Minimum Wage Increase Long Overdo

George Wenschhof

It is disheartening to hear the ageless Republican Party argument against an increase in the minimum wage.  This is just another example of how out of touch with reality the Republican Party has become.  Added to their stance against women’s rights, gay marriage and meaningful immigration reform, it is no surprise voters are leaving the Republican Party in record numbers.

President Obama’s proposal to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $9.00 is not only needed, it is not enough of a raise.  Tying automatic increases of the minimum wage to the consumer price index to keep pace with future inflation is also necessary.

The Republican Party mantra that an increase of the minimum wage would lead to job losses and higher unemployment is just not true.

Rather, there is a stimulus to the economy that occurs and businesses benefit by the increase in spending.

There is a universal acknowledgement that the present federal $7.25 per hour minimum wage is not even a living wage.  Paying rent, food, clothing and other expenses with less than $300 week after taxes, is a huge strain on even the most frugal individual, let alone family.

It is widely known and documented individuals who exist on minimum wage earnings will spend the increase they receive, which in turn, benefits the economy.

Republican obstructionists in the U.S. Senate kept an increase to $9.00 per hour from happening a year ago and it is likely they will follow suit this year in spite of the push by Obama and his inclusion of this issue in his state of the union address.

In a midterm congressional election year, Republicans would be wise to heed a January 8, 2014 Quinnipiac poll that shows 71% of American voters support an increase. 

Further illustrating the mood of the electorate, states are not waiting for the federal government to act and a majority of them have bills that will be acted on this year to increase the minimum wage.  This follows the District of Columbia and five states that passed an increase last year.

The state of Maryland is one of those states that are not waiting for Congress to act.  Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) supports raising the minimum wage to $10.10 by 2016 and tying future increases to inflation by 2017.

Meanwhile, impatient individual counties in Maryland, reflecting how states are reacting to a slow moving congress, are already passing their own increases in minimum wage.  Montgomery County and Prince George’s counties have passed legislation that will lead to an $11.50 minimum wage by 2017.

Democrat Karen Young, who is running for Maryland state delegate in district 3-A sent me an email saying “After extensive research on this topic, I have found that there is little, if any, historic data that ties a raise in the minimum wage to increased unemployment. To the contrary, economists suggest that an increase in the minimum wage will have a stimulating effect on the economy by increasing purchasing power. 

Most importantly, raising the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would reduce the number of people living in poverty by 4.6 million, according to a recent study by University of Massachusetts – Amherst economist Arindrajit Dube”.

It has been reported Maryland senate president Thomas “Mike” Miller (D) feels it is more likely for the senate to pass regional wage hikes as opposed to a statewide increase in the minimum wage.

Republicans in the Frederick County state delegation have made their opposition to an increase in the state minimum wage known.  In an earlier interview, state senate minority leader David Brinkley (R) told me he felt a raise in the minimum wage should come from the federal government and not by the states.

Roger Wilson, another Democratic candidate for Maryland state delegate in district 3-A, told me “Increasing the minimum wage is both responsible and logical. It is a Win, Win. Let's use the example of Henry Ford.

Henry Ford paid his workers a living wage. Ford understood that by paying employees a living wage the employees could then afford to buy Ford motor cars. The same would hold true today for any company... Increase purchase power, buy more, sell more, build more, and the economy improves”.

Gene Stanton(D), who is running for Maryland state delegate in district 4 wrote in an email "Increasing the minimum wage is the right thing to do, for employees, employers and most especially, for Maryland taxpayers. In addition, it is the right thing to do morally. Maryland taxpayers benefit with increased income tax revenue and fewer people collecting public assistance and the business community benefits with happier employees that have money to spend on their products. Its a win-win situation for Maryland."

It is past due to increase the federal minimum wage and $10.10 is still insufficient for an individual or family to live in America today, regardless of what state they live in or what region within a state they reside.  Arguing against this makes little sense and government failing to act is a travesty.

Keeping a class of Americans in poverty and tied to government assistance is hardly representative of the “American Way”.

We can and must do better.  Demand your representative in Congress support an increase in the federal minimum wage and let your Maryland state legislator know you support a statewide increase in the minimum wage with automatic future increases tied to inflation.

Stay tuned.

Karen Young Lobbies for Medical Marijuana Amendment

George Wenschhof

Nicolas and Byron Moore
Photo by Amy Masser, Baby Face Photography

I spoke to Shannon Moore Sunday evening when she and her husband were in Children’s Hospital with their twins Nicolas and Byron. The twins were there to receive feeding tubes because seizures are keeping them from being able to eat.

