Frederick County Charter Government : A Time of Celebration or Crisis?

by Patrick Allen ... patrickwilliamallen@comcast.net

In a year when Frederick County, Maryland should be celebrating the historic migration from Commissioner to
Charter form of government, the celebration may be overshadowed as the county struggles to legitimize serious
weaknesses in its new governing Charter.

At issue is the language contained in the document written by the Charter Writing Board and approved by the
voters in November, 2012 which defines the process for filling a vacancy by an Executive and / or County Council
member:

Filling Vacancies : The Frederick County, Maryland, Charter document provides limited-to-no
process and procedural steps regarding filling vacancies ahead of term expiration for the County
Executive and / or County Council members.

Written correspondence with Maryland State political party officials reveal the Republican and
Democratic State parties function as IRS Code 527, non-profit organizations. All Maryland County
Central Committees function as subordinate organizations to their Maryland State political party
parents, obligated by law to also operate within IRS Code 527, non-profit guidelines and directives.

The following partial transcript of written correspondence is provided for review and record.

From John Doe : [11/5/2012] Frederick County, Maryland, has a ballot question regarding Frederick
County moving from a Commissioner form of government to a Charter form of government. In the
Charter document, it is stipulated that if the County Executive leaves office (for any reason) prior to
completing their term, the Central Committee of the presiding political party will be tasked with
selecting a replacement County Executive.

In other words, if the County Executive is a Democrat, then the Frederick County State Democratic
Central Committee would select the new County Executive.

Question : Does the Maryland Democratic Party bylaws, constitution and / or charter for Democratic
Central Committees in the State of Maryland provide for a Democratic Central Committee to act as
an adjunct component of County Government?

Response By State Dem Compliance Officer : [11/5/2012] It is not part of the State Party by-laws.


To fully understand the importance and impact of inaugurating a conceptually flawed form of government can be
best understood by outlining a possible, if not probable, scenario which looks more and more like it may become a
reality during the 2014 Frederick County Charter Government County Executive election cycle.

Frederick County Executive General Election Candidates. With no Independent (Unaffiliated) candidates, the
field of choices is limited to the following Democratic and Republican challengers:

Jan Gardner. Mrs. Gardner is a former President of Frederick Countys Board of County
Commissioners, preceding Blaine Young in that position. Following her departure from county
government in 2010, she worked for a while as Senator Barbara Mikulskis Maryland State Director.

Blaine Young. Mr. Young, who rose through the ranks of the local Democratic Party, eventually
holding the Chair position of the Frederick County State Democratic Central Committee, jumped ship
on the Democrats and took control of the local Republican Party without holding a formal position on
their Central Committee. He politically advanced from Frederick City Alderman to Frederick Countys
chief executive in 2010. He is also the co-owner of the Yellow Cab Company and for a time, hosted
his own radio show on a local AM radio station.

Jan Gardner is unopposed in the June 24, 2014 Democratic Primary for County Executive, while Mr. Young faces a
challenge from other Republicans, but remains the odds-on favorite to emerge victorious in the Republican Primary.

Regardless of your political affiliation, circumstances evolving in Frederick County will have a direct impact on the
legitimacy of specific Charter Government document language and the legal effectiveness of that language to
support Frederick County governance during a time of crisis.

Blaine Young has been on the radar screen of investigative agencies for some time, but a clear indication that
there is some meat on this bone surfaced in an official notification from the Maryland State Board of Elections
(SBE) on October 1, 2013 that Mr. Youngs campaign finance irregularities (code for felony perjury) were and are
being reviewed and investigated.


The SBE determined questionable, if not illegal,
entries in Mr. Youngs 2012 campaign financial
report, but needed to wait until his campaigns
2013 Annual campaign financial report
submission to conduct a comparison of the two
reports.

In the January 14, 2014 Frederick News-Post,
Mr. Young stated that Patrick Allen was a
disgruntled employee running a smear campaign
against Mr. Young, having been fired for
unsatisfactory performance.

On April 21, 2014, less than three months later,
Mr. Young wrote an online blog in which he
stated that Patrick Allen never worked for him.

So, in the span of three months, Mr. Young has
changed his story 180 degrees in an effort to
cover his tracks regarding his campaign financial
reporting documents. This strategy may also be exposing his campaign treasurer to criminal charges given that the
Treasurer of Record for Mr. Youngs campaign activities is equally responsible for filing a falsified campaign
financial report.

Mr. Young lies to campaign treasurer campaign treasurer constructs falsified campaign financial report
campaign treasurer files campaign finance report with the State Board of Elections Mr. Young throws campaign
treasurer under the bus.

Based on common sense, it is logical to conclude that during 1Q2014 Mr. Young either found out that he was under
investigation, or had been interviewed by investigators and was constructing a new version of the facts.

Unfortunately for Mr. Young his statements to the public and investigators do not comport with facts contained
within the investigation files.

Charter Government Crisis. There is a very real possibility / probability that Blaine Young will be indicted prior to
the Primary election on June 24, 2014, during the 2014 General election cycle or shortly thereafter.

Mr. Youngs best, if not only, move is to plead guilty of the perjury charge(s) relating to the falsification of campaign
financial reporting in exchange for immunity from prosecution for his campaign treasurer as a result of his lies and
criminal misconduct.

The conundrum for Mr. Young is that when he is indicted then prosecuted or pleads out he will have a felony
conviction on his record which will legally remove any opportunity for him to hold the office of County Executive in
Frederick Countys new and sovereign form of Charter government.

Mr. Youngs political career will be ended, unless he decides to move to West Virginia and share a room with Alex
Mooney.

The Blaine Young Strategy. While Mr. Young will publicly denounce the existence of any investigation which
might result in a possible, if not probable, indictment, he will, at the same time, be constructing a plan for his posse
to hold on to control of Frederick County government.

The strategy, relying on flawed Charter Government language, is to postpone any plea agreement until after the
November, 2014 election, should Mr. Young win over Jan Gardner, so that the Frederick County Republican
Central Committee can choose his replacement, ensuring Republican control at the County Executive position.

From a political strategists perspective, Mr. Youngs strategy looks good on paper, but does not survive the
scrutiny of practical application.

It is important to note that political Party Central Committees, based on their own bylaws, have no voice in this
matter, which presents a premium on which candidates are elected to Frederick Countys new Charter government
County Council.

Mr. Young has limited-to-no options regarding his inevitable future, but he can limit the damage by cutting a deal
which provides his political campaign treasurer with immunity from prosecution.

For Mr. Youngs posse of supporters this cannot be good news. They have poured thousands of dollars into his
Im not sure what Im running for campaign coffers and now they have to grapple with the fact that they have
been lied to all along. Welcome to the Young brand of politics.

Summary. These are serious times for Frederick County, Maryland and migrating from Commissioner to Charter
form of government is not something to be taken lightly. The pulse of the community is that business as usual, the
good ole boy network and a family dynasty form of governance is not good enough.

The pulse of the community is palpable and correct.

To save taxpayer dollars and keep the media circus to a minimum, Mr. Young should accept the felony plea deal.

To nullify the aforementioned strategy, the deal must be accepted prior to the November 2014 General election
date.

To prevent a partisan based election engineering crisis such as the one facing the new Charter government as its
first order of business, the language in the Charter should be modified to ensure that vacancies at the County
Executive level are resolved via special election process with all political parties invited to offer a candidate for
consideration by the voters.

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