I do not know Evan Slaughenhoupt, president of DACCA, and he clearly does not know me, nor the record I have established in 16 years of public service. If he did, he would not be making the unsupported, completely erroneous characterizations of my position on growth that he has set forth on this website. I hope that the following information, completely supported by the public record of my terms in office, will help to enlighten him and any readers who may have been fooled by his intentionally misleading assertions.
I do not support uncontrolled growth. In 1987, as a member of the Calvert Board of County Commissioners, I was the decisive vote in adopting the first Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, which passed 3-2. I enthusiastically endorse the new Comprehensive Plan, including its growth limits.
I support and have worked to implement the Town Center concept, and consistently have upheld the distinctions between Major and Minor Town Centers. In my first term as Commissioner I supported the adoption of transferable development rights, which have been crucial to preserving open space and supporting agriculture.
In my second term I supported doubling our open space preservation goal to 40,000 acres, and the mandatory preservation of 80 % of all acreage developed outside the Town Centers. I supported the funding necessary to make the PAR fund, a growth reduction tool that purchases and retires development rights, a practical reality, and the sound fiscal management that made that funding possible.
During my 8 years as Mayor of North Beach, property tax rates have been reduced twice and future rate reductions are possible because of the revitalization which has occurred in town, a Major Town Center.
This is not campaign rhetoric. This is fact, in the public record. You can look it up. So could Mr. Slaughenhoupt, if by chance he is interested in the truth.
I do not know why he is unaware of the record but I do think it is important for one who takes such public positions on behalf of a citizens association to inform himself of the facts before speaking out.
I am hopeful that the board of directors of the Dunkirk Area Concerned Citizens Association has not become a political tool working on behalf of a “hand-picked” candidate or candidates.
In Mr. Slaughenhoupt’s, letter, he states “this election is a battle for control of Calvert County” and lists 5 commissioner candidates he claims will control growth and preserve Calvert’s rural character.
I am also hopeful that this does not constitute an endorsement of these candidates since that would clearly be in violation of DACCA’s stated mission of not endorsing candidates for public office.
For those readers interested in making up their own minds about their choices for commissioner, the responses of candidates to DACCA’s exhaustive questionnaire can be found on their website as well as other locations.
Mr. Slaughenhoupt should rise above his obsession with C.A.R.L. and take time to review them.
– Mark R. Frazer, Mayor Town of North Beach