The three-year old twins Nicolas and Byron (they call them Nico and Bebo) have a rare genetic disorder called Miller-Dieker Syndrome that causes severe, life-threatening seizures.

Shannon told me she first heard about medical marijuana as a treatment for epilepsy on a CNN special with Sanjay Gupta.  After considerable research and many conversations with other parents and medical professionals, she believes her children and many others could benefit from medical cannabis. She is convinced the treatment will save the lives of children with epilepsy.

Shannon Moore shared with me many of the key points on why medical marijuana is needed (that can be read here), including, but not limited to, “children with epilepsy take medicines with horrible side effects”.

More important, Shannon points out “cannabis is working on many children with epilepsy. About 15% of kids with epilepsy who are given high CBD low THC cannabis don't see a benefit.  But about 85% of them do, and about 60% of those kids see significant seizure reduction of about 80% or more.  There are a few kinds of epilepsy that have had the most promising results to date: Doose, Dravet, and Lennox-Gastaut Syndromes.  I listen with gratitude and some jealousy to parents on facebook whose kids are beginning to walk again, or talk, or eat on their own, or to smile - to play..”.

During a recent social encounter, Shannon shared with Karen Young her plight and her wish to see legislation enacted in Maryland to help her children and others.  Shannon said Karen’s reaction was immediate and she volunteered to help saying “I will go to bat for you”.  Shannon added “it was pretty amazing”.

When I reached former City of Frederick alderman and candidate for mayor; Karen Young, she told me “When she (Shannon) told me that, between the demands of her job and her children, she just didn't have sufficient time to pursue the legislation, I knew immediately what I would be doing.”

She added “Shannon is an amazing woman. She is one of the most knowledgeable people in the region on environmental sustainability. She is both knowledgeable and highly professional. Those who know her professionally would never know what she is going through. She is incredibly strong.” Shannon Moore is Manager of the Frederick County government office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources.

Karen Young, who has filed a "statement of organization" with the state and is considering a run for state delegate in district 3-a, said she immediately reached out to Maryland state delegate Patrick Hogan (R-district 3-a), who indicated his support from the Frederick County state delegation and also met with Maryland state senator Jamin (Jamie) Raskin (D-district 20) in Annapolis.

Delegate Hogan responded to my inquiry in an email and said he had spoken to both Shannon and Karen on this issue.  He stated "Shannon's sons and many other children and adults with similar conditions are not eligible under the legislation that we passed last year, so I plan to help correct that legislatively."

Hogan went on to say "I have spoken to Del. Dan Morhaim who sits on the Health and Government Operations Committee and has been one of the lead sponsors of the medical marijuana legislation. I asked him about a few specific conditions and he said he is in the process of drafting a bill to include various medical conditions that were not covered under the previous legislation. We plan to meet later this week to ensure that his legislation will include Miller-Dieker syndrome and other similar disorders."

Hogan concluded by saying "we are allowing medical marijuana in Maryland, so of course we should make sure it is available to those who can really benefit from it."

Karen said she was also heartened to hear from senator Raskin, who confirmed with me by email he informed her "I spoke with delegate Dan Morhaim, M.D. (D-district 11) after seeing you yesterday, and I will be cross-filing his legislation to expand the availability of medical marijuana by allowing doctors to prescribe it. In this futile, decades-long War on Drugs, at the very least we should get the sick, the injured, and the young off of the battlefield. Please tell Shannon that I am saddened by her story but inspired by her activism and her love as a parent."

It is encouraging to see this bipartisan effort underway in the Maryland state legislature. This common sense legislation is aimed at helping children and families in need across the state. It deserves prompt attention and approval by the General Assembly this session.   

As Shannon stated in an email “Thank you so much for taking the time to listen, and for your willingness to care.  I know that we can move mountains.”

Stay tuned.

Karen Young Readies for Next Step

George Wenschhof

Karen Young

Running for Maryland state delegate in district 3-a in 2014 is seriously being considered by former city alderman Karen Young.  Both seats in district 3-a will be open seats with incumbents Democrat Galen Clagett and Republican Patrick Hogan announcing they will not be running for reelection.

Karen Young told me she has spoken to former long term Democratic state delegate Sue Hecht who suggested she run and offered her support.   

Karen added as a state delegate she would also be able to continue her efforts toward fiscal sustainability, economic development, education, transportation planning and environmental sustainability that she focused on as a city alderman.

