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Dec. 6—Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater and the seven members of the Frederick County Council were sworn into office at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick on Monday.
Fitzwater succeeded fellow Democrat Jan Gardner, who was elected in 2014 as the county’s first executive, then reelected in 2018.
After taking the oath of office, Fitzwater, a two-term County Council member, touted the progress the county has made during the last eight years, including in funding for public schools and public safety, combating climate change, maintaining a AAA bond rating from three ratings agencies, and responding to the public health and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But, Fitzwater said, nearly 40% of Frederick County households still cannot afford basic needs like food, housing, transportation, child care, health care and technology, according to a 2020 report from the United Way of Frederick County.
These challenges have disproportionately affected single-parent households, Black and brown families, seniors on fixed incomes and families in certain areas of the county, she said.
“In my first term as county executive, we’re going to make housing more attainable, make public education a top priority, and work to develop a collective impact model that will improve the lives of all our residents, including our most vulnerable and historically marginalized,” Fitzwater said to the crowd that filled the Weinberg Center’s floor-level seating.
Fitzwater said that diversity, equity and inclusion in the county government, farmland preservation and consideration of climate change when making policy and budget decisions will also be priorities during her time in office.
Before taking office, Fitzwater worked as a music teacher at Oakdale Elementary School.
She is a widow and a mom of two young children. Her late husband, Gerald “G” Bigelow, died unexpectedly in 2019 at age 34 while Fitzwater was pregnant with their second child.
“Through my own tragedy and pain, I realized that the train can come off the tracks for anyone,” Fitzwater said. “This experience has made me even more committed to a Frederick County where we address disparities head on, use our resources, our incredible caring and generous community, to ensure that every Frederick County family can thrive, even when faced with challenges.”
Four new County Council members and three incumbents were sworn in during Monday’s ceremony.
After being sworn in, each of the seven council members thanked those who helped them during their campaign for office and shared their priorities for the next four years.
Among the new County Council members was Kavonte Duckett, who is believed to be the first African American elected to the Frederick County Council or its predecessor, the Board of County Commissioners.
“For all those who felt they did not have a seat at the table, this campaign was particularly important, because now you do,” said Duckett, a Democrat who is the director of the Alan P. Linton, Jr. Emergency Shelter for The Religious Coalition for Emergency Human Needs.
Duckett succeeded Fitzwater as the County Council member representing District 4, which covers the eastern half of Frederick.
The council’s new members also include former Board of Education President Brad Young and Renee Knapp, both Democrats representing the county at-large, and Mason Carter, a Republican representing District 5, which covers the northern part of the county.
“Education has been my biggest driving factor,” Young said. “Education is the great equalizer in our country and I will stay committed to making sure Frederick County stays at the top.”
During her remarks, Knapp said, “What makes me happiest about being here today is that my kids will be able to say, ‘My mom is a member of the Frederick County Council.'”
Carter, an 18-year-old who graduated from Walkersville High School in May, said he’d like to see the county go in a new direction.
“I fear that we have strayed down a path where our children will not be able to enjoy the same things you and I did,” he said. “We’ve watched runaway growth, put more students in classrooms than desks, and stringent regulation that’s taking the handcuffs off criminals and onto our police officers.”
The first-time County Council members will join incumbents M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Jerry Donald, both Democrats, and Republican Steve McKay.
Keegan-Ayer, who was the council president the last four years, has represented District 3 — which covers the western half of Frederick — since 2014.
“As my dad used to tell my siblings and I when we were growing up, ‘No one person can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play so that it sounds good,'” Keegan-Ayer said. “I have high hopes that we will be able to play our different instruments just as we have in the past, based on who we are and what life experiences we bring to the table.”
Donald thanked Gardner and each of the seven members of the previous County Council, including Democrat Kai Hagen and Republicans Michael Blue and Phil Dacey, and acknowledged each of their individual strengths.
He shared his vision for his third and final term. Under the county’s charter, council members can serve up to three terms.
“For eight years, I’ve worked to bring capital projects to fruition in the county, and I hope to continue with that the next four years,” said Donald, who has represented District 1 since 2014. “I believe that parks, pathways, libraries, senior centers and schools are nonpartisan things that benefit everyone.”
District 1 covers the southwestern part of the county, including Middletown, Burkittsville, Rosemont, Brunswick and land west of Md. 355, including parts of Urbana and the Sugarloaf Mountain area.
McKay, who has represented District 2 since 2018, said that one of the main reasons he ran for reelection was to be a part of the council’s decisions on land-use proposals.
District 2 comprises the southeastern part of the county, including New Market, Linganore, Ijamsville and parts of Urbana and Mount Airy.
McKay said the council has a responsibility to revisit the plan to preserve Sugarloaf Mountain and its surrounding area. After a two-and-a-half-year process, the last County Council voted to pass the plan, but it pushed a decision on development restrictions in the area to the council that took office on Monday.
The new council will likely also cast a vote on the South Frederick Corridors Plan, which will examine an area south of Frederick along Md. 355 and Md. 85.
“These two plans will have critical influence over land-use decisions in two very different and distinctly important areas of the county. We need to get them right,” McKay said.
The newly sworn-in council members are scheduled to hold their first meeting together on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at Winchester Hall in Frederick. The members plan to elect a president and vice president, and they will receive a briefing on the rules, procedures and laws that the county’s elected officials must follow.
The county executive is paid $137,000 per year. County Council members are paid $35,000. The executive and council members serve four-year terms.
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
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