Frederick County DRRA Amendment Moves Forward

Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner

George Wenschhof

Democratic Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner’s amendment to Developer Rights and Responsibilities Agreements (DRRAs) has moved forward with Councilmember Steve McKay (R-District 2) introducing it to the County Council on March 5, 2019.

McKay, who stressed the need to amend DRRAs in his campaign, said he was pleased to introduce the amendment that will cover several areas. First, it will change the minimum requirement to be considered to 1,500 homes. Second, it defines an enhanced public benefit to be included in agreement, which is above and beyond Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) requirements. It will also limit the length of agreements to five years with a five-year option and put limits on what is frozen.

The Maryland General Assembly in 1995 passed enabling legislation for DRRAs to address in part, late vesting of development projects, often defined as when foundations are built, the pendulum swings on how to manage growth resulting from changes in local elected officials and to provide some assurances to both developers and local government in zoning and regulations over the length of the development.  DRRAs are intended to be a benefit for local government and developers by providing benefits for each that would not be available without the agreement.  The state legislation does not limit the length of the agreement, restrict the number of homes or define a public enhancement that is above and beyond what is required by APFO review.

During the 2010-2014 board of county commissioners led by president Blaine Young(R), 13 DRRA’s were entered into, including one with 43 units that does not expire until 2034.  These agreements cover a total of 13,097 housing units, have an average length of twenty years and are the only approved DRRAs in Frederick County.

Gardner said, “I introduced this same bill during the term of the prior County Council. While the prior council debated it, they ultimately let the bill time out and made no decisions.

“I fully support my proposed legislation, which would require any future developer agreements to include an enhanced public benefit―like a school, regional road improvement, fire station―and prohibit the freezing of fees. The agreements should provide a benefit to existing residents and taxpayers.”

Gardner added, “I believe the five-year timeframe is appropriate because the county should reserve the right as it historically has done to review a development project if it does not proceed in a certain period of time because circumstances change including school overcrowding, road capacity, fire service needs and so forth.”

Gardner felt “DRRAs should be reserved for larger developments that will take longer to build and have the capacity to provide enhanced public benefits. Smaller developments do not have the financial capacity to make major infrastructure improvements and they can build out over a much shorter period of time.”

In regard to the number of units, she said “I am open to some flexibility in the 1,500-unit number, but these agreements should only be available to large projects for the reasons stated.”

Eric Soter, president of the Land Use Council of the Frederick County Building Industry Association and former Frederick County planning director, said, “The county already has the ability to accept or reject any DRRA right from the beginning as it is not a ‘by-right’ type of tool. So they are merely tying their own hands if the right project comes along.”

He noted, “There are no 1,500-unit developments on the horizon, there is not any ground right now that is planned in the County to accommodate that many units for one project. There is only one project with more than 1,500 units that is currently active and that is Lake Linganore.”

Frederick County Councilmembers Steve McKay (R-District 2), Phil Dacey (R-at-large), Kai Hagen (D-at-large), and Jerry Donald (D-District 1) all said they were willing to discuss the 1,500 minimum unit requirement. 

Furthermore, Soter said, “Even if there ever is a future project that would meet the criteria, the five-year timeframe doesn’t typically get you through the approval process. Perhaps some mass grading may begin, and some initial infrastructure, but with the State of Maryland being a ‘late-vesting’ state, there are no assurances that zoning could be removed for all or a portion of a community at any time without such a tool.” 

The public hearing of the proposed DRRA amendment will be April 2, 2019.

Frederick County, Maryland County Executive and Council Results

George Wenschhof

Turnout was indeed high for a midterm election with a 58.44% turnout with 101,049 votes cast out of 172,907 registered voters during early voting and the 2018 general election.  Early voting favored Democratic candidates and as I suspected unaffiliated and write-in candidates would fall flat.

Frederick County incumbent county executive Jan Gardner (D) won reelection against Republican challenger Kathy Afzali with 51% of the vote.  Gardner (14,682) would win by 6,678 votes over Afzali (8,004) during early voting and she would win after general election day with early voting added in by 7,184 – Gardner (50,974) – Afzali (43,790).  So, on general election day Gardner (36,292) would beat Afzali (35,786) by 506 votes.  Earl Robbins, the unaffiliated candidate for county executive would only receive 4,639 votes total of the 99,502 votes cast for county executive during early voting and the general election.