Days after the new mayor and board of aldermen of The City of Frederick were sworn in I sat down with former alderman and mayoral candidate Karen Young. I wanted to know what her plans were for the future and I wanted her to share what she felt were her accomplishments during her term in office.

She was very relaxed and spoke easily following her loss for mayor.  A race that saw her first beat Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett convincingly in a heavily contested and expensive Democratic primary.  Then, lose to incumbent Republican mayor Randy McClement in the first ever three way contest for mayor in The City of Frederick general election.

Former Democrat and one term mayor Jennifer Dougherty would once again prove to be the spoiler to a Democratic mayor being elected.  The third election in a row she has split the Democratic vote.  This time, running as an unaffiliated candidate she received 19 per cent of the vote.  Combined with the vote received by Karen Young and Young would have been elected with a majority vote.  Something, the city does not require for a mayor and McClement, who was elected with a plurality, fell short of receiving when elected.

Karen told me following the election on November 5 she has had more time to spend with her grandson and family.  She has stayed involved in the community through her work with The Rotary Club of Frederick and serving on the board of The Frederick Community Action Agency. She was especially excited about her role as chair of her rotary club’s “Smiles Program” that will provide dental care to those who need it and cannot afford it.

When we spoke about her accomplishments during her term as city alderman, she first spoke of her efforts to move the city to become more financially sustainable.  Changes made to pension and benefits to new employees as well as the way the pension was managed were both areas she was proud of.  The selection of Pierce Park Group to advise the city on the management of the pension fund and the creation of an oversight committee and policy guidelines were both advocated by Karen Young and she feels the city will be better off financially as a result.

Karen added she was pleased with her efforts to make Frederick become more of a regional player through her involvement with the Maryland Municipal League and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

She also pointed out her lobbying efforts in the area of transportation resulting in the return of highway user funds and securing funding for the Monocacy Boulevard/Route 15 interchange and the last section of Monocacy Boulevard.

Her work emphasizing the importance of environmental sustainability for the city was another area Karen was pleased with as we finished our conversation on her accomplishments as alderman.

Karen Young concluded the interview by saying as Maryland state delegate she would be able to continue her efforts in these areas and continue to serve the interests of the residents of The City of Frederick.

When I asked her when she would make her final decision on running for state delegate, she said she plans to make an announcement early next month.

Stay tuned.

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Majority Should Elect Mayor of Frederick

George Wenschhof

Mayor Randy McClement

The off year City of Frederick election ensured another low voter turnout with incumbent Republican mayor Randy McClement winning reelection by receiving the votes of only 12% of the registered voters in the city.

The official returns show mayoral candidates received 8,354 votes out of 35,498 registered voters.

Even more important, with three candidates running for mayor, he did not receive a majority and won with a plurality of the vote.

The 4,121 votes McClement received fell short of a majority and were 49.56% of the votes cast.

Democratic mayoral candidate Karen Young received 2,586 votes (31.10%) and Unaffiliated candidate Jennifer Dougherty received 1,588 votes (19.10%).

The remaining 59 votes cast were write-ins, over and under votes.

Interestingly, the combined votes for Young and Dougherty equaled a majority of the vote (50.2%).

This is not to suggest the voters of these two candidates would join to support the candidate who received the higher number of votes.

What a large number of cities across the nation do in this situation is they require and hold a runoff election between the two candidates who received the top votes in the general election.

The one negative associated with a runoff election is the added cost to an election.

With this being the first time three candidates have run for mayor in The City of Frederick, it is unlikely runoff elections would be a common occurrence.

On the other hand, with Jennifer Dougherty paving the way and showing that running as an Unaffiliated candidate can be done, it may encourage others to do so in the future.

It would be wise for the city mayor and board of alderman to address this issue.

After all, requiring the mayor to receive a majority of the vote has a democratic ring to it.

Stay tuned.

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McClement Wins with Plurality, Democrats Maintain a Super Majority on the Board

George Wenschhof

Aldermen O'Connor and Russell tally the votes

Sadly, as I had predicted, the off-year City of Frederick election resulted in a 22% voter turnout with about 10% of the registered voters electing the mayor. 

Republican mayor Randy McClement easily won re-election to a second term with 49% of the vote.  Democratic challenger Karen Young finished second with 32% of the vote and Unaffiliated Jennifer Dougherty was third with 19% of the vote.

The low voter turnout resulted in Randy winning with only 3,714 votes out of 35,500 registered voters in the city. There is no run-off provision in the city that would guarantee the winner would receive a majority of the vote.

