Change Needed in Frederick County, Maryland Government

George Wenschhof

For twenty years, residents of Frederick County Maryland have been governed by either a "pro-growth" or "anti-growth" Board of County Commissioners.

Rather than continuing the swing from one ideology to another, it is time for voters to elect a more centrist and balanced board. This will result in a more reasoned approach in addressing issues such as the impending reduction of the budget, creating jobs closer to home, charter government, growth and the disposal of trash.

Electing recently appointed Commissioner Blaine Young, Michael Kurtianyk, Paul Smith, Billy Shreve and Linda Norris will ensure a more balanced approach to decision making takes place over the next four years.

Incumbent commissioners Kai Hagen and David Gray are painful examples of the outdated five headed commissioner form of government.

Mr. Hagen obviously never learned the truth in the old saying which explains why we are born with two ears and one mouth (so, we listen twice as much as we talk), as he speaks incessantly, while often saying nothing.

A long term community activist and first term commissioner, he also never learned the difference between being an activist and an elected official, leading to his ineffectiveness as a commissioner over the last four years.

Mr. Gray either displayed his lack of understanding of the importance of becoming president of the board or his unwillingness to accept the responsibility that comes with it, by relinquishing the gavel after winning it, in the election four years ago.

None of these characteristics are qualities one should look for in an elected official and neither Mr. Gray or Mr. Hagen deserve another term in office.

When the newly elected commissioners discuss the budget cuts sure to come, all programs and services will need to be examined. Special care should be given to those departments who provide services to those in need as the ranks of the unemployed and underemployed have grown as all county governments across the country struggle to rise out of the deepest recession since the great depression.

The firing of county employees should be the last resort in meeting needed budget reductions. Instead, a focus on not filling essential positions and/or a hiring freeze should be examined. If employees still need to be laid off, the focus should be on mid level management positions, who often are a result of previous funding increases.

Creating jobs closer to home should be a priority of the new board of commissioners as way too many Frederick County residents continue a daily time consuming commute. Commissioner Blaine Young has made this a priority in his campaign.

One suggestion for the new Board is to work with the state legislature as well as our Representative in Congress to promote tax incentives for businesses who provide telecommuting to employees a minimum of one day a week. Passage of this legislation would be a great start in helping Frederick County residents reduce their weekly commute time.

A win-win proposal which would save energy, help employers with job retention and recruitment, while allowing employees more time to spend with family.

Creating a charter writing committee by the new board is one of the first things the new Board of Commissioners should do. The charge of the committee should be to complete the document, providing time for public input, with the question put to the voters in the 2012 presidential election. Once passed by the voters, it would go into effect for the 2014 election.

During the charter writing period, the committee should hold regional meetings throughout the county. The purpose of the meetings would be to provide the public with updated information on the progress of the charter document and to ask for comment and suggestions.

Moving to a county executive and county council will make for a much more effective form of government for Frederick county residents and is long overdo.

When it comes to issues relating to growth, the main concern has rightfully been to ensure infrastructure (schools, roads, water, sewer, fire and rescue) keeps pace with new growth.

While an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) has been passed and impact fees instituted over the last twenty years, they have not made a noticeable difference in this area.

When attending first and second grade at Parkway Elementary School, I shared a classroom with students in the second and third grade due to overcrowded schools. At that time (1959-1960), the population of the county was about one-third of what it is today.

Years, after enacting well intentioned impact fees and the APFO, portables have replaced split classrooms, older schools remain badly in need of repair and new planned schools stand in line for funding, hardly a measurable improvement.

Roads remain congested and water and sewer availability remain a consistent problem associated with growth.

The new board would serve the residents well by reaching out to a nonpartisan research and think tank to review the results of the enacted growth policies of the last twenty years and if necessary, propose a new means of raising the needed revenue. The University of Maryland Center for Public Policy and Private Enterprise may be one who would provide the research.

Whether a fee is involved or not, a professional review of existing ordinances and regulations should be undertaken immediately.

In addition, the nonpartisan organization should be charged with both reviewing the current county development approval process and proposing a better, more effective and efficient way, than the existing time consuming and costly process.

As location has always been pivotal to buyers of real estate, Frederick County has always been destined to grow.

The discussion of growth should not be an adversarial exercise in Frederick County. Rather, the discussion should be one that leads to effective land management principles which benefit the entire community.

When it comes to the disposal of trash, where and how will always be a controversial decision for elected officials. While the cost of building the approved incinerator is a whopping 300 million plus, opponents led by Commissioner Kai Hagen have failed to offer a reasonable option.

Moving from a current county recycling rate of slightly more than thirty per cent to a rate not needing a landfill or an incinerator is not a realistic alternative. Continuing to truck waste out of state is not a viable answer.

One reasonable and less expensive alternative that should have received more consideration is another landfill or expansion of the existing landfill to serve the need of trash disposal in Frederick County which I wrote about two years ago.

What I proposed was a cost-benefit analysis be done between a landfill and an incinerator. Also, a similar effort made to identify possible locations for a landfill should take place as was done for an incinerator.

Candidate Michael Kurtianyk during a recent sit down interview said he would like to see the county investigate acquiring the former East Alco site in southern Frederick County to be used either for a landfill or incinerator site.

An interesting suggestion, as the acreage could also incorporate a regional compost facility and a resource recovery park.

The dramatic swing between "pro-growth" and "no-growth" boards over the last twenty years has been detrimental to the residents of Frederick County and needs to come to an end in this election.

