City of Frederick, MD Democratic Mayoral Race Has Tongues Wagging

George Wenschhof

It is now only 54 days until the primary on September 15 and the race to capture the Democratic nomination for mayor is one to watch.

Four years ago, former four term mayor Ron Young reappeared to challenge incumbent and first term mayor Jennifer Dougherty in the Democratic primary. It had been 16 years since he had been defeated by Republican Paul Gordon who would go on to serve one term as Mayor.

However, before Mr. Young could appear on the ballot, there was a city charter provision requiring three years of residency which Mr. Young did not meet. The Republican aldermen on the board, frustrated with Mayor Dougherty, proposed and passed a charter amendment changing the residency requirement to one year. Mr. Young, who had lived literally a stones throw from the city boundary before moving back to the city, now met the requirement.

But, not so fast, as Mayor Dougherty vetoed the charter amendment nullifying the change in residency. What followed was a series of legal challenges, the result being Mr. Young was allowed to run for mayor. Along the way, the city charter provision of three years was determined to be unconstitutional, leading Mayor Dougherty to rescind her veto of the charter amendment changing the residency requirement to one year.

Interestingly, when the city three year residency requirement was determined not to be legal, and the amendment was passed changing it to one year, there is a 45 day period before it goes into effect. During this 45 day period there was no residency requirement for a mayoral candidate for the City of Frederick. It was during this period current Republican Jeff Holtzinger, who did not live in the city and another Republican; the late Stanley Mazaleski who resided in Emmitsburg, Maryland filed for the office of mayor.

Incumbent favored Republican alderman Joe Baldi, who was running for mayor and did live in the city, was defeated by Jeff Holtzinger in the Republican primary by 35 votes (1077-1042). How many votes did Mr. Mazaleski receive? - 35.

Mr.Young, after spending a reported record amount exceeding $100,000, went on to defeat Mayor Dougherty in the primary 2218 to 1690. You can read the City of Frederick primary results here.

Ron Young, however would lose in the general election to political newcomer and non-city resident Jeff Holtzinger 4740 to 4382.

Tongues wagged and pundits wrote that a spiteful Ms. Dougherty urged her supporters to vote for Republican Jeff Holtzinger ensuring the defeat of Ron Young.

While many others questioned why Mr. Young had not campaigned with more vigor after winning the primary. This group expressed doubt any candidate would be able to persuade enough voters to vote against the candidate of their political party.

Regardless, Ron Young and the Democratic party suffered an embarrassing defeat in the 2005 election.

The background is necessary as the pundits are writing and the tongues are wagging once more in the Democratic primary race for mayor.

Local Republicans are hoping the same divide that transpired in the 2005 Democratic primary will take place yet again this year. They hope it will lead to another Republican being elected mayor as they realize voter registration does not favor Republicans in the City of Frederick. So, many Republicans are helping to spread rumors of turmoil within the Democratic ranks.

This time, for the Democrats, it is a political newcomer and recent resident of the city, Jason Judd, former mayor Jennifer Dougherty and hometown Chris Simpson who are the candidates for mayor. All three have been my guest on the website and their interviews are linked in the right hand margin of the home page.

Some of the rumors circulating surrounding Mr. Judd who works for the Service Employees International Union and has the support of former Mayor Ron Young is he is just a surrogate for Mr. Young and the Union. In my conversations with Jason, I have not found that to be true. Rather, I see him trying to garner support from different folks throughout the city as he meets with voters expressing his platform while listening to their concerns. However, expect that label to stick somewhat as the race heads to the homestretch.

Others try to label Ms. Dougherty as the former mayor who could not get along with anyone and that is another unfair statement which will likely stick with some voters. I have found Jennifer to be cooperative, fair, and straightforward as to her positions on the issues. She is also busy reaching out to voters across the city.

The label that Mr. Simpson is running to aid Dougherty is another unfair and flat out not true rumor. The chances of Chris Simpson winning the Democratic nomination for mayor are slim due to the lateness of his entry to the race. However, it will not be due to his lack of campaigning. He will receive much more than a token number of votes.

Will Chris Simpson attract the blue collar vote? After meeting with him, I would argue that he will. From Mr. Simpson's perspective, he is not running to pull votes from one or the other Democratic candidate - He is running to win - the same as the other two Democratic candidates for mayor.

The Democratic candidates for mayor know better than to personally attack one another as it would only aid the Republican nominee in the general election. So, expect Dougherty, Judd and Simpson to stick to the issues and what they plan to do if elected mayor.

