Name: Jan H. Gardner

Party affiliation: Democrat

Place of Residence: Frederick

Date of Birth: Sept. 25, 1956

Place of Birth: Pennsylvania

Current Occupation: Frederick County Commissioner

Education: Bachelor’s in finance and economics, University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind., graduated summa cum laude; master of business administration, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio, 4.0 GPA.

Community Associations: Current: Frederick County Public Library Board of Trustees; Workforce Development Board; board member, Frederick Innovative Technology Center; Frederick Arts Council; Frederick County Historical Society; Frederick Community Action Agency; Local Emergency Planning Committee; Committee for Frederick County; Internal Audit Authority; and Frederick County Retirement Committee.

Previous: Frederick County Planning Commission; Transportation Planning Board for WashCOG; Frederick Area Committee on Transportation; Girl Scout leader for five years; religious education instructor; PTA County Council Legislative Chair; Frederick County Civic Federation, treasurer, Spring Ridge Conservancy Board; and various other community and civic organization

Also served on a Statewide Task Force to Study Adequacy of Public School Facilities and named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women in 2005.

Professional Associations: Maryland Association of Counties, board member and legislative committee member; President of County Elected Women.

Family: Married to John H. Gardner for 23 years. Three children: John, Rachel, and Mallory.

Campaign Address and Telephone: 6102 Fieldcrest Drive, Frederick, MD 21701. 301-695-8193. jan@jangardner.org

Candidate Website: www.jangardner.org

Link to state Board of Elections campaign finance database

My top three priorities are education, transportation, and sensible growth management. I also believe that nothing is more important than creating an environment in local government where residents can participate and make a difference.

Public education is my passion and my initial motivation to be involved in county government. My focus is maintaining and improving the quality of public education in Frederick County. I am proud to support teachers, proud of my accomplishments to accelerate school construction and renovation, and proud to have supported expanded technology in our schools.

Equal access to educational opportunities is fundamentally important to the success of our economy and our community. We must prepare our youth to compete in a global economy if our county, state, and country are to remain economic leaders. I am interested in pursuing science and technology magnet schools.

An investment in education is an investment in economic development. Frederick County is blessed with a wonderful public school system, community college, and excellent higher education institutions that offer exceptional community partnerships.

I have been a strong and successful advocate for state funding for school construction and renovation. I served on a Statewide Taskforce to Study the Adequacy of Public School Facilities across Maryland. This task force identified a $3.9 billion statewide need for renovation and added capacity to bring public schools to a minimum standard of adequacy. The task force recommended an increase in state funding to meet this need over an eight-year period.

I worked successfully, along with state and county leaders in Maryland, to increase school construction funding to a minimum of $250 million annually. I have prioritized school construction and renovation over my entire tenure as a county commissioner. I have successfully accelerated school construction, reducing the level of overcrowding, and building more seats than new enrollment growth on an annual basis effectively reducing the long standing deficit in school seats.

I have promoted creative funding solutions, including the use of Bond Anticipation Notes to forward-fund the state share of several school projects and dedicated revenue to accelerate the renovation of Linganore High School. I made a motion this year to add $13.4 million in one-time funds to advance the renovation of West Frederick Middle School. I support and encourage developer-funded schools, but only if the full bill is covered and the 100 percent standard of adequacy for school facilities is met.

I will not support partial developer school construction offers that create an additional tax burden or increases school overcrowding. I pledge to continue my work to solve school overcrowding in Frederick County, and accelerate the renovation of our older schools. I will not vote to rezone property when schools are already overcrowded, and no new schools are in the near-term capital budget to solve the problem. I will stand firm on maintaining a 100 percent standard of adequacy definition for schools in the county adequate public facilities ordinance and will make no exceptions. I will adamantly oppose any actions that will increase school overcrowding.

Transportation congestion and safety issues are a priority concern for all Frederick County residents. People are tired of sitting in traffic. Obtaining funding for road improvement is a priority to ease congestion. I will require new development to provide and pay for needed local and regional road improvements. I have supported strengthening the requirements for road in the county adequate public facilities ordinance, but have been in the minority on the current board.

I have worked hard to with state, federal, and local leaders to secure funding for various road improvements, including the ongoing improvements on I-70, secondary road improvements along Md. Route 85, and the new northbound ramp from Md. Route 26 to U.S. Route 15 north. Major improvements are under construction along I-70 and will continue for several years. I have supported the expansion of Frederick County transit, and will continue to do so.

