County Executive Gardner announces re-election campaign

Feb. 20--County Executive Jan Gardner (D) said she is running for re-election to keep the county on course.

Gardner kicked off her re-election campaign Monday at the Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center.

She was running for re-election, she said, for the opportunity to continue pursuing her priorities on issues such as education and the economy. She touted the fact that the county had earned and maintained a AAA credit rating for three years under her watch.

She promised "honest government," meaning open and transparent proceedings, and highlighted her successful effort to return Citizens Care and Rehabilitation Center and Montevue Assisted Living to county ownership as one of her top achievements.

Bringing the two long-term care facilities under public ownership was a top issue during her first term. She announced a deal to do so in September 2016.

The last Board of County Commissioners approved the sale of the 75-bed assisted living facility and 170-bed nursing home to Aurora Holdings VII for $31.5 million in 2013. Gardner estimated that to be $18.5 million less than its value.

Another candidate in the county executive race, Kirby Delauter (R), was on the board that approved the sale. He said at the time that the facility was losing $5 million a year and having a private company take over would lessen a burden on taxpayers.

Before her address Monday, Gardner said she believed education, growth and taxes would be big themes in the upcoming election.

Gardner told her supporters that school crowding was the issue that got her into activism and ultimately politics. She served on the Board of County Commissioners from 1998 to 2010.

She promoted the Linking Youth to New Experiences (LYNX) program at Frederick High School and that in her term, the county had funded schools above maintenance of effort, the minimum state requirement. Gardner budgeted $25 million above that level during her time in office, according to Frederick News-Post reports.

Several elected officials were among the 250 or so attending the start of the campaign. Gubernatorial candidate and Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz (D) said Gardner had been a friend for a long time and, as a fellow county executive and board member of the Maryland Association of Counties, he wanted to show his support.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) spoke on Gardner's behalf, saying the county executive's first term showed investment in the community and schools. She showed her commitment to the county, he continued, by passing on requests to run for a state-level office to focus on the county executive seat.

Republicans Regina Williams, the county government's former budget officer, and Delegate Kathy Afzali (R-District 4) are challenging Delauter in the Republican primary, which will be held June 26. The general election follows on Nov. 6.

Follow Kelsi Loos on Twitter: @KelsiLoos.

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