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From the Desk of Thurmont Town
Commissioner Marty Burns

(4/2014) Last month I commented on the stupid idea of Delegate Michael Hough running against Senator David Brinkley, the current Minority Leader of the Maryland State Senate. I then read with interest that Mr. Hough was blasting Senator Brinkley for voting for Governor O’Malley’s budget.

Funny, but our current Delegate Kathy Afzali voted for one of Governor O’Malley’s budgets and yet Mr. Hough didn’t attack her. Why? Because Hough is using the “attack your opponent on everything” tactic but ONLY if they’re in the elected position you want.

Delegate Afzali has also has endorsed Hough, which could end up hurting her. Both Afzali and Hough were running together, before Hough used the bait and switch. He got everyone, including me, to think he was running for Delegate, then at the last minute he fooled everyone (took their money) and then decided to run for Senate. Senator Brinkley doesn’t have a right to the seat simply because he’s in it, but he has proven that even the majority of ALL Maryland State Senators think he’s the one they want to lead the Republican Party in Annapolis. Hardly the time to remove him from the job.

Leading in Annapolis takes the right person and Hough doesn’t have it. He’s so far right that if he won, he wouldn’t be able to get anything done in Annapolis and he certainly wouldn’t be able to get Democrats to support his constituents because he’s cut from the Alex Mooney mold. That mold is to get all kinds of endorsements, garner a huge war chest, have lots of money in the bank, and attack the opposition. NOT for his constituents, although he will say it’s for you, but in fact it’s for his own personal agenda. Don’t be fooled.

Some may think this article was about the Senate race, when in fact this article is about the Sherriff’s Office race. I thought Mr. Hough’s attempt to unseat Senator Brinkley was the dumbest political move possible until I heard about Kevin Grubb’s desire to unseat Sherriff Chuck Jenkins.

Sheriff Chuck Jenkins has what I call “Jim Hagy syndrome,” in that he will be Sheriff for as long as he wants to. People look at this position as a person who they like, trust, and feel comfortable with. Chuck meets all three to perfection. He is extremely personable and approachable and he runs a top-notch police agency.

He is also extremely involved in his community, and has been since long before he was elected Sheriff. So why on earth would another Republican think NOW is a good time to unseat the extremely popular and successful Sheriff? Mr. Grubb is a power-hungry, egotist who thinks his position on the Republican Central Committee put him in line to push Sheriff Jenkins out. Boy, is that a dumb move. I certainly wouldn’t be complaining if Mr. Grubb was running as a Democrat, but you don’t get much more Republican than Sherriff Jenkins. He’s given money back to the taxpayers, he’s enforced the laws, and his organization, its men and women, are well respected.

Like Senator Brinkley, I have not agreed with every single thing that Sherriff Jenkins has done, but then I wouldn’t support any politician who did everything I thought was right. That type of politician simply doesn’t exist.

Don’t be fooled though. Both need you to do your part and VOTE. If you become complacent and think they have this in the bag, they could lose. A recent election where this happened was when Delegate Paul Stull lost his bid for re-election because everyone thought he had it in the bag and he ended up losing.

So Frederick County, get out and support Sherriff Chuck Jenkins for re-election as Sherriff of Frederick County and Senator David Brinkley as our State Senator.

Michael Hough and the politics of hate, fear & deceit

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