Transportation solutions require a three-pronged approach: 1) access to increased state and federal funds for interstate and state secondary road improvements; 2) greater participation from private sector developers for regional transportation improvements; and 3) public transportation.

I will not vote to create traffic congestion and traffic safety problems. I did not vote for the New Market Region Plan for several reasons, including the $370 million price tag for state road improvements identified by a county traffic study as needed to support the contemplated growth in the plan.

None of these identified road improvements are funded, or even planned to be funded, in the next 15 years. We cannot support overwhelming new development without assuring funding for road improvements, or requiring them from the development process.

I support a sensible growth policy that links the pace of residential development with the county’s ability to provide roads, schools, public safety and other essential services without shifting a burden to existing taxpayers. We cannot continue to sprawl. We cannot afford it. We cannot support the approved growth in the New Market Region Plan, and must re-examine it. I support concentrating residential development in and around our municipalities. I support the development along Carroll Creek, which will create a vibrant downtown.

I support making sure developers pay their fair share of the public impacts new development creates, whether it is needed infrastructure or services. I am greatly concerned that the current board has approved an overwhelming amount of growth that cannot be sustained. My vision it have people live here and work here, rather than to have a vision of providing a bedroom community to the metropolitan areas of Baltimore and Washington. I am committed to preserving our historical and cultural heritage and our sense of community. I do not support allowing our towns and rural communities to grow so much that they blend together and lose their individual identity.

What we do outside our growth boundaries is just as important as what we do inside our growth boundaries. We must discourage growth outside well-defined growth boundaries, and increase funding to agricultural preservation programs to offer land owners and farmers an option to selling to development interests and the assurance that large areas will be maintained for viable agriculture. Fragmenting agricultural land challenges the ability of those who wish to continue farming and agricultural operations. I have supported the addition of an agricultural business specialist in our Office of Economic Development to help farming stay viable in Frederick County.

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

I would rate the overall performance of the current commissioners as fair. I would rate the performance of each commissioner differently. The current board of commissioners has several accomplishments, such as advancing the Potomac River water project. It has also maintained several new programs put in place by the previous board, including an accelerated school construction program, a new agricultural preservation program, an accelerated program for park construction, and moderately priced dwelling units.

The current board has made a series of bad decisions, in my opinion, and I have not supported these decisions. The current board has approved an overwhelming amount of new residential re-zonings that will overwhelm county infrastructure and services and shift a huge burden to taxpayers. The current board has violated and weakened the county’s adequate public facilities ordinance for schools that will lead to more school overcrowding.

The current board has refused to adopt stronger ethics laws and campaign finance rules. Some commissioners have disregarded public input, mistreated the public, and treated county staff in a disrespectful and inappropriate manner.

The new one-stop permitting process has not been fully or successfully implemented and needed progress on Homeland Security has not advanced in a timely manner. Special interests have been allowed to write local laws and provide direction on developer-funded school proposals that do not cover the full cost of needed schools to support the proposed new development, thus shifting a burden to county taxpayers.

One of the biggest failures is the approval of the New Market Region Plan, which lacks a transportation component to provide or fund the needed road improvements identified by a county-funded traffic study. Residents will be stuck with overcrowded, unsafe roads or a huge tax bill to build roads or a combination of both. It is a plan for failure.

As a former citizen activist, I believe nothing is more important than creating an environment in local government where people can participate and make a difference. I am interested in representing the average resident, and balancing their interests with the special interests represented in Winchester Hall every day. The current board of commissioners has allowed special interests to write the laws and influence public policy while the interests of average citizens are secondary or ignored all together

As a person who initially became interest in local government because I was empowered to create change through public participation in the process, I believe government is at its best when the average person can participate in the process and make a difference. Residents who have participated in recent years are frustrated and have not only been ignored, but in some cases have been mistreated by their elected officials. Democracy itself is at risk when people cannot participate and when the voice of the average resident is silenced. Special interests have had undue influence on public policy. This needs to change.

The current board of county commissioners has limited accomplishments at least in part due to the lack of a strategic plan that advanced commonly agreed priorities. The lack of a strategic plan, and the desire for each commissioner to work individually instead of collectively, has resulted in fewer accomplishments with most accomplishments relating to the completion of work initiated by the previous board.

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

The rate of residential growth has been too fast. This is reflected in the reality that roads are increasingly congested, schools are overcrowded, the landfill is full, there have been water and sewer moratoriums in the majority of the municipalities, and public safety services are strained.