Instead, it is the Republicans who should be worried; especially so, if Ron Tobin becomes their nominee. He would be a lightening rod to galvinize and unify Democratic voters ensuring a Democratic victory in November. Democratic voters will tie him to the former James Grimes administration and all the turmoil and questions surrounding the last term in office by Mr. Grimes.

Further, the acceptence of a two year early retirement buy-out, only to be rehired by mayor Jeff Holtzinger is an outrage to all the working men and women in the city, regardless of political affiliation.

Republican voters would be better served to nominate Randy McClement as their mayoral candidate on September 15. Mr. McClement is known as a nice guy who has experience working on various city commissions. The most recent being the city charter rewrite committee.

While united Democratic voters will make it difficult for any Republican to win election as mayor, Randy will not act as the lightening rod to unite the Democratic base.

Look to see the Democratic candidates continue to concentrate on the issues important to the voters throughout the remaining 71/2 weeks prior to the primary and for a united front in the general election supporting their nominee for mayor.

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City of Frederick, MD Election Update 7-8-2009

George Wenschhof

The field is now set as the filing deadline of July 7 4:00 PM ET for candidates in the City of Frederick election has now passed.

While several last day filings did occur, there were no major surprises. Republicans and Democrats will each field three candidates for Mayor. There are a total of 20 alderman candidates; 11 Republican and 9 Democrats. The City of Frederick website has a list of all the candidates here.

The last day filings included incumbent aldermen Alan Imhoff (R) and David "Kip" Koontz(D). Also filing on the last day were two Republican candidates for aldermen; Shelley Aloi and Robert Cassidy. Ron Tobin (R) who is currently the executive assistant to Mayor Jeff Holtzinger (R), filed for mayor. I had heard rumors of this for the last month but was unable to verify.

Before I get into discussing the candidates, I want to say a quick thank you to Kari Melvin (hope I have the spelling correct) who works at city hall and provided me with the updated list of candidates. I stopped by twice; once around noon and at the end of the day - both times she quickly provided me with an updated list.

Also, during the day, I was contacted by NBC 25 reporter Jackie Cutler who wanted to interview me on the city elections. She had been receiving the daily updates from my site and wanted to hear my take on the upcoming election. My half hour interview in front of city hall after cutting and splicing, resulted in about ten seconds of fame on air as she interviewed a handful of individuals and reported on the last minute filings.

You can watch her report by clicking here and then clicking on the picture of city hall. It was the first time I had met Ms. Cutler and I found her to be very professional and well informed in regard to the local political scene.

Today, I will discuss the candidates for mayor. Tomorrow, I will discuss the aldermen candidates. On the Democratic side, I see Jennifer Dougherty and Jason Judd pretty much tied at this point, ten weeks from the September 15 primary election. The Democrat newcomer to the race; Chris Simpson has his work cut out for him. However, I found he had some interesting points in my brief telephone conversation with him after he filed last Thursday.

Mr. Simpson spoke of the decline of the neighborhoods off Route 40 (Golden Mile) and the need for a greater police presence. Depending on how the mainstream media treats him, he could, as a local born and raised city of Frederick man, catch on with some voters.

A local columnist, upon learning of Mr. Simpson's entry into the race, contacted me and asked me if I felt this would aid the Dougherty campaign. I did not feel Mr Simpson, as a present political unknown would aid either the Judd or Dougherty campaign. Instead, I felt he would draw equally from both which could prove to be interesting.

I plan to meet with Mr. Simpson on Thursday and will interview him live online as I did with Ms. Dougherty and Mr. Judd. Stay tuned and I will keep you informed when the interview will take place.

Jennifer Dougherty continues to go door to door daily as she campaigns to win reelection, while Jason Judd, who works in D.C. does not have the time to do so. While his support from former Mayor Ron Young is helpful, most people I talk to do not know Mr. Judd.

Dougherty signs have begun popping up everywhere of late, while the number of Judd signs appear to be unchanged from when they first appeared.

What the overriding issue will be for voters in this election is still to be determined. The early retirement buy-out debacle instituted by Mayor Holtzinger with consent of the alderman, continues to be the number one issue resulting in a head scratching exercise by city voters. Why pay someone 1-2 years of salary and then hire them back is hard to swallow for the everyday working man and woman.

Reduction in crime and safety is always of concern to voters which is why early remarks from newcomer Chris Simpson should not be dismissed.

Maintaining a satisfactory level of services to city residents while experiencing lean and difficult economic times will also certainly be a challenge for the incoming administration. In this area, Mr. Judd has a economics degree and Ms. Dougherty during her previous administration has written and had approved four annual city budgets.

The current administration has indebted the city at a record amount by acquiring land for a future park, finalizing a water agreement with questionable terms, and indebting the city for future infrastructure improvements including the now "infamous" jobs pathway road extension.

