Republicans for Kai Hagen

I'm a registered Democrat. But what does that mean in this election?

It means that only registered Democrats will be able to vote for me in the September primary. In many other ways, however, in a race for county commissioner, the party affiliation doesn't mean very much. One need only look at the current and previous boards to see that.

In 2002, Frederick County elected two Democrats and three Republicans to the Board of County Commissioners, including one incumbent from each party. But, as anyone familiar with the current BOCC knows, there have been very few votes that split down party lines. In general, President John "Lennie" Thompson is rarely in synch with fellow Republicans, Vice President Mike Cady and Commissioner John Lovell. And Democrats Jan Gardner and Bruce Reeder are on opposite sides of the issues more often than not, particularly with regard to growth-related matters. In fact, in the last election, a short-lived political action committee called the Frederick Countians For True Republicans endorsed and contributed funds to Democrat Bruce Reeder.

The previous BOCC, which served from late 1998 through most of 2002, was comprised of four Republicans and one Democrat, but was characterized by a similar disconnect between party affiliation and approaches to policy in a few notable areas. On that board, Republicans Terre Roy Rhoderick (now President of the Frederick County Builders Association) and Ilona Hogan (who resigned midway through the term and was replaced by Republican Rick Weldon) were often at odds on key issues with fellow Republicans, President David Gray and Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson, and the only Democrat on the board then, Commissioner Jan Gardner.

Putting aside any discussion here about where they stood on the issues, what is obvious is that knowing a candidate's party affiliation does not tell you what you need to know about a candidate for local office. Many, if not most, of the ways in which we define the major political parties, and the reasons we choose one, are simply not relevant at this level.

That is probably the biggest reason that in many counties and most towns and cities across the country, elections are non-partisan.

There are pros and cons to having either partisan or non-partisan elections for local offices, and this isn't the right place to explore them (but if you're interested, here is a research project of the League of Women Voters of Henderson County, NC: Exploring the Feasibility of Electing County Commissioners on a Nonpartisan Basis.)

On side note worth mentioning here, however, is that there are now roughly 22,000 "unaffiliated"voters in Frederick County (registered, but not with any party). That represents about 18% of all the registered voters in the county, and that percentage has been growing steadily. These "unaffiliated" voters are generally unable to participate in and influence our primary elections. By itself, that appears to be a serious shortcoming of the current system, one that is going to have to be addressed as the number of "unaffiliated" voters continues to increase.

In any case, my motivation for raising this issue in the first place is to discourage voters from simply voting the party ticket.

By definition, a party-line vote is a decision based upon political party affiliation, somewhat or entirely independent of the merits of the issues at hand or the character of the candidates.

In my opinion, partisan politics, in general, or automatically voting for candidates in one party, in particular, does not serve the public interest.

But studies show that, even as more voters are growing weary of partisan politics (which have been made worse by gerrymandering on both "sides"), the majority of Americans still vote for a straight-ticket, for candidates in one party, from the top of the ballot to the bottom.

There are all sorts of reasons why this practice is still the norm, even if it is becoming more common for voters to split their ballots. I just want to mention two of them here:

1) Voters who are registered in one of the two major parties may hear from their party many times, in many ways, over the course of an election. They'll get mail, phone calls and emails from the party, including endorsements and handy slate cards supporting only (and all of) the candidates who won the party primary, without regard to any differences between them - they're registered in the party, they won the primary, and that's more than enough. Along those lines, most candidates, who don't have time to knock on every door, only knock on the doors of registered voters in their party, and often only those who have actually voted in recent elections.

2) A lot of people who are registered, and do vote, don't necessarily pay a lot of attention or know very much about local government and their elected representatives. Too many probably couldn't name all five county commissioners, even after they've been in office for four years, much less enter the voting booth with a well-informed and detailed understanding of all the candidates, in both parties. Some of them may not even have gotten out to vote if the election for county commissioner was the only one on the ballot. Unlike many of our municipal elections (for mayor, town council and so on), which are "stand alone" elections, the candidates for county commissioner will be on the ballot with candidates for governor, the U.S. Senate, the House of Representatives, the state's Attorney General, and others. Many voters will turn out to vote in one or more of those races, then get down to the county commissioner race, and, without knowing good reasons to do otherwise, will stick with the same party all the way down.