Clearly, the rate of population growth has outpaced the county’s financial ability to provide needed infrastructure and services. Residential growth generally does not pay for itself, and creates a drain on county coffers.

The rate of business growth has been strong, and Frederick County has been second in the state in new job growth over the past four years. I have supported economic development consistently, and believe the new job growth is a positive to the community. Jobs are an essential component of everyone’s quality of life. The more residents can both live and work in Frederick County, the better.

Businesses also pay more in taxes than they demand in services, while residential demands more in services than it pays in taxes. Business growth helps to balance the tax base to pay for the services and infrastructure needed to support the community. Business growth has been ‘‘just right,” and should continue as the region is one of the economic engines of the country.

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

My plan for affordable, or workforce, housing is multi-faceted, and includes requiring moderately priced dwelling units in all new residential developments, the ability to waive or exempt impact fees and other fees for affordable housing projects, the use of county-owned land for workforce housing, and the leveraging of county funds from the Affordable Housing Fund initiative with federal and state dollars to build additional affordable and workforce housing.

The cost of housing has increased exponentially in recent years, far outpacing wage growth. To address this problem and allow a diverse population of workers to live in the county requires significant action on the part of the county commissioners.

Requiring moderately priced housing to be built in all new residential developments is a big step forward. I am proud to have voted for the moderately priced dwelling unit (MPDU) ordinance, or inclusionary zoning, during my first term in office. I also proposed the use of county-owned land for workforce housing, and this proposal has been deemed viable by the Affordable Housing Council. I am proud to have voted for the initial $1 million in seed money for the Affordable Housing Fund to provide money to offset impact fees and other permitting fees for affordable housing projects, as well as provide funds to leverage state and federal dollars to build new affordable housing units.

I support a dedicated stream of funding to support the Affordable Housing Fund on an ongoing basis. I support dedicating a portion of the existing recordation tax revenue for this purpose. I also support steps to minimize regulations that make building workforce and affordable housing a greater challenge.

I have supported the House Keys 4 Employees program that assists residents who work and live in the county with the purchase of a first home by matching employer contributions toward a down payment or money to cover closing costs. I proposed legislation to change the flat impact fee to a sliding scale based on the size of the home so that smaller houses could pay less than larger homes, and affordable housing projects could be exempt. This proposal did not advance due to lack of majority support. I will introduce this legislation again. Other candidates have indicated support for this concept, including making it a fundamental part of their campaign platform.

Affordable, or workforce, housing challenges will not be solved by building a larger number of large-square-footage, expensive homes, as some would suggest. The county needs to provide incentives for the construction of smaller or more modest square footage homes to improve affordability.

Wages are an important but often forgotten component of the affordable housing debate. Wage growth has been stagnant or modest, and the disparity between wage growth and housing price growth requires action both to increase average wages and slow or mitigate the rising cost of housing.

There are no simple solutions to the workforce housing issue. It is a regional problem that requires regional solutions. Frederick County municipalities need to adopt moderately priced dwelling unit ordinances that mirror the county’s efforts. Many of the solutions will require money to underwrite the cost of housing and require that workforce and affordable housing are part of the mix of new housing projects.

Do you think the County is doing enough to meet the needs of our growing population? If not, what do you think the County needs to do?

The county is strained in its ability to provide needed infrastructure and services to our growing population. The county needs to link the county’s capital and operating budget to its land-use decisions to better pace the population growth with its ability to financially support the added demand for infrastructure and services resulting from population growth. Some demand for services and infrastructure is the result of a demand for an increased level of service or for new types of services that did not previously exist.

For instance, Homeland Security and emergency preparedness place a relatively new demand on government services. Mandates from the federal and state government also create a demand for new services. A good example is the unfunded mandate for all-day kindergarten.

Long-term budgeting and financial planning tied to land-use management and the timing of residential growth will better coordinate the need for new services and infrastructure with the county’s financial ability to provide it. Additional components to the APFO for public safety, solid waste, and parks would be helpful to the planning process and provision of services. Convincing municipalities to coordinate their land-use decisions with the county by adopting similar APFOs would help. A countywide planning entity would also be helpful to coordinate municipal and county planning effort and their ability to provide services and infrastructure.

The county commissioners also need to participate in regional planning efforts including transportation planning. The county commissioners need to have a greater presence in Annapolis to obtain needed state money and county needs in front of state decision makers.

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

No form of government is a panacea. Good government and effective government exist best when well-qualified, dedicated, and honest people are elected to serve the public regardless of the form of government. Electing the right people will always be most important to the outcome.

