District 3
The Brehm Platform
Sustainability
Frederick must lead the way in sustainability by prioritizing renewable energy and energy-efficient development. We should:
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Promote Zero-Energy and Energy-Efficient Buildings: Encourage new construction projects to adopt energy-efficient designs and incorporate solar panels wherever possible.
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Expand Solar Power Initiatives: Utilize City land, structures, and parking lots to install solar fields and arrays, harnessing clean energy to power our community.
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Build EV Charging Infrastructure: Invest in expanding electric vehicle charging stations to support the transition to cleaner transportation.
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Modernize the City Fleet: Accelerate the shift to electric or natural gas-powered vehicles for City operations.
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Introduce Shared Mobility Options: Establish bike and scooter-sharing programs to make environmentally friendly transportation accessible to residents and visitors.
Environmental advocacy: I would like Frederick to minimize tree, park, and green space developer in-lieu buy outs, stimulate low impact landscaping pollinator gardens for residences and parks and promote expanded use of the City’s existing composting program. More funding for Urban Park Maintenance is needed. We need to minimize street light pollution in parks and on streets and strive for Frederick to be a Dark Skies city, put energy into expanding Frederick’s Urban Tree Canopy.
Recycling and resiliency: We must prioritize the storm water improvement projects identified for Motter Avenue, Kline Boulevard, the downtown area, North Market Street, and West Patrick Street. We need to establish a container deposit for bottles / cans. To improve resiliency, we should bury telephone / internet lines on East Patrick. Planning Department and Planning Commission decisions must take sustainability into account from the start of their processes.
By focusing on recycling, resiliency, and smart infrastructure, we can protect Frederick’s environment, enhance public services, and create a sustainable community for all.
Economic Development
Economic development requires balancing the needs of places where residents live, work, and play.
Development: We should study expansion of transportation hub on East Street, including building a parking garage in the current MARC station parking lot. We should foster “placemaking” principles and opportunities, including on the West Side. In our downtown area, we need to advance East Frederick Rising goals, start work on the Downtown Hotel and Conference Center, and based on USPS plans, explore redevelopment of the East Patrick Street Post Office site and push for redevelopment of the Carmack Jay lot in a manner reflecting the historic downtown architectural fabric. The Carroll Creek Linear Park walkways should be redesigned to pass under East Street and walkways completed from East Patrick to the Monocacy, connecting where possible with pathways planned or existing in that area.
The City should encourage mixed use retail / housing along Carroll Creek Linear Park walkways to the east of East Street. Frederick still needs a downtown grocery store.
Blighted properties: We should strengthen blighted property processes, including shorter timelines and higher tax penalties. We should expand this regulation to include residences.
Supporting local business: City of Frederick contract awards should favor businesses located in the City through a margin allowance on bids.
Tourism: Working with Visit Frederick, DTP, AARCH, and other groups, we should foster / promote Weekend in Frederick visitor packages. We should have an assigned patrol team in the Carrol Creek Linear Park to address issues created by people loitering in the park. Frederick hosts numerous events in the Carroll Creek Linear Park, and a Frederick Festival Coordinator can help make event planning more efficient and effective with City agencies. As the City’s cultural life expands, working with the Frederick Arts Council we should explore establishing a Frederick Art Museum.
Housing and Wrap-Around Services
Economic growth requires employees, and employees need a living wage and affordable housing that is easily connected to places to work, ship, and play. Wrap around services are key to the well-being of many families and children.
Housing and housing insecurity: I want to eliminate in lieu fees and instead build affordable housing units. Working with the Frederick Continuum of Care Collaborative, we should develop a multi-year Affordable Housing Strategy to include expansion of Workforce (ALICE informed) Housing and affordable Senior Housing. We need to fund eviction prevention programs and provide short-term rental support for City resident. The City should legislation to address rapid rent increases, deposits, income-to-rent ratios, barriers that Section 8 Voucher users experience, etc.
Homelessness: We should expand our Inclement Plan to include Cooling Shelters, and especially on weekends and enable an expanded Linton Shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness, including consideration of “precinct” shelters to keep people dealing housing insecurity in their communities versus having just a centralized location. We need to create shelters for LGBTQ+ youth and adults, and especially transgender people.
