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Emmitsburg’s town election will be held from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sept. 27 at 22 E. Main St. The seats of Mayor James E. Hoover and Board of Commissioners President Chris Staiger are open.

Mayoral candidates

Name: Donald N. Briggs

Age: 67

Education: Mount St Mary’s University - MA Theology; St John’s College, Annapolis -Santa Fe - MALA Liberal Arts; and, the University of Kentucky - BS Economics and minor Political Science, Business School.

Occupation (if retired, list former occupation): currently primarily real estate appraisal and consulting, MAI designated by Appraisal Institute and licensed Certified General by the State of Maryland. Appraisal Institute national faculty and Maryland Association of Appraisers faculty. Designated by US Green Building Council as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Accredited Professional (LEED AP+)

Number of years living in Emmitsburg: business 16 years, residency nine years in October.

Family information: three children grown and married. Five grandchildren in Emmitsburg, two in Colorado and one in Virginia.

1. What prompted you to run for mayor?

Asked by many to run. Looking at where the town is, what the trend is and where it could be after next three year term.

2. What is the largest problem facing the town in the next four years and how do you plan to go about fixing it?

Encourage and support business growth, building out existing subdivisions, providing more youth activities, working closer with “our partners” - Mount St. Mary’s University, NETC and the Daughters of Charity and curbing the rising crime level.

3. What makes you the best candidate for mayor?

Experience and community involvement. Have appraised property in sixteen states and the District of Columbia. Served on the Community Agency School Service (CASS) Advisory Board, past president of UpCounty Family Center, founder and past president of the NETC Emmitsburg Alliance and former member of the Town of Emmitsburg Planning Commission.

Present service: member of the Emmitsburg town Citizens Advisory Committee, the National Fire Heritage Center board, member and past president of the Emmitsburg Business and Professional Association (EBPA, coach the Mount St. Mary’s Rugby Team (now 12 years), member of the Frederick County Historic Preservation Commission and member and past Chair of the Frederick County Sustainability Commission, trustee on the Maryland Environmental Trust (MET) board and member Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) Climate, Energy and Environmental Policy Committee.

Name: James Hoover

Age: 47

Education: 1964 graduate from Southern High SchoolBaltimore, over 20 years experience as a manager, completed management courses in customers service, project management, human resources, leadership and supervision.

Occupation: Deputy Director Bus Maintenance and Operations Support for the Maryland Transit Administration

Number of years living in Emmitsburg: 16

Family information (including names, ages and if children/grandchildren attend Frederick County Public Schools): Married to Diana Hoover for 28 years with four kids; Amanda - 26, Brian - 23, Elizabeth - 22 all three graduated from Catoctin High School and went on to college or trade school. Dylan - 16 is a senior at Catoctin High school.

1. What prompted you to run for mayor?

I began my political career by volunteering on town committees (streets and Transportation and Planning Commission). In 1998 I was appointed by Mayor Carr to fill a vacant seat on the town council; nine months later, in April 1999 I was elected by the citizens of Emmitsburg to a three year term as a Town Commissioner.

After severing on the Town Council for 31/2 years I felt that I could do more for the community if elected Mayor. In the 1990’s it was obvious to the community that the Town’s infrastructure was in poor condition and immediate action needed to be taken. However, the Town also had some major finical problems which prohibited the Town from addressing the apparent problems. I was original prompted to run for Mayor because I wanted to see a change of direction and stop doing business as usual. I was elected to my first three year term as the Mayor of Emmitsburg in April of 2002. This year (2011) I’m prompted to run for Mayor again because I love the Emmitsburg Community and more work needs to be done. During my time as Mayor the Town has gone from needing to borrow money to meet the operating expenses to establishing a reserve fund.

For over a decade I've been dedicated to public service in the Emmitsburg community. I'm committed to fostering an open, collaborative government that preserves the quality of life, promotes pride, and focuses on key issues such as upgrading the town’s sewer and water systems and establishing community events consistent to a small town atmosphere.

2. What is the largest problem facing the town in the next four years and how do you plan to go about fixing it?

The largest issue facing the town is the downturn in the economy, the town has no direct control over that but, understanding the long term effects caused by the reduced revenues is within the governments control.