This marks the fourth loss out of five tries for mayor for Dougherty. Her entry into the race as an Unaffiliated candidate combined with the endorsement of McClement by disgruntled Democratic Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett, who lost to Karen Young in the Democratic primary, once again contributed to a Republican winning the mayor in a city with a majority of Democratic registered voters.

The votes cast for Dougherty (1,480) were less than the number of signatures she obtained to qualify to run as an Unaffiliated candidate.

The combined votes of Young and Dougherty would have been 3,887 or 51% of the vote.

The board of alderman race, where voters elect five, went largely as expected.  Four Democrats and one Republican were elected, which maintains the super majority currently held on the board by Democrats.

The first and second place finishers were Democratic incumbents Kelly Russell (4,212 votes) and Michael O’Connor (4,169).  Democrat Josh Bokee came in third with 3,789 votes, followed by Republican Phil Dacey (3,781) and Donna Kuzemchak (3,656).

The under votes in the alderman election were 3,596 and there were only 25 under votes in the mayoral election.

Kuzemchak, who had previously served three terms as alderman, won re-election despite some dirty tricks run by the Dacey campaign.

Red Maryland Blog is reporting Ted Dacey, the brother and campaign manager for Phil Dacey was behind the robo-calls made by the Maryland Republican Party.  The negative calls were directed at Kuzemchak.

As, I reported earlier, the Dacey family are close supporters of former Maryland state senator Alex Mooney and Ted had worked for Mooney previously.

Another rumor has the Dacey campaign also behind robo-calls that were misdirecting voters from the Wormans Mill area to an incorrect poll location. Dacey, while serving on the city board of appeals, voted with the Developer and against residents who opposed proposed changes in Wormans Mill town center. 

The dirty tricks used by the Dacey campaign will certainly mar the alderman elect and it remains to be seen if criminal charges will result from the alleged robo-calls misdirecting voters.

There were a little over 800 absentee ballots sent out and as of Monday, about 400 had been received.

While, the order of finish may change between the top four finishers in the alderman race, absentee ballots are not expected to impact their win in the election.

Fifth place finisher Kuzemchak has a 164 vote lead over Republican Katie Nash, but in a multiple candidate race, it is unlikely Nash will be able to make up the ground to win a seat on the board.

Interestingly, the top four alderman-elect received more votes than Mayor McClement and Donna Kuzemchak was only fifty-eight votes behind him.

 

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City of Frederick Election Buzz

George Wenschhof

On Tuesday November 5, voters will weigh in on The City of Frederick election and choose their mayor and five member board of alderman.

The off year city election has me predicting a turnout of less than 22%.  It is going to be a partly sunny day with temps in the 50’s, so go vote and prove me wrong!

Polling locations are different than state/county and presidential election years.  If you are wondering where you go to vote you can use the following link.

http://spires2.cityoffrederick.com/elections/polling_loc.php

WYPR radio News Director Joel McCord was up in Frederick last week to check out the election.  He interviewed the candidates, some downtown business owners and me!

Democratic mayoral candidate Karen Young came across the best of the three candidates and Republican Mayor McClement was described as "plain vanilla".

You can read the story and listen to his report here. 

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Democratic Maryland state senator Ron Young held an art show hosted at Antique Imports Sunday and it was well attended.  Karen Young was also present and of course, the talk was on the election.

 

Lt. Governor Anthony Brown (D) recorded a robo-call on Karen Young’s behalf, urging voters to vote for her for mayor.  The calls went out on Saturday.

 

One woman, who attended, told me she had been a big Clagett supporter and was now supporting Karen Young for mayor.

 

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Republican alderman candidates Phil Dacey, Katie Nash and Dave Schmidt have been trying hard to run from their conservative background in a city where Democratic voters outnumber Republicans voters 17,300 to 10,750.

 

Sunday, upon returning home, standing on the corner was former Republican ultra right wing state senator Alex Mooney and the husband of Katie Nash.  Mooney told me Nash was going to win.

 

When I asked what he was up to these days, Mooney told me he had moved to West Virginia and was running for Congress.

 

 

Sad to see the exit from politics displayed by Democratic Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett.  After, losing by 10 points to Karen Young in the Democratic primary, Galen publicly endorsed Republican mayor Randy McClement.

Galen has long been involved in Frederick County Democratic politics.

Kind of makes you wonder why Clagett ran for mayor in the first place.