Wrap around services: Through the City’s DHHS, we should provide wrap-around services for qualifying families and individuals. We need to ensure City Health Clinic has a director in place and assure that adequate dental care services are available to poor and ALICE households. The City should explore provision of tax incentives and discounted office space and services for especially new behavioral health professionals locating in the City.
Government Responsibility and Responsiveness
Governmental responsiveness: Improve the mechanism by which citizens and engage with City staff and elected leaders using digital/online and possibly ombudspeople or City Services Representatives to help residents navigate City communications, services, regulations, etc.
NACs: Council should approve stronger NAC Coordinator roles and responsibilities, including supporting NAC participation earlier in the Planning Process.
Code enforcement: We should consider modifying some aspects of code enforcement to be process driven versus complaint driven.
Diversity: Make sure at least Spanish and ASL interpreting is available on request for Council meetings, commission hearings, etc.
Collaboration: Council should make sure the City is coordinating with County and BoE on development, schools, infrastructure, housing, etc. and with its State delegation on City and State legislation, funding needs, etc.
Taxes: Understanding this process calls for County engagement, we should seek to revisit City of Frederick tax rate differential and governmental efficiency / duplication of services between the City and the County. Expanded HPC tax credit amounts should be provided based on income to help qualifying homeowners make home repairs since HPC mandated repairs can be more expensive and cause unintended gentrification.
Frederick City Quality of Life
Public safety: Working in coordination with NACs, we need police and allied professionals to focus on areas experiencing disturbances / drug dealing at locations such as pop-up BYOB events and convenience stores. We need regulations in place to address policing / management of rogue bars (e.g., Exhale)
Streets, traffic and sidewalks: A plan for how the City will deal with increasing traffic in the City based on planned development needs to be developed and / or shared widely, coupled with a transportation plan focused on adding MARC service on weekends. Traffic calming approaches need to be expanded, including speed control cameras, speed feedback signs, curb designs, and increased fines. Yellow no-parking curbs needed to be maintained. Council should examine sidewalk repairs and replacement, including a discussion on City and owner cost sharing for sidewalk repairs. Street noise caused by motorcycles and cars needs to be addressed. An exploration into the expansion of street trash cans / recycling bins is needed.
City amenities: We need to focus on completion of the Westside Regional Park. Council should examine the costs and benefits related to City support for DTP, Celebrate Frederick, Weinberg, the Golden Mile Alliance, Clustered Spires Golf Course, and other partner agencies. Council should review the philosophy of making the parking department pay for itself versus viewing parking as a catalyst for downtown visits / shopping.
Social services: The City should seek to help support expansion of universal childcare efforts underway in FCPS schools and YMCA sites and the universal new baby home visit program. We should explore the cost, benefits, and funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library for City of Frederick children.
• Explore enabling wider access to WIFI throughout the City
• Hire officers to staff a Frederick Police Department traffic unit to focus on parking, monitor speeding, an allied traffic tasks; expand number of speed feedback signs/speed boxes; involve Auxiliary officers / volunteers to maintain and deploy equipment.
City of Frederick History
We need to highlight Frederick’s many attractions and we need to remember our history.
We should work with AARCH to create memorials associated with “lynching trees”. Our iconic church spires are our city brand, but these privately owned structures are expensive to maintain; the City should support these maintenance efforts. Working with Visit Frederick and other organizations, we should spark creation of and promote walking tours (City Trees, African American History, and other Frederick highlights (suggested: Neighborhoods Tours; Spires Tour) walking tours.
Residents get a voice as a promise.
The City of Frederick is moving into a new era of governance. The Mayor and Executive Branch are operating distinctly from a City Council that includes five members, each representing a district, and two at-large members. These changes require that City Council members, and especially District Council members, consult with and listen to residents in order to make sure City Hall is aware of and responding to the challenges and successes that residents are encountering. These include quality of life issues like blighted properties and speeding in City streets, sustainability issues such as our urban forest cover and light pollution, and neighborhood issues such as zoning and development. To make sure City residents in District 3 are heard, I commit to working with NACs and other community groups as well as communicating and meeting with District 3 stakeholders who have a suggestion to make, an issue that needs resolution, or assistance in getting a response from the City.