The commissioner form of government works in Frederick County, but it is not the most efficient form of government, nor is it always the most effective form of government. Government by committee or by commission has its advantages and disadvantages.

Under the commissioner form of government, each issue or topic is considered by five people with five different perspectives pulling from varying life experiences and points of view. This diversity of perspectives is more likely to represent the different perspectives of the public than the viewpoint of one person serving as a county executive. Anything done by committee takes longer, and can be inefficient and frustrating to everyone involved.

A committee drafting a letter or going line-by-line through a budget takes a long time to reach consensus. The outcome may benefit from this process, but the process itself is not efficient and the time it takes may sometimes be detrimental to the outcome. Sometime a quick answer is needed and it is hard to obtain from the commission. The commissioner form of government does assure representative government and shares power among several people, rather than concentrating power in one person. In some ways, commissioner government assures more open government because of the lack of concentrated power.

A charter government shifts the executive function to one person, generally a county executive. Some executive functions in government could clearly be done more efficiently by a county executive. A county executive has the authority to make certain decisions without any input from an elected council, and can take action quickly and efficiently on many administrative and management functions.

A county executive can more easily represent the county in Annapolis or with the bond rating agencies in New York or in other forums because a majority vote from others is not needed. Sometimes the county executive and the County Council will disagree with each other and this can make charter government just as inefficient and ineffective as a commissioner form of government.

Charter government often provides greater authority to local government avoiding some requests to the state legislature for authority. Taxing authority must still come from the state legislature.

The advantages and disadvantages of charter government will depend upon the charter, which will specify what powers rest with the county executive and what powers rest with the county council. Frederick County could benefit from charter government if the charter was written in such a manner to maximize efficiency, but minimize a concentration of power in one person allowing more to happen outside the public view.

Code home rule would provide local government with greater local authority, avoiding the need to go through the state legislature and could maintain the commissioner or committee form of government. This form of government places more authority locally or closer to the people. A disadvantage of code home rule is that it does not necessary allow the executive function to be shifted to one person or county executive, providing the efficiency offered though the charter government form. Code home rule would also define a specific legislative process.

All forms of local government work, and all provide certain advantages and disadvantages. Any change in the form of government does require the vote general electorate with a question on the ballot. A change in the form of government must be decided by the public.

I would support a community discussion of the pros and cons of charter government as well as code home rule.

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

Yes. I believe disclosure of gifts, entertainment, and money spent to lobby elected officials on policy decision is essential to ensure a public process that is transparent and fair. Residents deserve to know what is happening behind the scenes to influence government decisions, and how much money is being spent to influence government policy decisions. Residents have a basic right to know who is influencing government decisions and lobbying elected officials. Such disclosure ensures open, transparent, and fair government. Support for lobbying reform is support for open government.

Commissioner Thompson and I have supported lobbying reform with Commissioners Cady, Lovell and Reeder consistently opposed.

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

Yes. Campaign finance reform is needed at all levels of government to ensure a fair public process free from undue influence. Residents deserve to know that decisions are made in the public interest without the influence of special interest money from campaign contributors. Residents should be assured that a vote cannot be bought or influenced with campaign contributions.

Currently, the county commissioners can legally accept campaign contributions from individuals and business entities with active decisions before the commissioners. At least one of the current county commissioners has solicited campaign contributions from individuals with pending decisions before the commissioners within a few days preceding the vote. I find this behavior is wrong, but it is not illegal.

The individual with the pending decision is placed in a very uncomfortable position to be asked for a contribution by one the person who will be deciding to approve their request within a matter of days.

I proposed a resolution requiring the commissioners to voluntarily agree to not accept or solicit campaign contributions from those with pending decisions before the board. If a contribution was solicited or accepted inadvertently from a person or entity with pending business, the commissioner would then agree to disclose this fact before voting on the application. This voluntary resolution failed with Commissioner Thompson and I in favor, and Commissioners Cady, Lovell, and Reeder opposed. It is difficult to understand why anyone would object to voluntary not soliciting or accepting campaign contributions from those with pending business before the commissioners. The influence of special interest money in campaigns creates a sense of public distrust and raised concern about a fair and honest decision making process.

I strongly believe public financing of campaigns (with a financial limit or cap) would protect the public trust and level the playing field among those able to run for office and eliminate a significant amount of special interest influence in public policy decisions.

