Monday, May 1, 2006
Richard Floyd and Charles Jenkins enter the race for BOCC
Two new candidates jumped into the race for the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners today: Richard Floyd and Charles Jenkins. Both made a run for the board in the 2002 election. That, and the fact that they launched their new campaigns on the same day, may be the only things the two have in common.
The differences between them are too numerous to list here and now, but one not specifically mentioned in the articles below is worth noting: For many years prior to the 2002 election, and throughout the tenure of the current board, Richard Floyd has been as engaged in county issues as anyone I know, while I'm unaware of any way in which Charles Jenkins has been connected to, or involved in, county governance since his unsuccessful campaign four years ago.
Below are a few additional comments, articles about their respective campaign announcements, and links for a few other related articles..
Richard Floyd
Earlier this evening, I attended the campaign launch for Richard "Dick" Floyd at the main library in Frederick. I was pleased to attend. Although Dick and I are both hoping to be elected to the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners, we are not running against each other.
You can visit Dick's campaign website here: http://www.floydforfrederick.com/
There's not a lot there yet, but bookmark it to review later as the site expands.
| From the GAZETTE: Floyd finds support from both parties http://www.gazette.net/stories/050406/fredcou192904_31945.shtml Thursday, May 4, 2006 by Sherry Greenfield Staff Writer It may be unprecedented, but Richard M. Floyd is getting support from both Democrats and Republicans in his bid for Frederick County commissioner. The 65-year-old Democrat publicly announced his candidacy at the C. Burr Artz Library in Frederick Monday, with former Commission President David Gray — a Republican — by his side. ‘‘My campaign is not about politics, nor is it about party affiliation,” Floyd said in his speech. ‘‘It is about you, the citizens of Frederick County, and what is in your best interest, your families and the legacy we leave our children and grandchildren...” Gray supports Floyd’s vision of controlled growth and admires his years of government experience. ‘‘Dick Floyd has stood beside Frederick County citizens for the last three decades, both as a citizen advocate and planning commissioner,” Gray said in a written statement. ‘‘He has an unparalleled knowledge of how this county functions and the integrity to do what is right.” Floyd, who was unsuccessful in his first bid for commissioner in 2002, is a well-known figure in county government. He served two terms as the chairman of the Frederick County Planning Commission. Floyd was a member of the Frederick County Charter Writing Committee (1990-1991) and the Planning & Zoning Rewrite Committee (1996). Floyd is also a strong supporter of controlled growth and, if elected, insists he will not vote for any new development in the county until traffic congestion, crowded schools and mounting trash issues are addressed. ‘‘Increased traffic and congestion are at the top of a seemingly unsolvable problem,” Floyd said. ‘‘We cannot continue to put more cars on our already overburdened road system by merely throwing more asphalt on the ground...” Floyd believes a study of roadways throughout the county must be done. The study would identify areas that need improvement. Affordable housing is also an issue Floyd wants to address. He blames developers for rising home costs. ‘‘Look at the builders here, none are from Frederick County,” Floyd said in an interview Wednesday. ‘‘They’ve tapped out where they’re currently building and looking to build elsewhere. We’ve got a problem and growth is the name.” Floyd uses the now famous phrase from the movie ‘‘Field of Dreams” to describe Frederick County, ‘‘If you build it they will come.” Floyd is retired from IBM and Lockheed Martin and now works part-time at the Frederick County Family YMCA. He is a 1959 graduate of Frederick High School. He and his wife, Virginia, live in Jefferson. They have two sons and three grandchildren. |
| From the FREDERICK NEWS POST: Floyd's vote on growth conditional, based on traffic, schools and trash http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=48588 Tuesday, May 2, 2006 by Cliff Cumber FREDERICK -- Former planning commission chairman Richard Floyd said that if he is elected as a Frederick County commissioner, he will not vote for growth until the completion of a deeply comprehensive traffic study. Nor will the Democrat vote for growth unless existing schools are improved to the standards of new ones; or until a solution is found for trash and a bulging landfill; and he won't vote for growth unless the county is active in mitigating the region's failure under the Clean Air Act. "We have to decide somewhere along the way what is most important," Mr. Floyd, 65, said following the announcement of his candidacy Monday at the C. Burr Artz Library in downtown Frederick. Growth has become central in this year's race for the county board. Controversy is growing over the New Market regional plan's projected 14,000 homes over the next 15 years, and in response to a majority vote of commissioners to allow a private developer, in