Danny Farrar for County Council?

By Eric Beasley

In another twist to the impending disaster that is the 2018 Election Cycle, Danny Farrar announced at his fundraiser that he will not longer be seeking a Delegate seat in District 4. Instead, he will be running for County Council At-Large.

In Frederick County, there are 2 At-Large seats on the County Council. Those seats are presently held by Billy Shreve and Bud Otis. You may remember Otis making a big hubub about changing his voter registration to unaffiliated last year, surprising literally 3 people as he voted like just another Democrat.

Farrar stated that he was going to the seat currently held by Bud Otis.

The situation here in Frederick County has become dire in regards to local government. The County Executive has been operating unchecked for 2 years now, threatening private businesses with Eminent Domain, 5th Amendment violations by confiscating private property without fair compensation, and a recently defeated land grab disguised as “saving the planet.”

Having a logical and reasonable majority on County Council will provide balance to County Executive Gardner’s abuse of power. Hell, maybe they will investigate her threats and intimidation directed at local media outlets and intentional delay of PIA requests long past the 30 day mark? Maybe they’ll also ask why Jan Gardner is using her private GMail account to conduct County business, allowing her to avoid archive requirements? Who knows….

Notice that I did not say “Republican” majority on Council. We had a “Republican” majority on Council at the end of the 2014 election. Look where we are now.

There is sure to be some scuttlebutt and rumors surrounding this announcement. So let’s start with what Farrar stated at the fundraiser and what I know from the water cooler:

• Farrar cited family as his reason for not running for Delegate. Spending 3 months in Annapolis can be taxing, just ask any current or former State Legislator.
• I noticed that Eric Maranga and Andrew Nehring were not at the fundraiser. Previously, their firm Avenal Strategies had been hired as campaign consultants.
• The MDGOP has been firm and consistent in their 2018 election strategy, find 5 more State Senators and 7 more Delegates. Since District 4 is a solid Republican district, it makes more logical sense for Farrar to run for a seat that needs to be flipped to the Republican column.