In the county council race where voters elect two countywide (at-large) and 5 by districts, several races are still to be determined by the count of absentee and provisional ballots

In the at-large race, Democrat Kai Hagen (43,002), Phil Dacey (R) (42,781) and Danny Farrar (R) (42,531) are lock in a close contest to determine the two winners.  Absentee and provisional ballots will determine this race.  However, Hagen with a 471 vote lead over Farrar is in a good position to be one of the winners with the other decided between the two Republicans where only 250 votes separate them.

Democrat Susan Reeder Jessee (40,545) would come in a close fourth and incumbent council president Bud Otis (12,450) who changed party affiliation from Republican to unaffiliated came in last.  Four years ago Otis received the most votes in this race as a Republican candidate and Jessee came in a close third.

The district 1 county council race is another nail biter with Republican challenger Kevin Grubb(10,876) holding a 57 vote lead over incumbent Democrat Jerry Donald (10,819). Interestingly, Donald would come from behind four years ago when he beat Ellen Bartlett (R) after absentee and provisional ballots were counted.

The write in ballot by Republican district 2 council member Tony Chmelik was a dud with him receiving only 749 votes out of the 22,694 total votes cast.  Republican Steve McKay (13,054) who beat Chmelik in the primary election would win easily against Democrat Lisa Jarosinski (8,891) in a heavy Republican voter registered district.

Democratic incumbent district 3 council member M. C. Keegen-Ayer(10,343) would easily win reelection against Republican challenger Joe Parsley (5,974).

In district 4, incumbent Democrat Jessica Fitzwater (11,023) easily beat Republican challenger Jimmy Trout (6,901).

Republican candidate Michael Blue (11,671) would easily win the district 5 council seat vacated by incumbent Kirby Delauter who would be beat by Kathy Afzali in the Republican primary election county executive race.  Democrat Shannon Bohrer  would receive 6425 votes.

Regardless of which party, after district 1 and the at-large races are determined following the absentee and provisional count, the animosity that existed between three Republican council members and Democratic county executive Jan Gardner will not continue.  Republican at-large council member Billy Shreve lost in the Republican primary election to Craig Giangrande in his bid for district 3 Maryland state senate.  Shreve, Delauter and Chmelik who were all antagonists against Gardner are now out of office.

Democrats will have two members on the county council with Fitzwater (district 4) and M. C. Keegen-Aeyer (district 3).  Republicans will have two members on the council with Michael Blue (district 5), Steve McKay (district 2).

The party makeup of the other three council members will be decided following the absentee and provisional count.  The odds favor Democrat Kai Hagen to win one of the two at-large seats.  Which means either Republican Dacey or Farrar will win the other at-large seat.

This means the winner of district 2 race between Grubb (R) and Donald (D) will determine which party will have a majority on the board.

If Hagen and Donald win for a Democratic majority look to see Hagen be made council president.  If Republicans win the majority and Dacey is elected at-large, he could be made council president.  That is unless, McKay, who is known to favor Gardner, votes to support Kai for president.  Who is made county council president will be interesting to watch.

Editor's Update: The first round of absentee ballots will be counted on Thursday Nov. 8 beginning at 10:00 AM by the Frederick County Board of Elections. In the District 1 race, there are presently 425 Democratic Ballots, 232 Republican Ballots and 135 "Others" Ballots to be counted. Democrat Jerry Donald is 57 votes behind Republican Kevin Grubb after the general election.

In the at-large council race where two candidates are elected, there are 3,592 ballots to be counted with the breakdown by party as follows: Democratic - 1953, Republican - 1,003 and Others - 654. After early voting and the general election the three candidates vying for the two positions are Kai Hagen (D) - 43,002, Phil Dacey (R) 42,781 and Danny Farrar (R) 42,531.

Editor's Update:  Vote counting is continuing with the Frederick County board of elections issuing a statement they will finish on Friday Nov.9 and post results in the afternoon.

Stay tuned.

Frederick County Election Buzz (Governor, County Executive, At-Large Council)

George Wenschhof

With only three days until General Election Day Nov. 6, the following includes some musings on local elections in Frederick County, Maryland.

One thing to look for as the ballots are tallied is the coattails by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (R) and County Executive Jan Gardner (D) on positions down ballot in Frederick County.

