Mayoral Candidate

1. Addressing Social Inequities

What economic, educational, or resource access disparities exist in the district(s) you seek to represent? How do these disparities affect residents’ daily lives, and what specific measures would you pursue to address them?

Despite being an affluent and high-functioning City, income and resource disparities in Frederick exist. The City’s west side is among the most diverse and densely populated, with the highest commercial activity, also has census tracks with the highest childhood poverty. Downtown possesses some of the City’s most valuable properties but is also the center of most social service delivery programs, and therefore the most visible chronically unhoused. We are investing in our Housing and Human Services downtown to increase the number of permanent supportive housing units and renovating the Community Table to improve the daily dinner experience for our residents. We have initiated renovations of parks in some of our most underserved areas, an emphasis on addressing historic inequities. Mullinix Park and Hill Street Park are first. I worked closely with the Frederick County to provide a site for west side Library Branch which is now moving through their capital process. We are a partner on the County’s ENOUGH grant to address childhood poverty with a focus on the areas served by Waverly and Hillcrest Elementary Schools. I appointed a reentry coalition to make recommendations on how we better assist justice impacted residents. And our Office of Opportunities and Transformation exists to ensure we are looking at a wide array of issues from childcare to apprenticeships.

2. Healthcare Access and Equity

How would you assess access to healthcare in your district(s)? Are there particular barriers that limit residents’ ability to obtain quality care? What policies or initiatives would you support to promote preventive care, expand health education, and improve health outcomes across all communities?

The biggest barriers to residents obtaining quality care are access to doctors, cost, insurance imitations, and the presence of only a single hospital in our growing community. The City’s commitment in this area is our operation of a medical clinic of those who cannot afford or have limited insurance, and our Federally Qualified Health Center designation. We have developed partnerships with a variety of nonprofit organizations from Frederick Health to the Asian American Center to enhance deliver of services through our center as well as promote training for community health workers and improved access to services. Data Driven Frederick and being a partner on the County’s ENOUGH grant will be critical in shaping service delivery and response looking at the social determinants of health and hopefully reducing adverse childhood experiences.

3. Environmental Concerns

What environmental issues—such as pollution, climate impacts, or loss of green space—are most pressing for Frederick City? What strategies or policies would you advocate to promote environmental sustainability and protect public health?

Stormwater mitigation has been my highest priority since historic flooding in 2018, and projects to address capacity and conveyance are in active construction (Motter Avenue/North Frederick), final engineering (West Patrick Street/Maryvale Ditch), and design (North and South Market Streets). The City has action plans for local government on climate resilience, energy, sustainability, and solid waste. We have a citywide composting program to divert organics from the landfill. My administration created an Urban Forestry Division in our Parks Department to accelerate maintaining and improving our tree canopy. We have adopted some building codes to encourage greater emphasis on LEED equivalent designs. We will need to turn up the volume on these efforts in the next four years, now that we have established the baseline that all our actions have to be viewed through a climate lens.

4. Access to Child Care

Many families in Frederick City face challenges finding affordable, high-quality child care. What role should the City play in addressing these challenges? What steps would you take to improve access and affordability for working families?

My administration initiated a childcare incentive program, allocating city dollars to assist providers in improving their ratings in the state’s EXCELS system. Access to providers in a problem that affects affordability, but providers being able to earn what the work is worth is challenged with they cannot reach high levels in the state credentialing system. It is an innovative partnership with the nonprofit community (Child Care Choices). More recently through the City’s involvement in the Good Jobs, Great Cities program with the National League of Cities and the Biden Administration Department of Labor, we have established the Office of Opportunity and Transformation. Understanding that addressing broader workforce development challenges; housing affordability, transportation, and childcare are three of the biggest obstacles to getting as many people as possible who want to work into the labor pool. Internally we have been exploring property tax credits that could benefit providers, that could increase the supply and help address accessibility. We are also looking at ways the private sector can be incentivized by the city to expand this benefit for their employees.

5. Public Education and the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future

What do you see as the most significant challenges currently facing Frederick City’s public schools? How would you address them as a local elected official? What is your perspective on the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and its impact so far?

Frederick County does a very good job of providing its students with a high-quality education despite not being able to address either system maintenance on older buildings and new construction as quickly as they would like. Their capital program has ensured that when overcrowding is most acute or a building has reached the end of its useful life, they prioritize the plans for replacement. The only obstacle is funding, but I think they balance their budget well. The Blueprint has important aspirations regarding critical early childhood education and career or college readiness, which I support. The only obstacle will be funding but I have been impressed with our systems willingness to move forward as they can. The City has seen new school construction, replacement projects, and in just the last few weeks a groundbreaker for a school replacement/expansion. The City is a priority funding area in the state’s planning framework, and where growth should occur. Maintaining a strong partnership with FCPS is essential and ensuring our growth policies do not overwhelm the system must be a priority.

6. Advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Please share an example of a time you supported or led an effort to advance diversity, equity, or inclusion. What was your approach, what outcomes resulted, and what did you learn from the experience?

With our Board/Council’s support, I created an Office of Equity and Inclusion. We undertook a disparity study to better understand how City dollars flowed to small, women, and minority owned businesses. We’ve seen a net +400 new businesses in my time as Mayor. Invested nearly a half-million dollars directly into helping small, women, and minority owned businesses grow. Our small business reserve program ensures certain purchases by the City must go to certified small businesses, and more than $15 Million from City contracts have been awarded to MWBEs over the last several years, helping over 40 local businesses expand their footprint and create jobs, Internally, we have enhanced training for employees, improved higher practices to expand who we are attracting, and we have seen changes to the City’s workforce over that time that make us a better reflection of the community we serve.

7. Housing Affordability and Neighborhood Change

How are Frederick City residents affected by the availability and cost of housing, including issues related to gentrification or displacement? What policies or programs would you support to expand housing affordability and stability? Do you support implementing a rent stabilization initiative to slow rising costs of rental units in Frederick City?

Housing affordability is a primary concern throughout the City, and not a new challenge. It has been exacerbated by the effects of the pandemic on the economy, interest rates, and the availability of resale housing starting during Trump 1.0 and continuing with the chaotic approach to tariffs and market manipulation in the first seven months of Trump 2.0. A few percentage points of interest rate alone can add or subtract hundreds of dollars to a mortgage payment, and the City cannot influence that. What we can influence are the policies and regulatory environment that may make the cost of owning or building a house more expensive. Improving the value of a house is great when it leads to enhancing generational wealth which we want. The
other side of the coin is gentrification. And it’s a fine line. Specifically, the policy around ADUs needs to be revisited to ensure we have not created a unnecessary parking requirement that inhibits uptake. The City’s MPDU ordinance needs evaluation to ensure the fee in lieu of model is producing the desired effect. Over the last eight years, more than a half dozen larger scale low-income housing tax credits projects have opened creating hundreds of more affordable units. We have used some of our discretionary housing dollars to offer incentives. I look forward to working with the council on further policy review. Both their affordable housing workgroup as well as the City’s collaboration with Frederick County on a housing needs assessment will be crucial in providing the data necessary to make informed decisions. I look forward to exploring all the tools, including rent stabilization, that will be necessary to address a seemingly intractable problem that defies a single grand unified solution.