With the election of Blaine Young, Michael Kurtianyk, Paul Smith, Billy Shreve, and Linda Norris, a balance of reason and experience will prevail over the next four years.

Blaine Young has the political experience which will be a benefit in dealing with the many issues facing county residents today.

Paul Smith, like Blaine Young, has the experience of serving as a City of Frederick alderman. An attorney, he will bring a welcomed reasoned approach to the issues.

Billy Shreve has long been involved in the community serving on boards and commissions. His time spent as chair of the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals and as a member of the City of Frederick Planning Commission will be invaluable.

Michael Kurtianyk has shown throughout the campaign his willingness to put principles in front of party. A refreshing approach to the issues from a politician and one which will be appreciated by the residents of Frederick County.

Linda Norris, with experience in working both in the public and private sector will be a added plus as a member of the Board.

Her time spent as Public Information Officer and as Director of Recycling for Frederick County Government will serve her well as commissioner.

The election is only four week away. Make sure you visit candidate websites, read voter guides and most important vote on November 2.

Your vote is important and does make a difference.

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Frederick Co. MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

City of Frederick Election - only newcomer to the race is Republican Randy McClement who filed for Mayor. Pressure is mounting for incumbent Republican Mayor Jeff Holtzinger to announce he is running for reelection. Expect him to do so and local chatter has Mr. McClement withdrawing and filing for Alderman. While many will tell you McClement is a nice man, few will tell you what his platform is or why he is running for Mayor. If Holtzinger runs for reelection, he will beat McClement easily.

The only Democratic candidate for Mayor, Jack Lynch had lunch with a supporter last week who is expected to help him with some video on his website. Another nice gentleman, his managed growth platform needs to pick up some steam with the voters. Word has it, one Frederick County Democratic elected official who is supporting a run by Jason Judd has already mentioned to him about switching to a run for Alderman. Mr. Lynch assured me he is in the race for Mayor to win.

Speaking of Jason Judd, he quietly filed papers on January 9, 2009 with the City of Frederick to register an organization "Friends of Jason Judd". This has allowed him to raise funds as he continues to organize prior to officially filing for the office of Mayor. The Treasurer of the organization is Kelly Chapin who owns the business, National Fusion in downtown Frederick.

Judd's first fundraiser is February 26 at Cafe NOLA, located on E. Patrick Street just before you reach N. Market Street in downtown Frederick. It starts at 7:00 PM and will have the band "Hard Swimming Fish". The suggested donation is $20. When I asked Jason Judd how the fundraising was going he indicated they were encouraged with both the fundraising and organization to date. Realize that every candidate will say the same thing when asked - the proof is in the finance reports when filed. Mr. Judd is not very well known, but for $20 why not go hear what he has to say.

Still no word on when Alderman Marcia Hall will file for Mayor. While she is a two term Alderman and the top vote getter in the last election, she is not a shoo in for the Democratic Party nomination. The spotlight is more intense on the mayoral candidates than it is on the aldermen candidates and she has yet to unveil a platform with how she will be better for the voters than the incumbent Mayor Jeff Holtzinger.

The perceived weakness by some voters, of the campaigns by Lynch, Judd, and Hall, adds fuel to the rumor which says former one term Mayor Jennifer Dougherty will enter the race. It appears uniting the Democratic voters behind the winner in the primary will once again be a challenge. Stay Tuned.

As to the Alderman race, Kelly Russell remains the only Democrat to file, although her campaign to date has been quiet. I informed her we would be happy to publish an announcement from her that would include why she is running and the issues that are important to her. We will do the same for all of the Democratic candidates when they file. We have yet to receive anything from her.

Incumbent Aldermen David Koontz and Donna Kuzemchak will run again, although David Koontz is another who is tempted to run for Mayor. The chatter on the street is he can not get behind supporting Marcia Hall for Mayor. Stay tuned.

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WTE - Waste to Energy will be the focus this week as the Frederick County Commissioners have scheduled public hearings - The Hearings will be held today beginning today at 6:00 PM and Thursday February 19 beginning at 7:00 PM.

At issue? How to deal with trash in Frederick County. This discussion has been going on for years now with four of the five County commissioners favoring building an Incinerator. One lone Commissioner, Kai Hagen who along with others from the community, has expressed opposition to the building of an Incinerator. However, to date, no one has proposed an alternative, leading to exasperation by the other commissioners and supporters for and against the Incinerator.

Eight months ago, we offered Democratic Commissioners Jan Gardner and Kai Hagen the opportunity to write a series of detailed columns on the issue, to which they agreed, and we published from July to September in 2008. We still have links to their columns located in the right margin of our Home Page.

It has become painfully obvious that the only reasonable alternative to the building of the Incinerator is the construction of a Landfill. In fact, I published a column stating this on November 25, 2008 - you can read that column here.

The mention of the word Landfill seems to be taboo and to have taken on the image of the boogieman. This, due to the difficult siting and condemnation process which occurred twenty years ago for the existing Landfill on Reich's Ford Road. It should not be so. A landfill will be needed regardless of the method chosen for disposal - the issue is how big and what other components to include on site - ie. a resource recover park and a materials recovery facility.

If 500 to 1000 acres are needed to do so, then a search for the site location and a estimated cost for acquisition and construction should take place so a cost-benefit comparison could be made between constructing a Landfill or a Incinerator. Both options have positives and negatives. But, before Frederick County Commissioners vote to approve what is now a 500 million plus Incinerator, let's cost out a Landfill alternative.

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