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

I support dedicating a portion of the existing recordation tax revenue to the Affordable Housing Fund Initiative for purposes outlined in a previous question. I believe this money can be identified in the existing budget through savings elsewhere, or through normal anticipated revenue growth. I support adding a public safety, landfill, and park component to the impact fee to cover the need for new fire stations, new sheriff substations, expansion of solid waste capacity, and park land acquisition and development. These costs should not shift to the taxpayers.

I have always actively lobbied the state for funding for county needs. The current board of commissioners has not lobbied effectively for state funding for schools, roads, agricultural preservation or other needs. Several of the board members do not believe the commissioners should lobby the state for money, and spend little time outside of Frederick County advocating for the needs of the county. During the last four years, the county received approximately $50 million for school construction, as compared to $65 million the previous four years. During the last four years, the county has received less state funding for schools, roads, agricultural preservation, highway maintenance, and parks. Others need to join my effort to gain more state dollars for the county. My efforts on the current board have been largely diminished by partisan politics at the state level.

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

Yes. There are some programs that could be cut. For instance, I do not support using taxpayer dollars to renovate or improve Harry Grove Stadium. While I support the existence of baseball and believe it is good for the community, I do not believe it is an essential public service that should be supported with tax dollars. I do not believe government should be subsidizing private entities.

I believe these taxpayer dollars could be better spent for a variety of needed public purposes such as schools, roads, fire stations, parks, and other essential services. My first priorities are schools and roads.

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

I believe a certain percentage of the capital budget for schools should be dedicated to the renovation and maintenance of existing schools. In recent years, the county has been focused on adding new schools and new school additions to accommodating enrollment growth. This has come at the expense of maintenance and renovation of older schools.

These schools need to be maintained and renovated to protect the significant public investment in these facilities and also to assure equity in facilities among schools. There has been some discussion about dedicating a certain stream of revenue to school renovation and maintenance but the majority has not decided to do this.

The commissioners have shifted millions of dollars in the current capital budget ($13.4 million) to fund the renovation of West Frederick Middle School. I have actively supported a funding solution to advance the renovation of Linganore High School, but this effort did not pass. Some funding has been earmarked for the renovation of Linganore with the expectation that additional funds will be provided by a developer.

Clearly, we should pace the need for new schools in the context of our ability to maintain and renovate our existing schools. This should be part of our growth management policy considerations.

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

The commissioners have little real oversight over the school system. The majority of the oversight of the school system’s budget and policy decisions rests with the Board of Education, which is an elected body.

The Board of Education, as an elected body, has the primary responsibility for the school system budget, and should be held accountable by the public and the commissioners for how the money is spent.

The Board of County Commissioners does fund more than half of the school system’s budget, and does regularly audit the budget and expenditure of funds as well as several school system operations.

The Board of County Commissioners and the Board of Education do meet monthly to discuss various issues of mutual interest and responsibility. The majority of the oversight of the school system rests with the elected Board of Education, which sets policy for the school system and hire the school superintendent to manage the day-to-day operation of the schools. The Board of County Commissioners should continue to monitor budget transfers to make sure money is used properly and wisely.

What is the No.1 public safety issue in the County? What would you do about it?

The No. 1 public safety issue is making sure staffing is adequate to respond to calls for emergency services. The number of calls for fire and emergency or ambulance services is directly related to the increase in population growth. As the call volume grows, there is a need to add additional call takers at the 911 communication center and assure that there are adequate firefighters and emergency responders to answer those calls.

These public service providers are strained, and the transition to more career staff from volunteer staff and the higher level of service demanded and provided to the public requires constant need to add and train new staff. I have proposed adding public safety provisions to the county’s adequate public facilities ordinance to assure that the pace of population growth and demand for public safety services does not outstrip the county’s ability to provide it. These provisions have not been supported by the majority of the current commissioners. I have also supported a master plan for fire and emergency services so the county can do long range comprehensive and coordinate planning.

Law enforcement is also constrained as the county population grows and faces new challenges with gangs and homeland security, and a continued challenge with drugs and associated crimes. Law enforcement is facing increasing violence. It is important the community is safe and that our families and children continue to feel comfortable in their day-to-day activities. Law enforcement needs must be prioritized in the budget process and advocated for by the new sheriff. I also support added provisions for law enforcement in the public safety component of the APFO.

Public safety, both emergency services and law enforcement, need to be budget priorities. We cannot welcome 5,000 new residents to the county without expecting to add additional police and firefighters to respond to the increased calls for service.