Governor Race

Ben Jealous, the Democratic candidate for Governor is trailing significantly (double digits) in polling and has to hope for a much higher Democratic voter turnout than four years ago.  Jealous will be looking for higher Democratic turnout in Prince George’s County, Baltimore City and Montgomery County.  Their campaign goal has been one million more voters than 2014. If they get it, look to see a Jealous win.

Four years ago Republican Larry Hogan beat Democratic Lt. Governor Anthony Brown by 65,000 votes (51%-47.2%).

At the end of early voting Democrats are outvoting Republicans (423,562-155,685) and in Prince George’s County (Dem: 90,120 – Rep: 4,933), Baltimore City (Dem: 42,176 – Rep: 2,055) and Montgomery County (Dem: 81,388 – Rep: 14,518).

Democratic registered voters outnumber Republican registered voters in Maryland 2-1, yet Hogan won 4 years ago.  Again, polling indicates an easy Hogan win.  However, keep an eye on voter turnout on Election Day.  A Blue Wave could propel Jealous to victory.

As a result, in this election, many local Republicans have been running with a “Team Hogan” slogan where Frederick County voters in the 2014 general election went for Hogan (Hogan: 50,715 – Brown: 27,682)

Frederick County Executive

I interviewed all three candidates for county executive and published a question and answer with them in an article in The Urbana Town Courier.

Democratic incumbent county executive Jan Gardner has clearly demonstrated over the last four years and throughout the numerous campaign forums during this campaign, she is the most competent candidate for county executive.

Kathy Afzali, the Republican candidate for county executive has extensively used “Team Hogan” throughout her campaign hoping Hogan, who is favored to win Frederick County, will help her to victory as well.

However, the unaffiliated run by Earl Robbins, an experienced businessman who has been active in the community for years who is hoped by some political insiders to have a negative impact on Gardner in this race, could actually boomerang and help Gardner.

The local Republican Party is fractured with the old guard favoring councilman Kirby Delauter who ran for county executive and was beat in the primary election by Kathy Afzali. He has been urging his Republican supporters to vote for Robbins over Afzali.

How to best manage growth continues to be the main issue in countywide Frederick County elections and ironically both Afzali and Gardner are running ads saying they have the best answer for runaway growth in the county.  Interestingly, Afzali who was a Maryland state delegate when Republican Blaine Young was president of the board of commissioners, never opposed the growth policies enacted by his board who I labeled “Blaine and Company”  resulting from their pro-growth and business friendly policies they passed while in office.

In a recent article I point out voter registration in the county shows Democrats (37.2%) and Republicans (38.7%) are essentially tied. Over the last 16 years Republican registration has dropped 7.6% and Unaffiliated gained 7%.  Democratic registration stayed at 37.2%.  So, it can be expected unaffiliated voters will vote more Democratic than Republican and with an unaffiliated county executive candidate, some will vote for Robbins.  However, unaffiliated is not a political party so do not look for them to automatically vote for Robbins.  Look, instead for unaffiliated voters to break Democratic.

Look to see the most qualified candidate Jan Gardner win the county executive race with Earl Robbins receiving less than 15% of the vote – Kudos to him for being the first African American and Unaffiliated candidate to run for countywide office in Frederick County. However, Afzali could run a close race with Gardner resulting from an effective campaign ad blitz and if Hogan wins big in Frederick County.  Afzali, with her last name starting with “A”, is also at the top of the ballot and this positioning often results in additional votes for a candidate.

At-Large Frederick County Council

In this race, voters will be picking two out of the five candidates on the ballot.  The two winners will be part of the seven member council with the other five members elected by districts. I asked these candidates, “What are the two most pressing issues facing Frederick County, and what you would do to address them?” and their answers were published in The Urbana Town Courier.

Danny Farrar and Phil Dacey are the two Republicans running and out of these two, Dacey, a former one term City of Frederick alderman, is likely to run a competitive race.  Four years ago both Republican candidates Billy Shreve and Bud Otis won these two positions.  With the change in voter registration I pointed out earlier, Republican candidates are no longer favored to win countywide races.

Incumbent council president Bud Otis is running for reelection, but this time as an Unaffiliated candidate.  As a result of his often siding with county executive Jan Gardner and the Democratic council members and the often 4-3 vote outcome on growth issues, he came under fire from fellow Republican council members Tony Chmelik, Billy Shreve and Kirby Delauter.  This would lead Otis to change his political affiliation mid-term to unaffiliated.  No unaffiliated candidate has won a countywide election in Frederick County.  However, look to see well known Otis be competitive.

