Hagen takes aim at Young

Originally posted in Gazette, Thursday, July. 29, 2010
by Sherry Greenfield
http://www.gazette.net/stories/07292010/frednew154351_32542.php

Democratic commissioner accuses Republican candidates of banding together to overturn Frederick County growth plan

Frederick County Commissioner Kai J. Hagen is taking aim at his one of his board colleagues, Blaine R. Young, branding him as a candidate intent on developing almost every inch of land in the county.

Hagen (D), who is running for re-election in the Sept. 14 primary, contends that Young (R) is leading a group of other pro-growth Republican candidates with the same objective.

“This isn’t a battle between two slates, but voters are going to be presented a choice from two dramatically different groups of candidates,” Hagen said in an interview. “Blaine’s group is all Republicans that are all pro-growth and pro-development. Their public commentary and actions make that abundantly clear, that they would represent a massive swing to the special-interest groups and developers that want to have their way with the county. … I think there are a lot of people and followers of Blaine Young that think he is someone that is going to ride in on his white horse and fix a county, that, if you hear him, is falling apart.”

Hagen said Frederick County is already a good mix of business, homes and farmland.

He also points to Republican candidate Kirby Delauter, owner of W.F. Delauter and Son Inc., a development and construction business in Emmitsburg, and said Delauter and Young are holding campaign events together to garner support.

Hagen said Young’s objective is to get himself and at least two other Republicans elected to the board to undo the county’s newly adopted comprehensive plan, a blueprint of growth for the next 20 years — a move he worries about.

“I couldn’t be more concerned,” he said. “I am extremely concerned. Disappointment doesn’t even begin to describe how I would feel if they [overturned the plan and changed] the direction of the county.”

Young said Hagen’s assertions are overblown and not true.

“This is Kai’s paranoia,” he said. “I’ve been around elections my entire life, and there is always a Republican side and Democratic side. I know Kirby Delauter, and he is a friend of mine. He’s a first-class guy. … Kai needs to stop worrying about everyone else and worry about himself.”

Young said he has attended several house parties with Delauter and other Republican candidates, and stood alongside Delauter and Billy Shreve when they both announced their candidacies for commissioner at a Republican rally earlier this month at Barley and Hops Grill & Microbrewery on Md. Route 355.

And Delauter, along with several other Republican candidates, attended a Young fundraiser on Sunday.

But Young insists he is busy with his own campaign, and is not leading a group of pro-growth Republicans.

“I am not trying to influence the primary,” he said. “I’m running my own campaign. My race is not a slam dunk. I’m scared. I’ve got my own problems. Obviously, I am being pinned as a pro-growth candidate at any cost. That’s not true. I want Frederick County to be a place where folks can raise a family, work here and retire here. But I have not made any promises to any voters and if anyone says that, they are a liar.”

Young said the only candidate he is helping is his brother, Brad, who is running for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Education.

Delauter, too, insists he is running his own campaign.

“These are my own ideas,” he said. “I’ve done business with Blaine, but we all have our own ideas. There is not a Republican ticket and it’s not a pro-growth ticket.”

But Hagen’s concerns about the fate of the comprehensive plan could be warranted.

Young is critical of the commissioners’ decision to rezone in the plan 600 to 700 properties from development to agriculture. If elected, this is an area of the plan he would revisit, Young said.

“I will not advocate opening up the entire comprehensive plan to expand growth, except the down-zoning,” he said. “There would be an opportunity to get that [residential or commercial] zoning back.”

Delauter and Republican commissioner candidate Richard M. Johnson, a longtime commercial builder, both said they had “problems” with the down-zoning.

E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.