return for $65 million in school construction dollars, to circumvent the county's schools capacity test and build 4,000 new homes in Linganore. In his campaign literature Mr. Floyd, a twice-former chairman of the Frederick County Planning Commission, says he is the alternative to the "growth machine." "I am deeply concerned about the kind of county we are going to leave for our children and grandchildren," he said. All the county's challenges boil down to one issue, he said: quality of life. Mr. Floyd's candidacy brought out some notable slow-growth supporters -- former Commissioners President David Gray and Commissioner Jan Gardner both introduced Mr. Floyd. "We're looking to introduce county commissioners who think a little bit more like you and a little bit more like me," Ms. Gardner said. "And are kindred spirits." At the end of his announcement, Mr. Floyd played the theme song for his campaign. Its first words: "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot." With his announcement and that of Republican Charles Jenkins earlier in the day, Mr. Floyd's candidacy became in part a redux of the 2002 campaign. Both men ran and lost in that race. Ms. Gardner, who has yet to announce her own intentions, said she would actively work for Mr. Floyd's candidacy. "I wish him well," she said. "I do intend to support his campaign. I will actively work on his campaign. We need people like Dick Floyd." Mr. Floyd is a retired environmental safety and health engineer for Lockheed Martin. He lives in Jefferson. Mr. Floyd is the fifth candidate to announce. Incumbents Mike Cady and John Lovell, Republicans, are running for re-election. Kai Hagen, a Democrat, has also announced. |
Below is a link to a related 2002 articles from the GAZETTE:
County teachers announce endorsements
http://gazette.net/gazette_archive/2002/200231/weekend/a_section/115671-1.html
August 2, 2006
Charles Jenkins
This morning, on the steps of Winchester Hall, Charles Jenkins announced his intention to run for the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners again. There were six or seven people there, beside Liam Farrell (News Post reporter). Charles spoke for just a few minutes, making brief points about being a strong supporter of property rights, being against government regulation of our private lives, and being opposed to high taxes.
He then made a few references to Reagan, and/or himself as a Reagan Republican, referring to the "shining city on a hill" quote and noting that, as Reagan said about the county, it is dawn in Frederick County.
| From the GAZETTE: Jenkins takes another stab at commissioner http://www.gazette.net/stories/050406/fredcou192904_31944.shtml Thursday, May 4, 2006 by Sherry Greenfield Staff Writer In 2002, Charles Jenkins lost a seat on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners by 2,067 votes. Jenkins finished sixth out of 10 candidates in his first try for county office. With that campaign experience under his belt, the 43-year-old Republican is hopeful this year his bid for commissioner will land him in the top five. ‘‘This is my second time running and it should be easier than the first time,” Jenkins said this week. ‘‘I didn’t know much then. With experience comes wisdom.” Jenkins, who filed Monday to run for one of the five at-large seats, said sixth place was pretty good for his first attempt. Jenkins said he’s running in this fall’s election because of his love for Frederick County. ‘‘We enjoy a terrific quality of life, and I want to ensure it stays that way for all its citizens, current and future,” he said. ‘‘Our schools are first rate, unemployment is low, and people want to live here ...” Jenkins thinks the county could do better to ensure its quality of life remains first rate. ‘‘The sky is not falling on Frederick County, but we do have issues to address,” he said. ‘‘Our transportation system has not kept up with growth and has been ignored by county and state leaders for too long. Our taxes are too high and are a burden for many, especially for the elderly on fixed incomes with limited opportunities for additional income. We can and we must do better.” Much like the 2002 campaign, Jenkins is disheartened with how the current commissioners are leading the county. He is frustrated with the commissioners’ failure to address a projected $26 million operating budget deficit for fiscal 2008. ‘‘That is an absolute travesty given the additional revenue people are paying in property taxes,” he said. ‘‘People are paying attention and [commissioners] are not being good stewards of the revenue.” A resident of Frederick, Jenkins is a real estate agent with Re⁄Max 100. As a local realtor, Jenkins can expect plenty of input from Frederick County Association of Realtors. ‘‘We definitely will support him,” said Mary McLaughlin, liaison to the association’s legislative committee. ‘‘We have a large legislative committee that goes over all the latest laws and questions them.” Jenkins has a bachelor’s degree in Russian from James Madison University and served in the U.S. Navy. He and wife Delly have two children. |
And here is an article covering Jenkins' campaign four years ago:
| From the FREDERICK NEWS POST: Jenkins wants more growth July, 2002 by Sean Barry Charles Jenkins says the local economy has waned as the Frederick County Commissioners have slowed growth, while at the same time, Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. has accelerated his offensive rhetoric against developers. The current commissioners say they've had to curb growth because development approved by their predecessors outpaced infrastructure, such as schools, roads and water supplies. Mr. Jenkins, a Republican candidate for commissioner, said there's likely "some middle ground" on development issues. But Mr. Thompson has been too antagonistic, said Mr. Jenkins, a salesman for Ausherman Homes. "Civility" in government is a major part of Mr. Jenkins' platform, emphasized in his campaign literature. The theme is largely a jab at Mr. Thompson, who's up for re-election. Mr. Thompson's literature calls developers "avaricious," or greedy, and faults developers' "arrogant lawyers and paid lobbyists." Mr. Thompson says he puts the needs of existing residents above the interests of developers, but Mr. Jenkins says Mr. Thompson is unfair to people who want to move to the county. "I think it's the height of arrogance to tell people they aren't welcome here," Mr. Jenkins said. Mr. Jenkins, 39, isn't the only candidate critical of Mr. Thompson's style, but he's confronted it more directly than others. Mr. Jenkins' own choice of words, however, has publicly come under fire from Mr. Thompson at candidate forums. In order to pay off its debt, Mr. Jenkins said, the county needs a steady stream of new homes to get revenue from builders' impact fees and taxes from the new residents. Mr. Thompson has fought the county's debt-financing of infrastructure, precisely because it relies on growth to pay the bill. Mr. Jenkins didn't think his job in the housing industry would create conflicts of interest if he were a commissioner. "Most (issues regarding) where houses are going to be built are decided by the planning commission" instead of the commissioners, he said. Mr. Jenkins said the current commissioners have raised taxes too much. He said they "have been too quick to say yes to funding requests and have not adequately prioritized our needs." He had no immediate plans for budget cutbacks. He supports offering financial incentives to lure high-technology businesses to the county, broadening the tax base. He said the Board of Education is adequately funded by the commissioners, and the school board's spending practices should be scrutinized more. He insisted teachers must be "adequately" paid. Like several other candidates, he isn't too concerned about projected county budget deficits. He notes the projections are largely based on estimates of future revenue streams -- and in one sense, they're actually estimates on top of estimates. Mr. Jenkins is a native of Norfolk, Va., who has called Frederick County home for three years. He lives Winding Ridge, between Frederick and New Market, with his wife, Delly, and their two young children. Making his first run for elected office, Mr. Jenkins holds a bachelor's degree in Russian from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., and has served in the Navy. According to Mr. Jenkins, building more homes and attracting businesses to the area will broaden the tax base, lower home costs and increase job availability. More than 7,000 jobs are "directly related" to the area's real estate industry, according to Mr. Jenkins. "As the nation's economy surged during the past decade with unprecedented job growth, Frederick County as well as other Maryland counties grew in response," Mr. Jenkins said. To the extent the county's infrastructure became overburdened, poor planning, not growth itself, was chiefly to blame, Mr. Jenkins said. He tends to favor a new approach, known as concurrency, for expanding infrastructure. He said it would lead to more efficient development. In general, concurrency calls for infrastructure to be built simultaneously with development. What the county requires now is more advance-built infrastructure. Mr. Jenkins opposes changing the form of county government to code home rule -- a measure to be decided by county voters. He said code home rule would take away important state checks on county power. |
Below are links to a few other related 2002 articles from the GAZETTE:
Jenkins to run for county commissioner
http://gazette.net/gazette_archive/2002/200228/urbana/news/112534-1.html
July 11, 2002
Frederick candidates' coffers heavy with developer money
http://gazette.net/gazette_archive/2002/200236/weekend/a_section/120698-1.html
September 6, 2002
Growth's effect on area priority for candidates
http://gazette.net/gazette_archive/2002/200244/newmarket/news/129033-1.html
October 31, 2002
Return to the BLOG home page.
If you have any questions, please email them to me. If you'd like to receive each blog entry by email, send an email (even a blank one) with "Blog" as the subject line.
WHY I'M VOTING FOR KAI!
Meg Egan Auderset
Frederick
Anyone who's read Kai's columns in the Gazette, the Frederick News-Post and elsewhere knows he's good at expressing on paper his commitment to the environment and to the future of Frederick County. But Kai's reality is so much more than writing what he believes (although he does that well) -- Kai LIVES his commitments, and that's a big reason why I support him and why I'll vote for him to join the Frederick County Board of Commissioners. Kai is...
More >>