If General Election voting mirrors the turnout in early voting where Democrats out voted Republicans by 3,360 votes, look to see the two Democratic candidates be at the top out of the five candidates for these two positions.  Kai Hagen, a former one-term county commissioner, is looking to reunite with Gardner who he ran successfully with 12 years ago with Republican candidate John “Lenny” Thompson and David Gray with what they coined the “Dream Team”.  The Dream Team victory aided by the Thompson slogan “If Developers win, you lose!”

Hagen, who has been out of office for eight years, received the top votes in the primary election which makes him favored in the general election.  However, Republican supporters of Billy Shreve and Kirby Delauter who both lost their primary election races will not support Hagen.  Again, look to see who has the stronger coattails in Frederick County.  If, Gardner wins easily, this will aid Hagen.  However, with Afzali also running a campaign to stop runaway growth, this will help Hagen as well.

Susan Reeder Jessee ran for at-large four years ago and barely lost, coming in a close third.  A candidate whose parents were actively involved in Frederick County politics, she is well respected across party lines and if elected would exhibit traits many voters long for today.  As a result, Susan will receive Republican, Democratic and unaffiliated votes.

Susan has run hard throughout the campaign going to events across the entire county and would be a positive addition to the Frederick County Council.

This race will likely be very close.

The City of Frederick 2017 Election Buzz

George Wenschhof

George Wenschhof

No respite from politics for The City of Frederick voters following what may go down in history as the most raucous presidential election that clearly illustrated the deep divide in America.

Beginning soon, announcements by candidates for mayor and board of aldermen will begin to trickle out even though the deadline for candidates to file is not until July 3, 2017.  A petition candidate deadline is May 1, 2017.

The primary election will be held on September 12 and the general election will be on November 7, 2017.

There is growing frustration among voters with the current mayor and board who feel their city government, at best, has been status quo over the last 8 years under Republican mayor Randy McClement and a board of aldermen dominated by Democrats.

What is often said, is at least the mayor and board is free of the drama that existed during former Democratic mayor Jennifer Dougherty's administration.

However, there will be lots of issues that will receive discussion, among them and perhaps the main issue highlighted will be the lack of leadership displayed by nice guy mayor McClement. Also missing is a sense of togetherness and any vision for the future for the residents of what is now the second largest city in the state of Maryland.

The inability by the mayor and board to negotiate an extension of the baseball stadium lease would lead to a poorly executed Request for Proposals and the subsequent renaming of the field with less than artful signs, lack of job development for city residents, the shoddy handling of the downtown hotel/conference center development, little to no action on Blighted properties, another sloppy execution of a request for proposal on the extension of Monocacy Boulevard, a costly and unaffordable plan for the Hargett Farm park debacle, parking fine increases, hikes in water and sewer fees and removal of the bust of Roger Brooke Taney in front of city hall are all just a few of the issues sure to be discussed by candidates.

So what are the early rumors on who will enter the fray?  On the mayor side, Democrats already have several names that are surfacing.  Incumbent alderman Michael O’Connor has all but announced he will be running for the Democratic Party nomination.  His major obstacle will be he never differentiated himself from mayor McClement over the last seven years and if leadership is a skill he plans to run on, he has never shown it during his years in office.

Former one term and first woman mayor Jennifer Dougherty will likely run again.  She has been running since 1993 and has only won one time and that was back in 2001.  Likability is her biggest problem as is the fact she has been the Democratic spoiler in every race since 2005 when she was defeated in the Democratic primary. She became the first incumbent city mayor to be defeated by a candidate of her own party when another former mayor Ron Young defeated her.  She would not support Young in that general election and Republican Jeff Holtzinger would win.  In 2009 after losing to Jason Judd in the primary, she would again not support the Democratic nominee resulting in the election of Republican Randy McClement.  Apparently frustrated with the Democratic Party, Jennifer would run as an unaffiliated petition candidate in the 2013 election with former local reporter Katherine Heerbrandt helping her. Once again, she would split the vote, this time with Democratic candidate Karen Young, and leading to the reelection of Republican mayor Randy McClement. 