All of which will need to be paid for while city property values have decreased in values. This will result in less income for city services.

The annexation of additional land into the city at this point could become an election issue. Three farms known as the Summers, Crum and Thatcher farms have been brought forward for city mayor and board approval. They all appear to be premature as thousands of unbuilt units exist within the city boundaries at present.

One statement which has been attributed to Mayor Holtzinger by some is he feels the annexations are needed to pay for the cost of the water agreement. If true, the statement makes little sense. Planned reasonable growth takes into account the many factors impacted by increased development. The fact that the city entered into a water agreement does not automatically dictate additional land needs to be annexed into the city.

How the incumbent aldermen vote on these annexations and how the other candidates running for office weigh in on these annexations could easily become a issue of importance to the voters who are already tired of congested roads and overcrowded schools. However, if candidates oppose these annexations, they will have to move fast as the city mayor and board meetings have been scheduled.

The Republican field for mayor also grew by one when Ron Tobin filed to join Clint Hoffman and Randy McClement. Incumbent Mayor Jeff Holtzinger added confusion to the Republican effort by first being noncommittal to his intention to run, then filing to run for reelection, and finally withdrawing from the race.

Mr. Hoffman, a owner of a local towing business is the long shot. Mr. McClement began by being the only Republican candidate for mayor who had the support of state delegate Rick Weldon (I-3b). The rumor that Mayor Holtzinger would not file for reelection was strong, only to be dashed when he filed papers to run, making the incumbent mayor the favorite in the Republican primary. Holtzinger followed with his withdrawal from the race. This action was reminiscent of his supporter, former Mayor James Grimes who did the same thing only to refile for election in the 2001 election. Grimes would lose that election to Jennifer Dougherty. Will Holtzinger change his mind and refile? - doubtful.

So that leaves Ron Tobin, often referred to as "Darth Vader" or the "Grim Reaper" of city hall as the other Republican candidate for mayor. He was first hired by mayor James Grimes and was replaced during the Dougherty administration. Mr. Grimes was an early supporter of Holtzinger and upon his surprise election in 2005, Mr. Tobin reappeared at city hall.

Tobin will be competitive in the Republican primary due to support he will receive from the Grimes and Blaine Young camp. However, he is one who received the early buy out and was hired back by the mayor which hardly makes any sense whatsoever. Expect him to be clobbered with this.

Mr. McClement is the best qualified to win the Republican nomination due to his involvement with various city boards and commissions, including the update of the city charter. Randy has also attended many city mayor and board meetings. However, due to the support that will be given to Tobin, McClement will need to become more active and step it up in his campaign efforts to win the Republican nomination on September 15.

Tomorrow, I will discuss the aldermen candidates.

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City of Frederick, MD Election Update

George Wenschhof

Many voters in the City of Frederick have not yet tuned in to the election so it is too early to start making projections. However, it is always interesting to see what is transpiring with the announced candidates.

Last week I wrote about Bill Hall making his official announcement that he was running as a Democrat for Alderman on June 20 at Mullinix Park at 3:00 PM during a Juneteenth celebration. I also spoke of what currently appears to be another eight Democratic alderman candidates in the race.

Let's take a look at what has been happening with the mayoral candidates.

The filing deadline is July 7 and the primary is September 15 so in about three months voters will be deciding who will be their candidates from their respective political parties for the general election on November 3.

Incumbent Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger's decision to drop out of the race is the most interesting recent development. He would have faced intense scrutiny over his residency and the decision to move forward with the early retirement buy-out plan.

Other issues such as the condemnation of the "Hargett Farm" for a city park, the city budget and the decision to issue millions in city bonds for infrastructure development would have also been fodder for opponents.

While many of the issues will still exist, other candidates will have to alter their campaign strategy as it can no longer be focused on encouraging city voters to vote against Holtzinger because....

On the Republican side, the owner of a Tow Truck business, Clint Hoffman is considered a very long shot. The other Republican who has filed, Randy McClement is well liked by those who know him. The major problem being he is not a long term Frederick resident and outside those who visit his Bagel Shop downtown or have seen him at various city meetings, he is not known by the voters.

In earlier columns, I gave him little chance against Holtzinger in the primary and even reported some Republicans were telling me he would withdraw form the Mayor's race and run for Alderman. McClement have not shown any inclination to withdraw from the race and is, at present, the favorite to win the Republican nomination.

I ran into Randy on the street a few weeks ago, the day before his daughter's wedding. I asked how Dad was holding up and he said fine. He added however, daughter had a long list of "to do" items for Dad. I told him I wished him and the family well as I was sure that would be an exciting moment.

