OK … time to get serious about where your votes are going to go in the September 14th primary election!
We’re offering up our endorsements for the County Commissioner and Board of Education candidates here …and if you want to skip all of our background and criteria and cut the chase, just scroll to the end and see who we support.
With the scope of the MacRo Report Blog being “Everything that influences real estate in our community,” we have weighed in on the policies of our local government. The primary focus in this arena has been on planning and zoning regulations as well as actions that impact real estate taxes. To that end this Blog has registered more than a few opinions on the direction that our elected officials move in making policy that impacts these issues.
As the MacRo Report Blog has weighed in on the issues, opinions have been aligned with a vision for our community:
We believe that Frederick County is a very special place to live and work. It has a wonderful balance of active working farms and open space, while our 12 different municipalities and the land around them act as core centers of business and living. In addition it enjoys the benefit the multi-governmental military and medical campus at Ft. Detrick. Frederick has evolved from a purely agricultural economy into a very diverse and growing business community that serves not only the County, but the Washington, DC and Baltimore region. For the last 50 years it has also played a significant role in housing and educating the growing number of workers who are employed in this region … and that will not change.
Growth is inevitable and must be planned for realistically and sensibly in order to accommodate the needs of the community at large. The County must always strive to be on the cutting edge of innovation and technology, and should embrace the competitive environment of this region as a means of staying on top of its game as a means to improve the services available to its citizens.
Over the last few decades the philosophical pendulum has swung back and forth several different administrations of the county and its municipalities on how it will provide the infrastructure to balance economic growth, its needed housing and still maintain its agricultural heritage. And it has been, at times, a roller coaster ride with extremes in political thought occasional dominating the scene.
In today’s economic climate while Frederick County is in much better shape than other parts of the nation, it faces the challenges of unchecked spending in government that has contributed to budget deficits and higher than normal unemployment rates that have resulted in local and regional business cutbacks and closures. At the same time our community must continue to plan for its future with a comprehensive planning process that is truly integrated through a process that engages the county with all of its municipal governments.
Leadership Qualities
In order to meet these challenges, we seek leaders who we feel display the following skill set and qualities:
1. Open Mindedness: a leader who does not display an “Us verses Them” attitude in working with his/her constituents.
2. Ability to make difficult decisions and willingness to hold him/herself accountable.
3. Experience as a leader in private business and understands the important role it plays in maintaining a viable community.
4. Has been an active civic leader.
5. Understands the role of government and will take a leadership role in striving to make it as efficient as possible.
6. Has shown the ability to look at issues and solutions from a “macro” perspective and practically plan for the future.
7. In the area of education … will support innovative and out of the box approaches to improving opportunities for our children to learn including public charter schools.
Endorsements
With all that stated we’ve researched each candidate thoroughly and interviewed many of them. We even sent all eight Board of County Commissioners a questionnaire to make a more educated decision. Our goal is to identify those who we feel are aligned with our vision and processes the leadership qualities and skills noted above.
And from that here are our picks for the following primary races:
Frederick County Board of County Commissioners
Democrats – There are only two who make the grade.
In order of priority:
Michael Kurtianyk
Linda Norris
Republicans – With only 5 votes to cast, we find seven who qualify.
In order of priority:
Blaine Young
Kirby Delauter
Dick Johnson
Paul Smith
Billy Shreve
Alan Imhoff
Robert Craig
Frederick County Board of Education
These are all at-large seats with no party affiliation. Out of the 15 candidates, only four can be selected. We found 5 who we like.
In order of priority:
Jimmy Reeder
Brad Young
April Fleming Miller
Colleen Cusimano
Sarah McAlveavy
We encourage you to do your research outside the MacRo Report Blog. We’ll keep you updated with more election news.