Reportedly, she will run as a Democrat this time.  All told, Dougherty is 1-7 in elections who in addition to losing 4 times for mayor also lost a bid for county commissioner and congress.  However, she is a tireless campaigner and would be competitive in this election.  

Another Democrat Roger Wilson, who received the plum job of county liaison to towns and municipalities by Jan Gardner when she was elected county executive has also given considerable thought to running for mayor. He ran for state delegate in the 2014 election and lost. His major problem is the optics of him running for mayor while being paid by taxpayers.  Because of this, the latest rumors have him rethinking and considering a run for alderman.  However, the optics problem remains and voters will not want a city alderman who is working in an appointed position with the county executive and as the county liaison to the city.  City-County agreements are often in front of the mayor and board for consideration, so remaining in his county position would be a difficult sell to voters wondering who he was representing, the city or the county?  His dilemma is to decide whether to give up a well paying position to run for city office.

It would not be a surprise to see downtown resident Peter Samuels jump into the race.  His dissatisfaction with what he refers to as the downtown hotel/conference center boondoggle might just be the catalyst to get him to run.

Former County commissioner and state delegate Galen Clagett’s name has also surfaced.  He ran for mayor 4 years ago and lost to Karen Young in the Democratic primary.  Throughout his time in office, he is known for getting things done so he may throw his hat in the ring when he sizes up the field.

A name that repeatedly pops up when I am talking to folks around town is Jim Racheff.  Jim is widely respected and someone who has been active in local Democratic politics.  He recently chaired the transition effort for county executive Jan Gardner, is chairing Gardner’s “Livable Frederick” Comprehensive Plan update and has served as chair of the city board of zoning appeals.  When I asked him recently if he would consider running, Jim told me his attention to his business would not allow him to do so.

City Democratic alderman Josh Bokee is another who is been talked about who will be entering the race for mayor.  He has let me know he will make his intention known prior to the end of the year. 

It is likely even more Democrats will come forward for mayor.

    

The question remains whether Republican Randy McClement will run again and if not, who will be the Republican candidate?  A rumor sure to stir up political buzz around town has Blaine Young moving to the city and running for mayor.  I heard this rumor immediately following the election of Republican Donald Trump as president.  Although said in jest, it is a type of move Blaine Young would make.  It is more likely, if McClement did not run for reelection; Republican alderman Phil Dacey would seek the job of mayor.

The buzz surrounding city alderman candidates will follow in another column.

Stay tuned.

Mayor and Board Sworn in Today

George Wenschhof

Randy McClement

The inauguration ceremony for the 61st administration of The City of Frederick takes place today.

The Weinberg Center will host the public event.  At 11:00 AM, Mayor Randy McClement (R) will be sworn in to serve his second term.  The board of aldermen will be consist of two Democrats who will enter their second terms; Kelly Russell and Michael O'Connor.

Joining them on the board will be newcomers; Phil Dacey (R), Josh Bokee (D) and former three term Democratic alderman Donna Kuzemchak.

It is expected Kelly Russell, who received the most votes in the election, will be made Mayor Pro Tem today.

Democrats, will once again hold a super majority on the board of alderman, while a Republican serves as mayor of a city that has a strong Democratic voter registration advantage.

Republican alderman elect Phil Dacey will be facing voter anger to the robo-calls made on behalf of his campaign that criticized Democratic alderman elect Donna Kuzemchak for failing to pay her property taxes on time.  Dacey has yet to comment on the issue.

Kuzemchak, once research has been done, may be setting a record for serving the most number of terms as alderman, when she serves her fourth term on the board.

She told me, when the seating arrangement was being set for the board of alderman, she requested a seat next to Dacey.

Stay tuned.

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Misdirected Calls Most Likely Data Error

George Wenschhof

Donna Kuzemchak

In the reactionary frenzy to the negative robo-calls to City of Frederick voters highlighting the failure of Democratic alderman-elect Donna Kuzemchak to pay her property taxes on time, rumors spread rapidly concerning calls that may have misdirected a few voters to the wrong polling location.

The robo-calls attempting to denigrate Kuzemchak were made on behalf of the campaign of Republican alderman-elect Phil Dacey.

Both candidates, would go on to win election to the five member board.

Interestingly, it was the local paper who first reported on May 14 of this year that newly announced alderman candidate Donna Kuzemchak had not paid her property taxes with an article and photo displayed above the fold on the cover of the newspaper.

