Hagen enters race for county commissioner
GazetteThursday, Jan. 26, 2006
by Sherry Greenfield
Staff Writer
Kai Hagen believes a majority of the Frederick County commissioners have ignored or opposed efforts to pass an ethics ordinance, reform lobbying regulations and educate residents on the county’s growth policies.
Hoping to change the direction of county government and its approach to growth, the 47-year-old Hagen announced Tuesday that he is running for county commissioner in this year’s election.
Since 2003, Hagen has written a regular column for The Gazette, a position he resigned from Tuesday after announcing his intention to run for county commissioner.
‘‘I’m running because I love Frederick County,” Hagen said. ‘‘We are at a crossroads, we can do better and I know I can help make that happen.”
Hagen, who lives outside Thurmont, is dissatisfied with how the current board is leading the county. With the steady stream of growth in the last decade, the county has failed in its attempt to deal with many of the negative affects brought on by new development, Hagen said.
He feels the county must better address crowded schools, traffic congestion, affordable housing, lack of available parkland and vibrant neighborhoods and communities.
‘‘They’re almost all connected, and part of the problem has been the way we deal with them as if they are not,” he said.
Hagen is the first Democrat and third candidate to announce an intention to run for county commissioner. Michael L. Cady (R) and John R. Lovell Jr. (R) announced earlier that they are seeking re-election.
‘‘I’ve worked on a lot of political campaigns and in all of them I never planned on running myself,” he said. ‘‘But the last 10 years I’ve been involved in a number of committees and written columns. Other people would bring up that I should run and have said ‘I’d vote for you.’”
Hagen is not new to the political scene.
In 2002, he was appointed to the Citizens Zoning Review Committee, which reviewed the county’s zoning ordinance. Since 2003 he has been a member of the county’s Parks and Recreation Committee. He is the director of the Frederick Regional Action Network.
His involvement in county government makes him a natural candidate for office, said Robert Kresslein, chairman of the Frederick County Democratic Central Committee.
‘‘Kai has been an active participant in the county planning process,” Kresslein said. ‘‘I suspect there will be a number of people involved in the planning process that will come out [file to run] this fall. ...People involved in growth issue tend to have their finger on the pulse of the landscape.”
Hagen is married to Kirsten Waller, head of the Infectious Disease Surveillance section of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. They have two sons, Tor, 14, and Leif, 8.
WHY I'M VOTING FOR KAI!
Kevin Haney
Thurmont
I'm voting for Kai Hagen for Frederick County Commissioner because I absolutely believe he is the best candidate for the job! I've know Kai for a number of years and in that time, I've come to see that he shares my values when it comes to quality of life issues, such as balancing the preservation of open space and farmland with responsible development. He truly understands that the value of our landscape can not be measured only by the money...
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