 

Looking at Mayor McClement’s donations from his most recent campaign finance report and you can see some connections to supporters of Clagett.

McClement received $2,500 from Blaine Young for Maryland and another $5,000 from LLC’s from outside the city.

Both Clagett and McClement advertised with signs atop Yellow Cabs in town, owned, in part by Republican board of county commissioners president Blaine Young. 

 

Frederick County state Democratic central committee did phone banking for their candidates over the weekend and did a lit drop on Saturday.

 

Election night, Democratic aldermen candidates will be at JoJo’s located downtown on E. Patrick Street.  So, stop by and say hello.

 

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Who Will Win Mayoral Race?

 

Randy McClement

Jennifer Dougherty

Karen Young

The question I am asked multiple times a day is; “Who is going to win the mayoral race?” and I have always answered “I don’t know it looks like it is going to be close”.

With under a week to go to The City of Frederick election on November 5, I will offer my thoughts, based on observations over the years of many city elections.  However, there is no survey, poll or data I am relying on to make my assumptions, so that is what they will be; a best guess on my part and nothing more.

In fact, as people would ask me, who I thought was going to win, I would always end up asking them and receiving their thoughts on whom the next mayor will be.

First of all, there is no loud deafening cry coming from city voters to “throw the bums out”, as was the case in the last election when a whole new board and mayor were elected. So, this becomes a plus for incumbent Republican mayor Randy McClement.

Staying with this thought, a little further, is the added dynamic that both incumbent Democratic alderman; Kelly Russell and Michael O’Connor have performed in an exceptional manner, are well liked, and will certainly be reelected.

Leading me to give Randy another boost as voters will be tempted to vote for both popular incumbent aldermen and then add another incumbent as their choice for mayor.

However, Randy’s biggest negative is he is just not the leader or strong mayor the voters of The City of Frederick deserve.

The recent announcement from city hall there had been a $2.3 million accounting error in the city budget may also impact on the reelection of McClement.

Karen Young was quick to state "Wasn't the accounting error really $5.1million? We thought that we would start FY 2014 with a $2.8mm surplus. Then a $2.3 deficit for the Rainy Day Fund was identified. The two total $5.1mm."

She added "I find it totally unacceptable that there was a $5.1 million accounting error with little or no explanation, no apologies and no accountability."

The entry into the race by Jennifer Dougherty has made this a first time ever three way contest for mayor of the city and this also is another plus for the incumbent as it will certainly split the vote.  The incumbent typically receives a plus in a multiple candidate race.

I have known Jennifer for twenty years and like most friends and family members, we have had our differences over the years.  But, she remains a friend and someone I respect very much.

She ran her first of what will be five races for mayor in 1993, losing to Gary Hughes, the first city African American mayoral candidate, in the Democratic primary.  Former four term Democratic mayor Ron Young backed Hughes in that election.  Republican Jim Grimes would win that election.

After losing in the Democratic primary for Frederick board of county commissioner, Jennifer won the 2001 election, becoming the first woman elected mayor. She defeated two term Republican mayor Jim Grimes, who had been damaged by the infamous “Black Book scandal”. The scandal involved a local Madam and some of Frederick’s notables, with one name released being Democratic alderman Blaine Young.

Blaine did not run for reelection, reinvented himself as a conservative Republican radio talk show host and parlayed that into being elected president of the Frederick board of county commissioners.

Two big accomplishments of Dougherty’s term in office were the creation of the Neighborhood Advisory Councils and the hiring of popular and effective Kim Dine as Chief of Police.

However, her term was marred with constant battles with a less than cooperative board of aldermen and a confrontation played out in the media with Karen Korrell, president of the board of directors of the Weinberg Center, over city funding levels.

Karen Korrell, would later marry Ron Young.

The many political battles encountered during the Dougherty administration led to a challenge in the 2005 city Democratic primary by Ron Young, who after overcoming residency issues, defeated Jennifer, before losing himself to political neophyte Republican Jeff Holtzinger.

In 2009, after witnessing a stumbling Marcia Hall bow out and a youthful inexperienced Jason Judd enter the race for mayor, Jennifer would run for the fourth time for the Democratic nomination.

She would lose one more time and Judd was upset by Republican Randy McClement; the owner of a downtown Bagel shop.

Speculation was rampant after the 2005 and 2009 elections; it was disgruntled Dougherty supporters who were responsible for the narrow victories won by Republicans Holtzinger and McClement.

In 2013, Jennifer decided against trying for the Democratic Party nomination and instead gathered the necessary signatures to run as an Unaffiliated candidate for mayor.