I remember interviewing Kuzemchak afterward and her expressing disappointment they never published she had paid her taxes, despite several requests that they do so.

Immediately after the election, what followed the disclosure of the negative Dacey campaign robo-calls directed at Kuzemchak, was what began as a trickle of information about voters receiving calls misdirecting them to the wrong polling location.

The initial rumor had it the Dacey campaign was also behind these calls as some of the calls had been received from residents of Worman’s Mill. This was salacious, because as a member of the city board of appeals, Dacey had voted in favor of the developer and against residents in a dispute over a change in the proposed town center. Misdirecting those voters may have been advantageous to the Dacey campaign.

Not only was this information salacious, but if true, the rumor continued, might be a criminal offense and may be cause to remove Dacey from office, before he is even sworn in, paving the way for another candidate to perhaps take his place on the board. The Republican name heard most often was Katie Nash, who lost in her attempt to be a member of the board.

During the early days following the election, in this high tech world, sent to my cell phone was the recorded message that had been received from Republican alderman Shelley Aloi. No wonder they call them “smart phones”!

The fast growing and ever changing gossip now had alderman Shelley Aloi, who had lost in her bid for the Republican mayoral nomination behind the robo-calls that misdirected voters.

Well, it appears what happened is both the Republicans and Democrats inadvertently misdirected a few of their own voters and there was no apparent nefarious intent.

The Frederick County state Democratic Central Committee used volunteers to make calls to Democratic voters and at one point, off a prepared script, placed some to Worman’s Mill voters. They quickly realized they were giving the wrong polling location out when informed by the voters and quit making their calls.

Chair of the committee, Myrna Whitworth assured me they did their best to correct the calls, once they were aware of what happened.

Phone calling voters to get out the vote has always been present in political campaigns and this appears to have been an unfortunate event and very limited in the number of calls that were made.

The Aloi campaign sponsored robo-calls were directed at Republicans, highlighting she had been the only Republican elected alderman in the last election and the importance to get out and vote. The end of the call included a reference to their polling location.

In the case of the person who sent me the recording, it was the wrong polling location. Robo-calls are made by firms who use computers that work off of telephone numbers they have or are provided by the campaign.

When I spoke to alderman Aloi, she said it was a data error and to the best of her knowledge only involved a handful of voters.

As I mentioned previously, the errors made by Republican Shelley Aloi's campaign and the local Democratic central committee misdirected a few of their own voters.  This is not something they would aspire to do.

City attorney Saundra Nickols told me the city was looking into the calls that misdirected voters and that she had nothing further to say, other than the mayor may have something to say on this matter soon.

Having followed elections for a lifetime, one constant is voters complain about negative campaign mail and in recent years, about robo-calls.

Unfortunately, political operatives know negative spin and robo-calls often work and continue to convince candidates to use them.

However, it is the voters who have the final say.

Voters should not get discouraged with the political process. Let candidates know you oppose negative campaigning - stay informed, get involved, vote and make a difference.

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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Dacey, Nash and Schmidt Try to Hide Republican Party Affiliation in City Election

George Wenschhof

It is widely known voter registration highly favors Democratic candidates in The City of Frederick, so it is hardly surprising Republican alderman candidates Phil Dacey, Katie Nash and David Schmidt are trying to cozy up to Democratic voters by projecting a moderate voice.

Yet, when you look at their background, they are all proud conservative Republicans, a political philosophy that does not play well with progressive Democratic voters in the city.

Their political mantra has been to call for nonpartisan elections, because they don’t believe in party labels at the local level.

However, it is widely known and documented by numerous studies, nonpartisan elections actually result in a lower voter turnout at the polls.  Not a change, The City of Frederick, which averages less than 25% turnout, needs to implement. 

The reason for masking their political affiliation by these candidates is Democrats have 17,300 registered voters compared to 10,750 Republicans in the city.  Their combined cry for nonpartisan elections is also driven by their knowledge there are 8,160 unaffiliated registered voters in the city, who they hope to entice to vote for them.

During my interviews with the Democratic candidates for alderman and mayor, not one indicated to me support for a change to nonpartisan elections in the city.

Former alderman Alan Imhoff, the only Republican candidate with extensive municipal experience, opposes nonpartisan elections and favors moving the city election to coincide with the presidential election cycle.

It is also not surprising, there are no Republicans calling for a change to nonpartisan elections in the county, where they hold a voter registration advantage.

