Dayhoff Soundtrack: Hampstead Mayor Shoemaker announces Carroll Commissioner bid

Friday, April 16, 2010

Hampstead Mayor Shoemaker announces Carroll Commissioner bid

For Immediate Release

April 15, 2010

Shoemaker announces Commissioner bid

Hampstead Mayor Haven Shoemaker will announced to an enthusiastic group of supporters gathered at the New York J&P restaurant in Hampstead last night that he intends to run for the newly formed Carroll County District 2 Commissioner seat this fall.

"For the past few years, folks have approached me, and asked me to consider running for Commissioner," Shoemaker said. "And it's a decision that I have made after much deliberation," he said.

Shoemaker cited concerns with the push for a county police force, the failed Pathways plan, airport expansion, the waste-to-energy plant, and overspending.

"One of the things I've learned as a small town Mayor is that communities like Hampstead and Finksburg can be profoundly impacted by decisions made in on Center Street in Westminster," Shoemaker said. "You get to the grassroots in these communities and you find out pretty quick, it's not the local folks who want to do things like trim back the Sheriff to create an expensive, new county police force. The county government we have now is not the one most people want."

Shoemaker was elected Hampstead's Mayor in May 2003 and re-elected in 2007.

He also has served as a member of the Town Council. As an attorney in private practice, Shoemaker has a small office in a historic residence he recently renovated.

In addition to his public service, he has actively supported local charities, serves on the board of the Marriage Resource Center, Habitat for Humanity of Carroll County, as a Deacon at Westminster Baptist Church, and has coached and sponsored Little League Baseball teams.

Shoemaker cited the construction of the Hampstead Bypass, conversion of the old Hampstead School into 84 units of affordable senior housing, construction of a new 17-acre park, improvements to the town water system, and a 50% expansion of the town's police department, all without any tax increases, as credentials.

"It is now time to roll up my sleeves for the people of Carroll County", Shoemaker said. He also pledged" I think it's time for a new approach in this county. I believe there should be term limits for everybody from dog catcher on up and that applies to me as well."

20100415 sdosm Shoemaker announces Commissioner bid

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