Karen Young, a Democrat, with an impressive resume in the banking industry in marketing and financial services management, decided to run for alderman in the 2009 election. After, receiving the most votes, she became mayor pro tem.

It did not take long for Karen to assert herself on the board of alderman and it was obvious early on she was frustrated with the lack of leadership and management skills displayed by Mayor Randy McClement.

Her announcement earlier this year, she was running for mayor came as no surprise.

What wasn’t anticipated was the entry by Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett in the run for the Democratic Party nomination for mayor.

Galen, a long time local politician and successful business owner proved to be a formidable opponent for Young.

Karen matched him in campaign donations and outworked him during the primary campaign which led to her 10 point win over Galen in the Democratic primary.

You are probably asking yourself about now, “I thought George said he was going to give us his best guess on the mayor’s race”.

And, I am.  I just felt a little of the history leading up to this vote would be helpful in understanding the dynamics at work.

I, of course, just scratched the surface, understanding you might lose interest in reading a novel or long essay on the subject.

However, let me also mention, the long anticipated “cat fight” between Jennifer and Karen never materialized.  Most likely due to both candidates being aware that is what some were expecting to happen between two strong willed women.

Okay then, another reason for the short narrative is with a small voter turnout, history and interpersonal relations have an impact on who wins.

First, the turnout is not expected to exceed 22% of the registered voters and will be around 8,000 votes.

As I stated in an earlier column about moving the city election to coincide with the presidential election cycle “I can confidently predict 10% or less of the 36,539 registered voters (as of January 1, 2013) will determine who the next mayor will be on November 5 and the mayor elect will not receive a majority of the vote.”

There is no run-off provision for The City of Frederick, so the winner will become mayor by winning only a plurality of the vote. Also disconcerting is there is no vote recount procedure which may have an impact in a close election.

The voter party registration breakdown in the city (as of January 1, 2013) is Democratic – 17,299, Republican – 10,749 and Unaffiliated – 8,164.

Out of the total registered voters, Democratic registration in the city makes up about 46%, Republican 32% and Unaffiliated 22%.

Now, at first blush, you would be correct to say, this favors the Democratic candidate for Mayor; Karen Young.  You would be right, if Democrats vote party line.

But, with Jennifer in the race, it is likely she will draw more Democratic votes than Republicans.  Also, remember Democratic Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett was defeated by Karen in the primary and was known to have supported Randy over Jason Judd in the 2009 election.

Galen has stayed out of the spotlight since losing a bitter primary election against Karen and it would not be surprising if behind the scenes, he supported Randy again.

This makes it important for Karen to pull Republican voters to counteract anticipated defections from the Democratic voters.  Not surprisingly, influential Republican leaders in the city, who are frustrated with the lack of leadership displayed by mayor McClement have held meet and greet events for Karen after she won the Democratic primary.

I believe it is highly unlikely Jennifer will pull any significant Republican votes, leaving her to have to receive enough Democratic and Unaffiliated votes to win.  This is an uphill struggle for the Dougherty campaign and why I am guessing she will receive between 20% - 24% of the vote.

Long time city election observers have told me they would be surprised if Jennifer won more than 10% of the vote.

They will be surprised, but Jennifer will lose her bid for mayor for the fourth time in five tries.

It appears Randy and Karen will be locked in an extremely close contest with both receiving between 37% - 41% of the vote.

The get out the vote effort by both campaigns will be critical in this election.

Past experience has me predicting there will be about 2% under votes resulting from people who go to the polls, vote for alderman candidates, but choose not to vote for mayor.

Who will be the next mayor?  The odds favor the incumbent in a close race and combined with all the twists and turns in this election, it is Randy’s race to lose.

However, Karen has proven to me to be a hard campaigner and a strong closer, so I have her winning by a nose.

It is the voters who make the final decision - Make sure you cast your ballot on November 5!

Stay Tuned.

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George Wenschhof is Publisher/Editor of www.FrederickPolitics.com, a political news and commentary Blog.

McClement Fails to Lead

George Wenschhof

The City of Frederick election is only a week away and with a first time ever three way mayoral race and the off year municipal election guaranteeing a low voter turnout, the race for mayor promises to be very close.

The second largest city in the state deserves leadership and vision with a path forward, not a mayor who has exhibited a lack of management and at best could be described as one who is treading water or maintaining the status quo.

Republican mayor Randy McClement boasts he has kept city taxes at the same rate and has maintained the same level of services over his four year term.  He adds this took place during a period of economic downturn across the country.

