Jerry Donald

The Jerry Donald Administration
Frederick County Council, District 1
In office
December 1, 2014 – December 1, 2018
Preceded by Office created
Personal details
Political party Democratic
Residence Braddock Heights, Maryland[1]
Profession School teacher[2]

The Jerry Donald Administration is an American politician. He represents district 1 on the Frederick County Council.

Education and professional career

Donald was raised in Braddock Heights, Maryland.[2] His first job was working the early morning shift at a McDonald's at age 16.[3]

From 1985 to 1987, Donald worked on the staff of Congresswoman Beverly Byron.[2] Donald has worked as a teacher since then, most recently at Middletown High School.[2]

Political career

Frederick County Council

2014 campaign

Donald ran to represent district 1 on the newly formed Frederick County Council.[1]

Donald said he was running for office in order to change the direction that the incumbent Frederick County Commissioners had been taking.

Donald emphasized having adequate infrastructure for development through zoning ordinances, increasing funding for schools, and building hard shoulders on county roads with a 40 mph speed limit or greater.[4] Donald said he would put a stop to allowing the construction of a thousand houses on a rural road.[4] Reducing local services and the quality of the county's education system in order to justify a tax cut was not something Donald would support.[5] Donald supported technology training for teachers to prevent teachers from finding higher-paying jobs elsewhere.[6]

Donald's candidacy was endorsed by the Frederick County Teachers Association,[7] the local chapter of the Sierra Club,[8] and Clean Water Action.[9]

Donald won the Democratic Party primary election with 58 percent of the vote.[10][11] He advanced to the general election against Republican candidate Ellen Bartlett.[12]

In the general election, Donald received 25 more votes than Bartlett, winning the election.[12]

First term

Council members M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Jessica Fitzwater introduced a bill to repeal an ordinance designating English as the county's official language.[13] Advocates of the law said the ordinance was saving the county money, but Donald disagreed, saying the county still had to print public forms in multiple languages due to state and federal laws.[14] Donald asked the county attorney whether the English-only ordinance had any practical purpose or changed county operations in any way; the county attorney said no.[15] The Council did not approve Chmelik's idea.[15] With no practical purpose or affect, Donald called the ordinance "government overreach".[15] The bill to repeal the ordinance passed; Donald voted for the repeal.[15]

Donald introduced legislation that revised rules about building on strips of land along bodies of water.[16] The rules intend to protect the water by filtering pollutants carried by runoff from nearby land.[16] The ordinance prohibited impervious surfaces, such as athletic courts, open shelters, and pole-type structures, to the list of prohibited uses of the land next to bodies of water.[16] Permeable-surface trails and bike paths would still be allowed.[16] The bill passed the council.[16]

Electoral history

2014

2014 Republican Party Primary Election, Frederick County Council[11]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jerry Donald 1,399 58
Democratic Richard A. Maranto 1,027 42
2014 General Election, Frederick County Council[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Jerry Donald 8,234 50.0
Republican Ellen L. Bartlett 8,209 49.8
Write-in 31 0.2

References

  1. 1 2 Rodgers, Bethany. "In charter government, who will fill seats?". The Frederick News-Post. February 16, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Donald, Jerry. "Candidate: Where Donald stands". The Frederick News-Post. September 7, 2014.
  3. ↑ Fifield, Jen. "My First Job with Jerry Donald". The Frederick News-Post. Monday, May 25, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Ridgers, Bethany. "County Council District 1 candidate Jerry Donald". The Frederick News-Post. April 12, 2014.
  5. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "District 1 candidates talk taxes, schools during Middletown forum". The Frederick News-Post. October 29, 2014.
  6. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "District lines outline races, election issues". The Frederick News-Post. October 30, 2014.
  7. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "Afzali unwittingly draws crowd of eager reporters". The Frederick News-Post. April 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "Counties coalition reports spending $54K since 2012". The Frederick News-Post. August 22, 2014.
  9. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "Political Notes: Delaney leads Bongino in fundraising". The Frederick News-Post. October 17, 2014.
  10. ↑ Rodgers, Bethany. "Candidates discuss changing charter's budget process, cutting elected posts". The Frederick News-Post. July 19, 2014.
  11. 1 2 "Election Summary Report, Gubernatorial Primary Election, Frederick County, Maryland, Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Final Results". Frederick County Board of Elections. July 8, 2014.
  12. 1 2 Rodgers, Bethany. "Donald takes County Council seat by 25 votes". The Frederick News-Post. November 15, 2014.
  13. ↑ Loos, Kelly. "Bill introduced to repeal Frederick County's English-only ordinance". The Frederick News-Post. June 16, 2015.
  14. ↑ Loos, Kelsi. "Majority of council sees no budget benefit to English-only ordinance". The Frederick News-Post. August 7, 2015.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Loos, Kelsi. "Frederick County's English-only ordinance repealed". The Frederick News-Post. August 18, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 Gaines, Danielle E. "Frederick County Council passes water body buffer bill". The Frederick News-Post. December 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Election Summary Report, Gubernatorial General Election, Frederick County, Maryland, November 4, 2014, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Results". Frederick County Board of Elections. November 18, 2014.
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