County Election Profiles
The Sentinel Newspapers
Published on: Thursday, October 28, 2010, By Paige L. Hill

Montgomery County Executive: “According to the Maryland Elections Center, Leggett has reportedly raised about $791,700 in campaign finances”

Montgomery County Council:
Marc Elrich: $140,600 in campaign funds
Hans Riemer: $203,900 in campaign funds
Nancy Floreen: $274,900 in campaign funds
George Leventhal $309,750 in campaign funds

** Note: These are not the final numbers. The final campaign contribution numbers for Montgomery County are higher

Here are the final numbers for campaign contributions for the Frederick County BOCC race in 2006 (The 2010 BOCC campaign numbers do not appear to be posted on the County’s website).

President of the BOCC: Jan H. Gardner (D): $28,434

Commissioners:
Kai John Hagen (D): $45,423
Charles A. Jenkins (R): $41,836
John L. Lennie Thompson, Jr. (R): $11,883
David Gray (R): $5,911

It is amazing to me that some want us to become “little Montgomery County”. How would an average citizen who is interested in representing their community go about raising $800,000 for a local race? It seems to me that only professional politicians with monied interests backing them can raise large sums of cash. Maybe that is why “pay to play” no longer shocks us.

Oops… they are talking about the ballot question and not the “Big Charter”.

Charter question heads to November
Officials note desire to keep language ‘as simple as possible’
Originally published August 22, 2012

“The future of Frederick County’s government will hinge on how voters answer a simple, 18-word question come November.
“Do you approve the adoption of the Charter of Frederick County proposed by the Frederick County Charter Board?”"

The comments are interesting…

August 22, 2012 @ 06:59 AM: dvspark
We are getting a taste of charter government with the current BOCC. Backroom deals, no checks and balances, no regard for public comment. Just look at the corruption this form of government has caused for PG and Montgomery County.

August 22, 2012 @ 09:43 AM: jacklynch2005
Not about a BOCC and land issues…what a County Executive creates, is an expensive campaign, political position, which will be fed generously by development interests, and which will, in turn, feed them well! And they’ll both eat our lunch, in taxes, in costs, in infrastructure….

August 22, 2012 @ 01:33 PM: El
I plan to vote against this charter because the council is too weak relative to the executive. Furthermore, the compensation for the council members is far too low. That will limit the sorts of people who will be able to serve on the council. (I understand that this was intended as a feature; but I see it as a bug.)

This got me thinking… I wonder how much it costs to buy an election?

Video — Derrick Leon Davis: “Council Courtesy” on the Prince George’s County Council
Uploaded by KojoNnamdiShow885

“… they call that “council courtesy” and honestly when we look at Prince George’s County and in my experience, it has become one of the things that we have to take a serious look at from the perspective of how we want Prince George’s County to look in the future. We tend to become NIMBY and parochial as opposed to holistic in our approach to what Prince George’s will be…“

So, “voting districts” are causing the same issues in PG County? I wonder who will benefit if the “Big Charter” passes and we get voting districts in Frederick County?

Pax Riverkeeper: Comprehensive Rezoning
As the council works its way through dozens of rezoning requests, Riverkeeper Fred Tutman asks whose interests are being served.
By Mitchelle Stephenson

“Surprisingly few of these “upzoning” petitions have been denied by the council, and the overwhelming majority of them have issued from politically empowered and well-connected applicants. These are generally approved under the informal doctrine of “councilmanic courtesy,” where an elected official in any district whole-heartedly endorses zoning proposals from a colleague’s district because of the desire to receive reciprocity when it is their turn to rezone.”

Here’s an idea that never gets old… chop up Frederick County into “voting districts”, each with their own parochial interests and let the citizens fend for themselves.