In my most recent interview with him, he told me the only service he cut was bulk trash pickup and the city only received 30-35 calls a year in response, with half of them settling for the new process.

Interestingly, alderman candidates tell me one complaint they hear most from voters, as they campaign door to door, is the elimination of bulk trash pickup, followed with their desire for it to be resumed.

The other most often heard description of the mayor is “he is a nice guy.”  In my interviews with him over his term in office, I have always found him to be cordial.

However, his management style, or lack thereof, is what his critics point to and is what led to a record number of 7 candidates for mayor in this election.

The city has a charter form of government that calls for a strong executive; the mayor and a legislative branch to provide balance; the board of alderman.

Due to lack of leadership during the McClement administration, the board of alderman has had to step up and provide administrative support which is not their role and makes for a cumbersome and sluggish way to run local government.

Watching a mayor and board workshop or meeting, Randy remains silent, never offering his position on an issue or why a yes or no vote on the issue being discussed should transpire.

The mayor, who is the elected city executive, by charter, should be leading and not expecting the board of aldermen, who are legislators, to be administrators.

Following the inability by McClement to hire an executive assistant and then reading a local paper headline stating the board of alderman hires new police chief; his lack of leadership becomes readily apparent.

The less than satisfactory manner in which the contract with the Frederick Keys was conducted and the bungled rollout of a long proposed downtown hotel/conference center are more examples of his inability to grasp the political aspect of being a mayor.

In regard to his claim to have balanced the budget and kept city taxes level, Democratic mayoral candidate Karen Young was quick to criticize.

She pointed to the recent announcement from McClement the city was $2.3 million below the legislative agreed upon level for the rainy day fund, with the explanation it was a human error by finance director Gerry Klobfleisch.

This was immediately followed by Gerry Kloblfleisch announcing he had found a surplus in the current budget ($1.9 million from the capitol improvements program) to handle the deficit in the rainy day fund.  So, all was well.

Or, is it? Following the disclosure and Kolbfleisch’s admission to an error at a city workshop, Alderman Karen Young told me she sent the following memo to the mayor:

“* Wasn't the accounting error really $5.1million? We thought that we would start FY 2014 with a $2.8mm surplus. Then a $2.3 deficit for the Rainy Day Fund was identified. The two total $5.1mm.

* How did this occur? I still haven't received an answer to this. This could not have been a simple math error. Were there erroneous assumptions? Were expenses underestimated? This is too much of a discrepancy to go without an explanation.”

You can read the response from Klobfleisch here.

When I asked Alderman Young what was the response from the mayor, she said in an email to me "Randy never responded to me." She added "I find it totally unacceptable that there was a $5.1 million accounting error with little or no explanation, no apologies and no accountability."

I agree.

Being a nice guy is not enough for the mayor of the second largest city in the state.  The City of Frederick needs a visionary leader who is comfortable with managing professional staff, setting priorities and communicating policy effectively with staff and the public.

It is time for a change and why Karen Young is the best choice for mayor to move The City of Frederick forward.

Make sure you vote on November 5.
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Democratic Dream Team Will Move Frederick Forward

George Wenschhof

The experience, passion and vision shared by Josh Bokee, John Daniels, Donna Kuzemchak, Michael O’Connor, and Kelly Russell clearly demonstrates why the Democratic candidates running for The City of Frederick board of alderman deserve your vote on November 5.

After conducting multiple interviews with the candidates and being closely involved in city government for many years, it is great to see these talented candidates recognize the uniqueness and diversity in the many neighborhoods that make up the city, are committed to working with the neighborhood advisory councils and know the value of giving citizens a voice in government.

It was encouraging to see them campaign door to door and hear from them, after they listened to voters firsthand, they understand the importance of addressing traffic congestion, increasing public safety, spurring economic development to create local jobs, providing cost effective and performance focused government services, and lobbying for city schools to get their share of state dollars for needed construction and renovation.

It is exciting the city, already a sought out place to live, is poised to become a sustainable friendly, safe, family community interconnected with pedestrian/bike walkways and trails combined with employment opportunities close to home.

It will take teamwork, expertise and dedication to ensure Frederick becomes the extraordinary city it can be. 

Josh Bokee, John Daniels, Donna Kuzemchak, Michael O’Connor, and Kelly Russell, have the drive, knowledge and the skill set to work with the leadership of mayoral candidate Karen Young to productively move Frederick forward. 

Make sure you vote on November 5.

