(4/2022) Many of you may not know me yet. I do not have the biggest name in Frederick County. I’m not an incumbent official. I don’t have my name on any buildings. My family moved here from Baltimore in the 1980s and built a home in Mount Airy so that they could grow a better future for their family. It’s the American dream – it’s the dream of so many of us in Frederick. Hopefully over this campaign we will become more acquainted.

I’m running for County Council At Large because I believe that Frederick County citizens deserve a County Government that works first and foremost for our citizens. I was born and raised in Mount Airy, started a family in Ballenger Creek and now live in Adamstown. I have served on the Frederick County Charter Review Commission, the County Redistricting Commission and as the President of the Frederick County Republican Club.

By trade, I am an evaluator. That involves using data to look at the problems facing a community, organization or project and determining what is working to meet those needs and what is not. I have focused mostly on international projects that seek to protect the human rights of folks abroad and to help them strengthen government institutions so that they can build a better future for their communities.

I have seen true authoritarianism where the fight for rights is at its direst point. I’ve witnessed the deepest marginalization. I am resolute that the struggle for freedom, hope and opportunity is most important here at home – in our communities and our local decisions.

Frederick County is a community with countless blessings. Chief among them are our citizens, families and communities: the men and women of this county who do the working, paying, living and retiring here. Yet, too many Frederick citizens face rising costs, clogged roads and are struggling to raise a family or retire. All this while we have a government that increasingly feels distant.

I intend to return effective conservative governance to Frederick County. Government is at its best when it is limited, efficient and effective. If we use data-based, fiscal responsibility, we can have vibrant communities that put families first, abundant opportunity for business and job growth and a government that’s focused on results that matter to Frederick citizens.

I propose to bring balanced growth to Frederick County where we attract business and investment while planning and building the infrastructure (roads, schools, business) that can ensure that our communities are prepared for a better, healthier future. We must focus on making living in Frederick more affordable, invest in our law enforcement to keep our communities secure, and make sure that Frederick citizen are able to keep more of their own money rather than having taxes get lost in the churn of wasteful spending.

As citizens, we have great power and freedom. This is rare globally and in history. It is for that reason, I believe in the importance of personal responsibility, but these concepts are all linked. In the core of my belief, I know that decisions are best made by citizens within the walls of their own home and not anywhere else. That’s why personal freedoms matter. The government has a role in our communities: it can provide the information, the resources and the infrastructure to help folks make and act on their decisions. But when it comes down to it, rather than trusting the government, I trust you. I trust parents to make decisions for their families. I trust businesses and civil society to innovate and help build their communities.

We’ve seen it again and again that government too has great power. No matter how much politicians try to pass the buck, that power is the most personal and potentially the most impactful at the local level. To quote Winston Churchill, "Where there is great power, there is great responsibility." We need a charter government that works effectively, but one that works for the people, that listens to the people and is responsible to the people. Government should trust citizens to live their lives and not seek to run them.

Frederick is changing. But we have choices about what that change will look like. Standing on the shoulders of tradition while looking forward to future generations, we are inheritors to a legacy not our own. It is due to that commitment to responsible and principled service to Frederick, our citizens and our families that I am running for this office.