From the Desk of County Executive Candidate Jessica Fitzwater

I am from Smithsburg and grew up at the base of the mountain on Wolfsville Rd. It was a truly beautiful place to spend my childhood, right off the Appalachian Trail in the shadow of the Catoctin Mountain. After attending St. Mary’s College of Maryland for my undergraduate education, I moved to Frederick to start my career as an elementary music teacher. I have lived and worked in Frederick County for the past 16 years and I currently live in the City of Frederick with my two children, Jonah and Jane.

I may have grown up over the mountain, but Frederick County is my home. And what I saw the Board of County Commissioners doing in the years leading up to the 2014 election was not what I wanted for my family or my students. Eliminating Head Start and non-profit partnerships, approving unrestrained development, closing down Citizens and Montevue, funding schools, "not a penny over," the bare minimum required by law- just to name a few; this was not the future I and many of my neighbors envisioned for our beautiful community. It was in opposition to these policies that I stepped forward in 2014 and was proudly elected to the County Council. I am now serving in my second term. Working alongside County Executive Jan Gardner, the County Council has accomplished some terrific things:

• We provided pay raises for our County employees and added dozens of public safety positions.
• We strengthened our Ethics laws, established and enhanced tax credits to benefit small businesses and senior citizens, and provided new opportunities for agrotourism for our farmers.
• We approved a visionary comprehensive plan in Liveable Frederick and increased funding for affordable housing and agricultural preservation.
• And we appropriated significant increases for our schools — well above maintenance of effort — to start the work of getting our educators and students back on track.

Early in my time on the Council, I became known for being a careful listener and independent thinker, and I’m proud of that. I know that to be effective, one must approach issues with an open mind.

When efforts to strengthen protections of our forests failed, I worked across the aisle with a colleague and brought together environmentalists, builders, and developers to find a compromise that could move forward. As we continued to see developers opt to pay a fee in lieu of building affordable units in their large developments, I worked with the business community and County staff to pass legislation that would make it more attractive to build while still maintaining accountability - resulting in 200+ units in Orchard Park at Ballenger Run that is now home to hundreds of working families in our community.

I championed the repeal of the English-Only ordinance that tarnished our County reputation and impacted our ability to attract employees and employers. I fought to expand our anti-discrimination laws to include protecting folks based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and worked to ensure that criminal history is not a barrier for employment in the County. I initiated anti-human trafficking work and led the effort to establish a Domestic Violence Coordinating Council.

We have a beautiful vision here in Frederick County that states: The year is 2040. Frederick County is a vibrant and unique community where people live, work, and thrive while feeling a strong sense of place and belonging. In order to truly realize this vision, we must focus on opportunity for all. This includes making public education a priority, continuing to innovate in economic development, and filling our toolkit with more ways to provide diverse, affordable housing options for working families. It means we cannot ignore the racial disparities in health, housing, safety, and educational outcomes that already existed in our community and have only been exacerbated by COVID-19. And It means managing growth in a way that benefits our families, businesses, and the environment.