City Agrees to Change Campaign Finance Law

George Wenschhof

During The City of Frederick mayor and board of aldermen workshop yesterday, there was unanimous agreement to move forward with proposed changes to the city's campaign finance law.

Assistant city attorney Rachel  Depot submitted a proposal modeled after the recently passed state of Maryland campaign finance law.

Alderman Michael O'Connor(D), said during the city mayor and board workshop discussion "this loophole should be closed" and requested this amendment be presented during the first mayor and board meeting in November. Alderman Kelly Russell concurred with O'Connor and added her desire to rectify this prior to the end of their term.

The proposed change will not affect the current election and is scheduled to go into effect on December 6, 2013.

The proposed changes are designed to close some of the loopholes that allow individuals to make multiple donations from business entities owned by an individual, whose aggregate total contribution exceed the limit established by law.

The campaign contribution limits are $2,500 for mayor and $1,000 for alderman.

This is a welcomed move in the right direction by the city. 

However, I would recommend a change in the definition of what constitutes a contribution from one contributor in Sec. 7-22. Limit on contributions. (d) (ii) which reads "the business entities are owned or controlled by at least 80% of the same individuals or business entities.

In a conversation with assistant city attorney Rachel Depot, she informed me the state committee had recommended 50% and it evidently had been changed to 80% by the state legislature.  I would hope the city would go with the 50% level to further restrict influence by a single contributor. 

I  first pointed out the loophole after my review of the first candidate campaign finance reports revealed mayoral candidate Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett had received $20,000 from entities associated with local developer Marvin Ausherman and $10,000 from entities associated with Pleasants Construction. Also mayoral candidate Karen Young had received $7,500 from entities associated with local businessman John Fitzgerald.

In regard to the current election, I did request and received a response from all candidates in the General Election to abide by the "spirit of the law" on contribution limits for the remainder of this election.

Stay tuned.

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Clagett, Young Spend Most in City Election

George Wenschhof

The second candidate campaign finance reports submitted yesterday showed Maryland delegate Galen Clagett spent $82,000 in his losing effort to win the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of The City of Frederick. His contributions included a late $5,000 donation from himself.  The balance in his campaign account was $1,771.

Karen Young, who won the Democratic Party nomination, reported raising a total of $71,000, spending $53,000 and led all candidates moving on to the General Election with $18,535 in the all important cash on hand.

Republican Mayor Randy McClement reported raising a total of $27,310, spending $12,500, with a balance of $14,753.

Unaffiliated mayoral candidate Jennifer Dougherty, who did not participate in a primary, reported raising a total of $12,890, spent $6,604 with a balance of $6,235.

In the first finance report, Clagett reported receiving $20,000 from entities associated with Marvin Ausherman and $10,000 from entities associated with Pleasants Constructions.  Young reported receiving $7,500 from entities associated with local businessman John Fitzgerald.

I was the first to report this and call for an amendment to the candidate contribution law to close the loopholes that allowed candidates to receive greater funds than the amount ($2,500 for mayor, $1,000 for alderman) allowed by law.

In addition, I sent a pledge request to all of the General Election candidates for them to abide to the “spirit of the law” for the remainder of the campaign.  In my first review of the second finance reports, it appears none of the candidates used any of the loopholes available to them, which is a good sign.

On Wednesday, the city mayor and board workshop will discuss changes to the law to eliminate these loopholes.

Republican Phil Dacey ($18,000) and Democrat John Daniels ($13,000) led the alderman candidates in funds received.  Dacey had $8,801 cash on hand and Daniels $6,525.

Interestingly, Dacey was the only candidate to report paying individuals to go door-to-door for him.  This is an allowable expense, but not one that has been used by candidates in previous city elections.

Daniels and Dacey were also the top alderman candidate fundraisers in the first candidate finance report.

Incumbent aldermen Kelly Russell(D) and Michael O’Connor(D), who are heavily favored to win reelection, reported $3,255 and $5,253 cash on hand.

Josh Bokee, who came in third in the Democratic alderman primary, reported raising $9,756, spending $7,019 with a balance of $2,729.

Fraternal Order of Police FSK Lodge #91 followed up their endorsement of Democratic aldermen candidates Michael O’Connor, Kelly Russell, Josh Bokee and John Daniels with a $500 contribution to each.

All of the candidate campaign finance reports may be read online at The City of Frederick website.

The next candidate campaign finance reports are due Tuesday October 29, one week prior to the election on November 5.

Stay tuned.

 

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