(6/2018) Have you ever heard the saying, "God gave us two ears and one mouth - do twice as much listening as you do talking."? Well, I heard this from my father on a weekly basis while growing up and I will continue to do just so as I run for County Council in District 5 here in Frederick County.

My name is Michael Blue. For over 31 years, I have been the proud owner and operator of Brownies Auto Service located in Walkersville. I have served on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office for over 7 years and this is my 4th year as its President.

My life didn’t start here in Maryland. I was born in 1959 and when I was 10 years old, my parents packed up my five siblings and me and moved us from Ann Arbor, MI to Frederick. That was over 49 years ago – it’s amazing how time flies. When I moved to Frederick County, the population was barely 80,000 and now Frederick County has over 250,000 residents! I graduated from Frederick High School and then from Frederick Community College. My wife and I raised our three children in this town. We now get to experience our children raising our three grandchildren here, as well. As our families and county grow, so do the demands for better infrastructure, schools, and public safety.

I support smart growth where infrastructure is adequate. The new residential and commercial development need to have the proper services in place upon completion of these respective developments. For example: water, sewer, schools, and roads. Public safety and Emergency Services are also of great importance.

I support lower taxes! Do note: I am aware that is very unlikely in today’s environment. However, I will work to use our tax dollars more wisely without sacrificing the necessary needed services to ensure our rich quality of life we have here in our beloved County.

I support the Second Amendment and all its rights provided, but I also recognize and support the need to provide a safer environment for our children in which to learn. I support additional security and safety measures for our schools. I support enhancing the Sherriff's Office School Resource Officer Program to provide additional safety and security in our schools.

I support increasing the County’s aid for helping our senior citizens. Many of those citizens paved these roads themselves and helped in the community when called upon. They now, sadly, find it harder to retire here. I support finding ways to make housing more affordable, especially to the working and lower middle-class citizens.

I support Governor Larry Hogan’s "Open for Business" approach for new and existing businesses. Frederick County already has a favorable business environment and I would like to enhance on the positive services to attract new businesses and keep our existing businesses and workforce here in Frederick County.

My goal as a candidate is to ensure that Frederick County remains a safe place to raise our families – as it was when I was raising my own family. I support our law enforcement to keep our citizens safe in their own communities. I will fight to prevent Frederick County from becoming a sanctuary county. It should continue to have opportunities to improve our quality of life and give chances for it to be as plentiful and fruitful as it can be. I will fight for District 5 along with the entire County to preserve our heritage and agriculture communities. The agricultural and farming communities play a vibrant part in our County and I will support our farmers to continue to prosper here. I support our Citizens Property Rights and do not believe our local or state governments should infringe on our sovereign rights to property ownership.

I will work with other County Council Members to provide leadership through amicable dialogue and debate. The Citizens of Frederick County come first! If we keep this as our primary focus, then the Frederick County Council can give the support and legislative work needed to provide the checks and balances to our County Executive.

I think our quality of life here in Frederick County is directly related to how our government functions and strong leadership is paramount. Safer communities, good schools, proper infrastructure, and social services are not only expected but deserved by all citizens.