the 1997 election when the then chair of the committee, Blaine Young was elected as Alderman. Blaine Young is now a Republican.

Sarah Finefrock - the only reason I mention this name is her friend Jennifer Dougherty mentioned it when she recently hosted Katherine Heerbrandt's local radio talk show. Jennifer said Finefrock had just moved back to Frederick (I wonder if she meets the residency requirement) and would make a good candidate. Jennifer talked her into running for Register of Wills in the 2006 election and she was thumped. She would be a long shot in this election.

"Trish" Cunningham - She ran for alderman in the 2005 election and lost but has become known as a city watchdog ever since often challenging decisions on issues. It is likely she will file, but she will once again have difficulty in winning election.

Ken Berlin - Another one who ran for alderman and lost in the 2005 election. His bitterness surrounding that loss continues to be exhibited in his acerbic remarks he often leaves at the end of articles of the online edition of the Frederick News Post. Unfortunately for him, his idea of a land value tax in the 2005 election did not catch on with the voters. Mr. Berlin does have ideas to consider concerning the city and if he could get over his loss in the 2005 election, would be a competitive candidate for alderman.

Others are likely to come forward and file as the July filing deadline is so late.

Look to see Republican incumbent aldermen Alan Imhoff and Paul Smith run again for alderman in spite of some who would like to see Mr. Imhoff run for Mayor. They will both be competitive as aldermen candidates. If local Deli owner Randy McClement runs for anything, it will most likely be alderman. It is very doubtful he could beat incumbent Mayor Jeff Holtzinger. Randy ran for alderman in 2005 and lost and would be competitive this time. If Jeff Holtzinger decides to run for reelection as Mayor, he will easily win the Republican primary.

As of now, it looks like all of the incumbents will run again with Marcia Hall leaving her alderman position to run for Mayor. Unless strong arguments are made to the voters by the candidates to unseat incumbents, there will only be one open alderman seat.

Stay Tuned, we'll look at the issues next week.

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