Name: Richard M. Floyd

Party affiliation: Democrat

Place of residence: Jefferson

Date of birth: Dec. 4, 1940

Place of birth: Cumberland

Current occupation: Retired from IBM and Lockheed Martin

Education: Graduate, Frederick High School; some college; certificate program in environmental sciences, Johns Hopkins University

Community associations, involvement: Past chairman, Friends of Frederick; past chairman, Committee for Frederick County; past treasurer, Citizens for Quality of Life; Frederick County Civic Federation; Community Commons; Frederick County Master Gardeners; Elks Lodge; American Legion.

Professional associations: Past vice president, Maryland Safety Council; past president, Maryland Planners Association.

Family: Wife, Virginia. Two sons, Aaron and wife Michelle; one daughter; Scott and wife Shannon, two sons.

Campaign office address and telephone: 3901 Shadywood Drive, Jefferson, MD 21755. 301-473-7883

Candidate’s web site: www.floydforfrederick.com

Link to state Board of Elections campaign finance database

Schools, traffic and trash⁄landfill, all are directly related to growth. Too much, too fast with no real planning or concern for residents’ concerns. Quality of life was not considered.

How would you rate the performance of the current commission: excellent, good, fair or poor? Why?

Very poor! There have been consistent 3-2 votes to approve all land-use issues without considering the overall concerns of residents and our quality of life.

Is the rate of growth in Frederick County too fast, too slow, or just right?

Too fast for the ability of our infrastructure too keep pace.

What’s your plan to provide more affordable housing in Frederick County?

The county has added the moderately priced dwelling units concept to its bag of tools. However, there still needs to be other considerations looked at, such as a sliding scale for impact fees based on income, perhaps some tax consideration and research into what other communities have undertaken. We are not by ourselves on this issue.

Housing size should be made reasonable, with a reduction of McMansions. This is not an item the Board of County Commissioners can control or dictate or have a say in. Unfortunately, as long as the market will support the larger homes and larger price tags they will continue to be built. I just don’t know how my wife and I along with our two sons and two dogs made it in our 1,200-square-foot home!

Do you think the county is doing enough to meet the needs of its growing population? If not, what do you think the county needs to do? See answer above.

Does the commission form of government still work in Frederick County? Should we adopt a charter government, or code home rule?

I was on the charter writing committee in the early 1990s, and believe it deserves another look. Just pull out the old document, dust it off and take a look. I thought it was a good document back then, and feel it is still a good document.

Does the Board of County Commissioners need to tighten its lobbying regulations?

Yes.

Should the Board of County Commissioners adopt stricter campaign finance rules?

Yes.

What programs would you add to the budget and how would you pay for them?

There are always programs and program needs that come to the attention of the Board of County Commissioners each and every year. I am not aware of any additional programs that should be considered at this time. The big issue is always the funding and where the money is coming from.

Are there any programs, taxes or fees that should be cut? What would you do with the money from the savings?

If I were an incumbent candidate, I might be better equipped to comment on this question. Without conducting a line-item review of the budget, I must respond with, ‘‘I do not know.” The county has a professional financial staff and must rely on their expertise to provide guidance and recommendations on how the money is spent. If there were any money saved for whatever reason it should go toward school renovation.

Do you think the current system for renovating schools is adequate, or does it need changing?

Since 25 out of our 63 schools have never been renovated or updated, my answer is no. I cannot talk about change because I need to do more research on the programs and understand the processes. As a commissioner, I can state that I will not vote for more residential growth until we have an answer to this issue and all schools are on an equal playing field.

Do the commissioners have too much, too little or not enough oversight of the school system?

While the money for education comes from the county’s overall budget, which is the residents’ tax dollars, the commissioners certainly should have some say in how the dollars are spent. However, the Board of Education is an elected body and the Frederick County Public Schools system is a body of professional individuals and we should have faith in their handling of the school budget. However, with that said, there needs to be ongoing scrutiny of how the money is spent.

What is the No. 1 public safety concern for Frederick County? What would you do about it?

The No. 1 public safety issue has to be traffic and the continual increase brought on by too much growth. Our roads cannot safely handle the increase in vehicle trips generated and the vehicle miles traveled without a major overhaul of our roads including city, county and state. We must conduct a countywide demand modeling transportation study and ask our municipalities to join in partnership with this study.