Kai Hagen for Frederick County Commissioner

Candidate Questionnaire: League of Women Voters

Please give a 50-word response to the following questions. We will cut your statement at the end of 50 words as counted by our software. You do not have to retype the entire question; simply indicate the question you are responding to by the “key word” in bold letters. Your answers will be printed as submitted with no corrections to spelling or grammar. We reserve the right to make stylistic changes (bolding, capital letters, italics) to conform to our style sheet.

All questions, responses, and photographs will be included in online Voters’ Guide on local, state and national League sites (http://frederick.lwvmd.org, www.LWVMD.org or www.Vote411.org). The Frederick News-Post will publish the General Election Voters’ Guide.

Primary Election questions (50 words)

1. Qualifications: What are your qualifications for this office?

My experience and record as commissioner, working for citizens and our community, not developers and other special interests. Transparent, Informed. Accessible. Engaged. Dedicated. Count on me to bring a balanced, thoughtful and integrated approach to important and complicated issues that affect our quality of life, in challenging and changing times.

2. Priorities: What do you think are the three most important issues facing Frederick County and how would you address them?

Four: Budgets and fiscal management. Growth management and transportation. Education. Waste management. I’ll continue to put people first. Good policy requires the right priorities and process: thoughtful and sound budgeting without increasing taxes; smart and efficient growth; and valuing and maintaining educational excellence. Stop the extremely expensive and risky incinerator.

3. Revenues: How would you address the County’s declining revenues? Be specific.

As I have done: Reduce spending. Don’t raise taxes. Emphasize well-planned, revenue-producing, employment-generating business growth, not faster residential growth or costly greenfield sprawl. Strong support for Office of Economic Development and FITCI. Create effective incentives for mixed-use re-development where infrastructure exists. Advocate restoration of state cuts.

4. Growth: What type of development and rate of growth in Frederick County do you support?

The new Comprehensive Plan provides an outstanding roadmap, responsibly accommodating population projections for the next two decades. Faster residential growth won’t lower taxes, decrease traffic or improve services. Growth is now carefully planned for the right places…if we don’t go back to government by the developers, for the developers.

5. Transportation: What is the role of county government in correcting road infrastructure?

We’ll never catch up without continued good planning and smart growth. We can’t afford to return to rapid and poorly-planned residential growth. And we must maintain strong advocacy to make progress on the list of high-priority but very expensive widening and interchange projects on state and federal roads.

General Election questions (50 words)

1. Qualifications: What are your qualifications for this office?

2. Priorities: What do you think are the three most important issues facing Frederick County and how would you address them?

3. Funding priorities: What are your funding priorities from the most important to the least important?

We’ll certainly have to continue to make significant spending reductions throughout county government. A rough and generalized priority funding list includes: education; public safety (law enforcement, 911, fire and ambulance); economic development; transportation (road and bridge maintenance); solid waste management, water, and sewer; citizen services, parks, libraries, animal control…

4. Economic Development: What measures are needed to promote economic development in Frederick County?

Continue to support the Office of Economic Development, FITCI (our business incubator), and the small business revolving loan fund. Support existing businesses. Fast track priority projects through development review process. Bottom line: businesses that can choose, choose safe, attractive, communities with good schools and a high quality of life.