The road to victory by a Republican alderman candidate is tough, unlike the mayoral race, where Democrats have been beating themselves in every election, but one, since former four term mayor Ron Young was defeated in 1989.

Dacey, Nash and Schmidt are young and inexperienced in municipal government, but all have been involved supporting conservative Republicans in their party.

Phil Dacey shared with me “I became a Republican because I believed they were the party with better ideas and was influenced by former Congressman Newt Gingrich’s 1994 “Contract with America” that promoted welfare reform and a balance budget.”  When, he noticed I was writing this down, he said “oops!”

Further earning his conservative spurs was the support by him and his family of former state senator Alex Mooney and his experience working as chief of staff to Maryland state senator Nancy Jacobs.

Katie Nash, in addition to serving on the local Republican central committee, also served as chief of staff to another state senator E.J. Pipkin.

Both Pipkin and Jacobs were former Republican senate minority leaders and known as far right conservatives in the state.

Dave Schmidt, has made no secret of his attempted love affair with Democrats, attending their local events and telling everyone party affiliation doesn’t matter in the city.

When I interviewed Dave, he shared with me his interest in politics started early when he knocked on doors for former sixth district Republican congressman Roscoe Bartlett. He also served as president of student government and started the first Republican Club at Frederick Community College (FCC). At FCC, he hosted the first alderman debate in 2005 which was moderated by Blaine Young, who is now president of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners.

All three have downplayed their Republican Party affiliation with the hopes to win Democratic votes and with them, a seat on the board of alderman.

Interestingly, while all three have extolled the importance of nonpartisan elections in the city, not one changed their political affiliation to Unaffiliated.

Registered voters in The City of Frederick will elect their mayor and a five member board of alderman on November 5.

Stay tuned.

 

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Questions Raised on Dacey’s Fundraising

George Wenschhof

Phil Dacey

With less than three weeks to go until General Election Day in the City of Frederick, concerns are being raised on the fundraising efforts by Republican alderman candidate Phil Dacey. Dacey finished first in the Republican primary election held on September 10.

Upon reviewing his impressive 205 reported contributions totaling $18,000, 65% of them came from outside The City of Frederick, raising the worry of outside influence on local elections.

What is common to see among city candidates is 25% or less of total contributions coming from outside the city. The majority of these donations typically come from residents of Frederick County who know the candidate, with the rest coming from family members or close friends who live outside the county or state.

Democrat John Daniels, who reported the second highest level of contributions ($13,000) among alderman candidates, fell within the average of 25% of his donations coming from outside the city, with most of them coming from residents of the county.

This outside fundraising is also raising questions of Dacey’s relationship with ultra right wing conservative and former state senator Alex Mooney, whose political philosophy resembles tea party Republicans of today.

Interestingly, Republican sources told me Dacey is using the Mooney donor list to raise funds.

Mooney was well known for his fundraising skills, tapping into national sources to fund his campaign, including paying workers to go door to door for him.

Dacey’s second campaign finance report showed he was also paying workers to go door to door, which he confirmed when I inquired.

I sent Dacey a email asking him “did you receive donor lists from Alex Mooney or anyone associated with his former campaign and second to what do you attribute to such a large portion of the funds you have received to date coming from outside the city?”

He replied with "We've worked very hard to raise the money that we have -- we set a budget at the start of the campaign and have worked to raise that amount.

To answer your question, I have not gotten lists from any other campaigns including Alex Mooney. I'm really not sure how the funds I have raised breaks down geographically because I really haven't analyzed the report in that way. I am humbled and grateful to have the support of a lot of people who believe in me and my vision for Frederick."

Some who question where his fundraising is coming from say that further illustrating Dacey’s ties to far right conservatives are campaign account donations from Republican elected officials; state senator Nancy Jacobs, state delegate Michael Hough, former state delegate Joe Bartlett and a donation from City Cab owned, in part, by Frederick board of county commissioners President Blaine Young.

Those making the connection of Dacey to right wing conservatives point out Dacey worked as chief of staff to conservative state senator Nancy Jacobs and his family; including his brother Ted, who worked as his campaign manager, has long been a supporter of Mooney.

City voters will elect their mayor and five member board of alderman on November 5.