When I spoke to Mayor Holtzinger after he announced his withdraw from the race, he indicated he would be endorsing the Republican candidate for mayor. When I spoke on how few voters know Mr. McClement, Jeff reminded me to think about how much of a chance I was giving him in the 2005 election. I have to admit I did not give Holtzinger much of a chance to win that election.

While much speculation abounds on what other Republican may enter the mayoral race, incumbent alderman Alan Imhoff is not one I would suspect would join the fray. Instead expect Imhoff to file for alderman. There was even some talk from a few about trying to get Bill Hall to switch back to Republican and run for Mayor, but Mr. Hall squashed that rumor.

On the Democratic side, talk continues on the possibility of a third candidate joining former Mayor Jennifer Dougherty and Jason Judd in the race for the Democratic nomination for Mayor.

Fueling the gossip is the fear Mr. Judd is not ready for the position of Mayor, has not lived in Frederick very long and has never worked here. In regard to Ms. Dougherty, one could argue she has the highest negativity rating among city voters of any candidate in the race.

I have personally found in talking with city voters, they have a love her or hate her mentality toward Dougherty and are quick to tell me so. It would appear the persuadable voters in the case of Ms. Dougherty would be a smaller number than in the case of Mr. Judd. As to Mr. Judd, many voters ask me who is he?

If I were to try to objectively handicap the Democratic race at this moment, I would call it even.

Adding to the talk a third candidate may enter the race is Ron Young telling many if he felt Jason Judd would lose to Jennifer Dougherty, he would enter the race.

The problem with Ron's statement is his entry into the race would probably aid a Dougherty victory in the Democratic primary. In 2005, only 3,908 Democrats voted in the primary and Ron easily beat Jennifer 2,218 to 1,690.

In a three way race, with Judd and Young supporters splitting their vote, only 1,400 votes for Dougherty would probably be enough to win. While Dougherty detractors are very vocal, her supporters are very loyal and will stay with her at the voting booth.

So some speculation continues as to who would make a viable third Democratic candidate. One who comes to my mind who would be able to draw voters away from both the Dougherty and Judd supporters as well as have her own following is former alderman Meta Nash.

Ms. Nash ran in the three candidate Democratic primary for Mayor in 2001. The primary fell on 9/11 and Jennifer won by about 30 votes over Meta as I recall. Alan Imhoff, who was a Democrat at that time, was a distant third. Ms. Dougherty went on to win that election against Republican incumbent mayor James Grimes.

Many have speculated to me that if Ms. Nash had won that primary in 2001, she would still be mayor today.

The most interesting aspect of the mayoral race to me so far if that so many voters are talking to me about other candidates who may file in both the Republican and Democratic Parties.

In a short four weeks, that talk will stop as the filing deadline of July 7 will have passed. Expect at that time, for the voters to begin concentrating on the filed candidates and their positions on the issues. Speculation will be over and the field set.

Stay Tuned....

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Bill Hall Switches Back to Democrat, May Run for City of Frederick, MD Alderman

George Wenschhof Bio

A source who is close to Bill Hall informed me Mr. Hall filed paperwork on Tuesday to change his party affiliation to Democrat. Many recall the popular Bill Hall as a two term Alderman for the City of Frederick. His brother Jim Hall is a member of the Frederick County State Democratic Central Committee.

He was elected in 1997 as a Democrat and served under Mayor James Grimes (R) and in 2001 he was reelected, receiving the most votes of any Alderman. If memory serves, he also received more votes than the elected first term Mayor, Jennifer Dougherty (D).

His relationship with Democrat Mayor Dougherty deteriorated rapidly after the election in 2001. One of the early disappointments was when Hall was not appointed as Liaison to the City Planning Commission by Mayor Dougherty. The constant squabbling with Mayor Dougherty led him to switch political affiliation to the Republican party. City of Frederick voters remember many of the contentious Mayor and Board meetings which typically involved Republican Aldermen David Lenhart and Bill Hall who disagreed often with Democratic Mayor Jennifer Dougherty.

Mr. Hall choose not to run for reelection in 2005 and Ms. Dougherty was defeated in the Democratic primary by former four term Mayor Ron Young. In the general election, Ron Young lost to current Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger. After a unsuccessful run for Congress in Maryland's sixth district last year, Ms. Dougherty is seriously considering running for Mayor of the City of Frederick this year and will soon announce her decision.

The word is Mr. Hall who indicated to my source, was always more comfortable as a Democrat, will file to run for Aldermen. He is well liked by city voters from both sides of the political aisle and would immediately be a favorite to be elected as Alderman. The City of Frederick elects five Aldermen whose role is similar to members of a city council.

Stay Tuned...

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