If you're reading this, there's a good chance the second point doesn't apply to you.

Thank you for your interest, and for getting this far!

This blog entry isn't the place to try and tell you why I think you should vote for me. But, if nothing else, I hope that you'll take a good look at the candidates and the issues, and, if you're a Republican, consider putting party affiliation aside when you enter the voting booth.

Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions you might have.

Also, even though it is not up yet, we intend to put up a new page on this site entitled "Republicans for Kai Hagen."

Among other things, it will include a growing list of Frederick County Republicans who intend to vote for me, and are willing to place their name on a public list. The goal of having such a list is to give registered Republicans one more reason to take a closer look.

If you're one of the many registered Republicans in Frederick County who support my campaign for county commissioner, please consider allowing us to place your name on that list. Just send an email to let me know!

Finally, I've included a column below, written by Kathy Afazali, a Republican from Middletown, which includes some thoughts about this issue.

PS: For the record, I've split my vote every time I've voted in elections for the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners.

From the FREDERICK NEWS POST:

Sold out, part II

April 25, 2006

By Kathy Afzali

There's nothing wrong with our Frederick County Commissioners that a little faith, hope and clarity couldn't cure. So here I am, a Middletown mom, with nothing between me and my computer keyboard but a will to make sense of it all.

The past three weeks have been an interesting ride. I've been to county commissioner meetings and lobbied for something I'm passionate about -- no, not David Afzali in an apron -- school overcrowding, antiquated school facilities, and what I think is a sell-out by local government.

My last column on the foolhardy change to the APFO drew mostly praise, although I did receive two e-mails that said I had it wrong.

Yes, I suppose the completion of the Linganore subdivision (started during the Vietnam War) should go forward if the locals desire. But, not this way.

If the people of Linganore want nearly 14,000 new homes in their backyard then so be it. Though, I think in 15 years there will be a great gnashing of teeth as the quagmire opened by this massive development is fully realized.

I'm not pro-growth. I've never tried to hide this from anyone. I grew up in California and witnessed first hand what greedy developers do to communities and the quality of life. I lived it, and then left it.

California is the poster child for development gone wrong. You don't have to travel to California to witness this. Drive south and have a look at Fairfax and Loudon County, Va. Too much, too fast ... don't get me started.

I owe an apology to the people of Frederick County. I'm sorry that in the last election I didn't educate myself on local issues. You see, I was so caught up in the race for governor, senators, congressmen, etc., that by the time I got to the county commissioner ballot I voted party. Many have confided that they did the same.

What I've learned in the past few weeks is that party affiliation doesn't matter in local issues. What matters is the candidate's views on schools, taxes, (insert your issue here), and growth.

I'm hoping that the voters of Frederick County will forgive me for party line voting and sending people to conduct county business who don't reflect the will of the people.

My wish is to make amends. By this I mean to do all that I can to present local candidates in a transparent light so that readers can vote based on fact -- not whether or not an (R) or (D) follows the name.

I believe it's important to identify commissioner candidates who accept contributions from developers. Two current commissioners collected contributions from developers (i.e. parties in the Land Stewards deal) and voted accordingly. Ethics and candid disclosure is the people's business. I hope to serve the community by getting objective information and then passing it on.

Meanwhile, I still haven't made sense of it all except to say that I pledge to be straightforward on issues that face us as a community. You may not always agree with me but you can rest assured I won't be bought ... except by David Afzali in an apron.

Write to: kathyafzali@adelphia.net

PS: Forgive the tacky references to David. I'm trying to persuade him to learn to cook. I've explained that aprons on men are sexy. My strategy hasn't worked. Maybe if I attached Car and Driver magazine to it ...

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WHY I'M VOTING FOR KAI!

Leanne DeNenno
Linganore Road

Twenty years ago, I moved to Frederick County from Chester County, PA, where I witnessed how fast good farmland can disappear, even in a special and historic place. I became involved in the planning of future growth here when the county began to update the plan for the New Market region, where I live. I met Kai Hagen soon after, because of his work to bring concerned citizens together. I was quickly drawn to Kai's pleasant and calming nature. He...

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