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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Candidates Respond To Pledge to Honor Contribution Limits

George Wenschhof

A week ago I published a column where I stated “It is the “spirit of the law”, not the letter of the law, that should be followed by candidates in The City of Frederick election.”

Presently, contributions to city aldermen candidates are limited to $1,000 per person/entity and $2,500 per person/entity for mayoral candidates.

I reported the day the first candidate campaign finance reports were filed, a loophole in the law had been used to get around these limits reflected in the reports filed by the Karen Young and Galen Clagett campaigns for mayor.

$20,000 had been funneled into Democratic Maryland state delegate Galen Clagett’s mayoral campaign via multiple entities associated with local developer Marvin Ausherman. Another $10,000 was received via entities associated with Pleasants construction, another local developer. The $30,000 in contributions was half of what the Clagett campaign received in the first report.

Democratic alderman Karen Young, who won the Democratic primary for mayor, received $7,500 from three entities associated with local businessman John Fitzgerald.

There did not appear to be any illegal contributions.  Yet, the potential influence on an elected official by one who has arranged for a large donation to a campaign, is unsettling to voters, who already feel their voices are lost to big business, corporations and well organized interest groups.

I sent all the candidates links to the columns written on this issue and asked them if they would follow the spirit of the law. 

 

The aldermen candidates were asked “Would you pledge to honor the $1,000 contribution limit intent of the law, to the best of your knowledge from this point on in the campaign.”

The mayoral candidates were asked “to pledge to the best of their knowledge, to not accept more than $2,500 from any one person or entities associated with any one person, from this point on in the campaign”.

I received responses from all of the candidates with the overwhelming majority of them agreeing to abide by the “intent /spirit of the law”.  Their responses follow below.

Jennifer Dougherty, unaffiliated candidate for mayor said "I will take the pledge, no problem".

Democratic mayoral candidate Karen Young responded in an email to me "Yes".

Republican mayor Randy McClement said “I have never asked for bundled contributions. I will continue, as I always have, to follow all City campaign finance disclosure laws and disclose all contributions and donors”.

Alderman Michael O'Connor (D) stated "he will comply with both the intent and letter of the law".

Democratic alderman candidate John Daniels responded in an email to me: "George, I have every intention of honoring the intent of the law and have not and will not accept contributions that may be questionable. Please consider this my pledge."

Democratic alderman candidate Donna Kuzemchak responded with "Yes, I commit to complying with both the letter and spirit of the law, as I have always done so."

Alderman Kelly Russell (D) responded with "Yes."

Democratic alderman candidate Josh Bokee responded with "Yes".

Republican alderman candidate Alan Imhoff emailed me saying "I have no problem with adhering to the spirit of the “contribution limit intent of the law”.

Republican alderman candidate Dan Cowell responded with "I will honor the law as written. I will not work the loophole accepting more than $1000 from any individual, family, and/or business."

Republican alderman Dave Schmidt responded with "I think the contribution limits are important to prevent anyone from having undue influence on candidates. I pledge that looking forward in this election, I won't accept any contributions from LLC's owned by anyone who has already reached their $1000 limit to my campaign."

Republican alderman candidate Katie Nash’s initially responded with "You're asking me to pledge to follow the law - yes. I'm not being facetious when I ask if you believe I have somehow not followed this law? (If so I want to return the money)."

I responded to her with "I would suggest you read the article and the numerous one that preceded it to more fully understand the question.

The issue is that the law does not appear to have been broken in regard to exceeded the limits. However there are loopholes that allow contributions to exceed the "intent" of the law."

I added in an email saying, in part, "To follow up with you, I have not suggested any city candidate broke the law."

To which she followed with a long response that can be read here.

 

In an interview, Republican alderman candidate Phil Dacey responded with he was “okay with the “spirit of the law”, particularly with limiting influence of individuals.”  Dacey added, “He would like to see this issue looked at and appropriate revisions made by the next board.”

It is encouraging, that clearly an overwhelming number of candidates have agreed to honor the “intent/spirit of the law” for the remainder of the campaign.

What needs to happen next is for the new mayor and board to move quickly, following being sworn into office, to appoint a committee to review the existing campaign contribution law.

 

This committee should be charged with making recommendations on revisions to current law to eliminate these existing loopholes. After, receiving public input, a vote at a mayor and board meeting should be taken to amend the candidate contribution guidelines.

The next candidate campaign finance reports are due October 7.

Stay tuned.

 

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