I intend to ask the voters for another term as county commissioner. My opportunity to serve thus far has been an honor and a privilege. I am grateful for that opportunity and will remain so whatever the outcome this time around.

As was the case in 1998 and 2002, the broad theme of my campaign will be to place the well-being of our existing residents, school children & taxpayers above the financial interests of land developers, real estate speculators and their entourage of lawyers and paid lobbyists. I will continue to resist the developers in their effort to bulldoze and pave the County from the Mouth of the Monocacy to the Mason-Dixon Line.

My positions on the issues include:

Traffic Congestion: Our network of state, federal and interstate highways in and around the City of Frederick and elsewhere simply cannot handle any more traffic. There is no relief in sight, other than more endless studies. We need to recognize these facts and make land use decisions accordingly. We need to include all of these roads in our Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance ("APFO") testing. At present we allow development to proceed even if roads are already congested. We need to prevent development from proceeding at a much earlier stage if roads are congested. I've have proposals to implement these changes to the roads APFO but there is not a majority willing to adopt them.

Lobbying Reform: We need to require lobbyists to disclose the amount of money that changes hands in the course of influencing county officials. My Lobbying Reform proposal is on the web at:

http://www.co.frederick.md.us/BOCC/LobbyingReform2004.pdf

Campaign Finance Reform: County Commissioners should not solicit or accept political campaign contributions from those having pending business, particularly developers with pending rezoning applications. My proposed Frederick County Public Ethics Reform Act is on the web at:

http://co.frederick.md.us/BOCC/ProposedFrederickCountyPublicEthicsReformAct.pdf

Disclosure of ex parte communications. - County Commissioners should disclose any ex parte communications and private meetings they have with those having pending business, particularly developers with pending rezoning applications. My proposed Frederick County Public Ethics Reform Act also addresses this issue.

Affordable Housing: I support extending the provisions of the County's Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit Program ("MPDU") to constitutionally permissible limits. MPDUs have been ineffective because all of the proposed developments "in the pipeline" at the time of the enactment of the program were granted an exemption. Our corporate welfare policies are helping to drive up the price of housing. We provide business prospects with tax breaks, subsidies, loans, grants, etc. to encourage them to come here, ostensibly to bring "high paying" jobs. When those high paying jobs arrive, they bid up the price of housing.

Spending: County spending is out of control, primarily because growth is out of control. If present trends continue, we will leave the next board with a $40 million deficit in FY 2008. Everything the public has come to fear about wild, big spending politicians seems to be coming true. The well-intentioned special interest groups will always present an infinite number of well deserving and meritorious potential uses of taxpayer dollars. Since, unlike the federal government, we do not have access to a printing press, we have to pay for new spending programs with taxpayer dollars. If we continue to acquiesce in the requests from the special interest groups for more spending programs, we won't need the programs because no one will be able to live here and pay the taxes. We need to practice smaller government, not just preach it.

Corporate Welfare: Real economic growth is the result of risk taking and entrepreneurship, not government giveaways. While our present system of relatively free enterprise is not perfect, it does a far better job of allocating business capital than do politicians and lobbyists via backroom deals. We need to offer business prospects a handshake, not a handout. Few things are more outrageous and hypocritical than for our elected officials to publicly lament the lack of school construction and renovation money coming from the state government while privately encouraging the state government to spend money for the benefit of private business entities. Corporate welfare benefits usually go to foreign business entities that pay far less in income taxes than do Frederick County businesses that are not on the dole. We should abolish the County's Department of Economic Development. We should get the County government out of the business of providing loans, grants, tax breaks and subsidies to out-of-state, multinational, foreign private business entities whose top executives pay themselves millions of dollars a year in salaries, bonuses, stock options, deferred compensation and golden parachutes. A recent example is the diversion of school impact fees to the renovation of Harry Grove stadium for the benefit of the Comcast Corporation. While there is no longer serious debate over the need for a social safety net, there remains considerable debate over the net's appropriate height and width. I do not believe the net should be so high and wide as to accommodate foreign private business entities.

Property Taxes: We need to hold the line on real property taxes. We are becoming overly dependent on taxes on real property, a direct descendant of the tenurial obligations of medieval times. In those days, land was the primary form and source of wealth. That is no longer the case. Today, most wealth is in the form of personal and intellectual property, which is not subject to taxation. There is little or no relationship between the amounts of property taxes you pay and the amount of government services you consume. I favor keeping the real property tax rate at the constant yield rate, a level no higher than necessary to produce the same amount of revenue as the previous year but no higher. We adopted the constant yield rate for fiscal year 2007.

Fees for Services: In order to hold the line on real property taxes, we will need to consider charging some amount for the services we provide (other than public education, which is constitutionally and statutorily required to be free). As an example, we spend a great deal to provide roads and parking facilities in our county parks. I see nothing wrong with asking motorists who use these amenities to pay some (not all) of the cost to provide and maintain these facilities.

Solid Waste: We need to implement market-oriented policies to help deal with the County's growing solid waste problems. My proposed Solid Waste Policy Initiatives are on the web at: http://co.frederick.md.us/BOCC/SolidWastePolictInitiatives.pdf

Environmental Protection: I have proposed changes to the county's Forest Resource Ordinance ("FRO") that would make our county a leader, not a bottom feeder, in protecting our forests from the sprawl of encroaching developers. My proposal is on the web at: http://co.frederick.md.us/BOCC/FRO2006.pdf

Land Preservation: Our land preservation efforts represent money well spent. It is cheaper for us to preserve farmland via easement purchases than it is to allow farmland to wind up in the hands of developers.

Campaign Contributions: As in my previous campaigns, I will not solicit or accept campaign contributions from developers, their lawyers or lobbyists. I will accept contributions from ordinary folks who have a vested interest in quality of life issues. As in the 1998 and 2002 elections, the amount of money spent does not necessarily equate into votes and I hope that holds true again.

I am much obliged to the voters for the honor and privilege of serving during the past four years and I will remain so no matter what happens this time around.

Lennie