The second largest issue facing the town is the state mandated replacement of the town’s sewer plant. Fortunately, after several meetings with state officials (staff and elected) the town staf and I was able to secure grant funding for seventy-five percent of the project. This is a 20 million dollar project, design is underway and construction is expected to start next year. Construction will take about 18 months to complete. This is an extremely important project; this new plant should be in use for the next 50 years. To ensure that this project is completed properly, we’ve included the cost of a third party inspection firm to over see the project and verify that the engineers designs and test are performed.

3. What makes you the best candidate for mayor?

I know how important and how equally difficult it is to find creative and effective solutions in the best interest of the entire community. For the past ten years I’ve been providing a voice of reasoning and the leadership that understands the day-to-day operations of local government with professional relationships with State, County, and Federal governments. Professional relationships at the State, County and Federal levels have helped ensure that Emmitsburg is treated fairly and equally and not forgot about.

Serving as Mayor for the past nine years and serving on the Town council for over three years prior, has given me the background and experience in municipal government that makes me uniquely qualified to be Mayor.

I am very committed to the Emmitsburg Community. For the past 15 consecutive years; I’ve been a member of the Emmitsburg Streets and Transportation Committee, Planning Commission, Town Council, and I’ve been the elected Mayor since April 2002. I have the proper tools and experience needed to continue moving Emmitsburg forward.

In addition to leading the Town, my management experience with the Maryland Department of Transportation has given me a considerable amount of executive and administrative experience. I am responsible for overseeing multi-million dollar budgets, hundreds of employees, and oversight of departments in facilities maintenance, fleet services, transportation (bus and rail), bus maintenance, coordination of capital projects and serve as a purchasing agent.

For more information about my qualifications and my vision and goals go to www.mayorhoover.com

Commissioner candidate (running unopposed):

Name: Christopher Staiger

Age: 44

Education: BA, The American University, Washington, DC

Occupation (if retired, list former occupation): Corporate Procurement, Evapco, Inc., Taneytown, MD

Number of years living in Emmitsburg:I hate this question because it seems to attribute some additional value/ credibility (or lack thereof...) to an individual based solely on their years of residency. When I was first campaigning for office in 2005, I used to say, "I already have two strikes against me: I've only lived in town for a little over two years, AND I live in Pembrook Woods! Please don't hold it against me..." Didn't seem to make a difference then, and I wouldn't have expected it to make a difference now. But, to answer your question, exactly 9 years, three weeks, and two days as of Sept. 8!

Family information (including names, ages and if children/grandchildren attend Frederick County Public Schools):

Spouse: Dr. Jennifer Staiger, Ph.D, Associate Professor of Biology, Chair of the Science Department, and Director of the University Honors Program at Mount Saint Mary's University, Emmitsburg.

Two sons: Caleb (age 5) and Wyatt (age 3). Caleb attends Kindergarten at Mother Seton School, Emmitsburg. Wyatt attends Trinity Lutheran Church Pre-School in Taneytown.

1. Why do you want to continue serving Emmitsburg as a commissioner?

In a small town like Emmitsburg, any resident has a real opportunity to participate directly in town government. As a commissioner, you have a voice in how taxes and fees are collected, how that money is spent, and what laws and policies are passed, implemented, changed, or done away with. I originally chose to get involved because I was frustrated by the responsiveness of town government to concerns of residents from my neighborhood. When I was told, “If you don't like it, run for office," I took them up on the offer. Now running for my third term, I still take seriously my responsibility NOT to adopt the cavalier attitude of the person who initially motivated me to throw my hat in the ring! The residents of town are the employers of the town staff and the elected officials. The Mayor and the town office need to be reminded that the money supply is not endless just because you have a captive audience that might appear to have no other choice but to move away! Budgets should be balanced and opportunities to reduce cost should be actively pursued. Government should be looking for ways to improve opportunities and not simply hold the line. Of course, the reality is that with every decision there will be some constituents who approve, and some who will be disappointed. That being said, as the current President of the Board of Commissioners, I try to make sure that everyone has their say on every issue before us and that the decisions arrived at by the five commissioners are discussed, evaluated, and resolved in an open, calm, and even-handed manner. I hope that even if you have disagreed with me, you have found me to be fair. I thank you for the opportunity to continue.

cpomeroy@gazette.net