Kevin Earl Dayhoff to run for Westminster City Council
April 7, 2019 by Kevin Dayhoff
Kevin Dayhoff: From Westminster for Westminster creating a
sense of place
Kevin Dayhoff filed Tuesday, April 2, 2019, for the upcoming
May 14th Westminster City Council election
Tuesday afternoon, 2April2019, Caroline, and I went over to
the Westminster City offices where I submitted the paperwork to run for one of
the three Westminster Common Council seats available in the next municipal
election on May 14th, 2019. I am pretty excited about it. I am looking forward
to hopefully having another opportunity to serve.
It has almost been 15-years since I served as an elected
official. (I served as a Westminster Common Council Member from 1999-2001 and
the Westminster Mayor from 2001-2005.)
Over the years I have stayed pretty active in the community.
However, I would like another opportunity to make a positive difference in the
community by serving as an elected official. I want to be part of something
bigger than me, my art, my farm, my writing. During the election I am on leave
from the newspaper. I have very much enjoyed writing for the Baltimore Sun
Media Group and I have been assured that after the election I can go back to my
old job. Taking 6-weeks off from writing is hard. It’s like telling me not to
breathe.
At this point in my life, I really want to take another turn
in government because I think I can make a difference. I know the history and
traditions of Westminster (and Carroll County) government. Before I was first
elected to the Westminster Common Council in May of 1999, I had spent 20-years
as an appointed official with various boards, commissions, and committees.
Those experiences served me well. I would like to have another opportunity to
put those experiences to work.
A fresh perspective and new ideas are needed in any
organization. As times change, so must the City of Westminster. And the changes
that are necessary in our community are best served with a relentlessly
positive attitude – building upon the successes of the past work of city
officials. I applaud their work and accomplishments. However it is time to let
someone else have a turn.
Support public safety.
My vision for Westminster includes getting back to basics
and enhancing public works and safety. The public works department, the
Westminster Police and the Westminster Fire Company play a basic and critical
role in our quality of life in Westminster and need our renewed support.
I understand public works. I farmed for 25 years from 1974-1999.
In those years I worked as a landscape designer contractor and property manager.
I have served for many years as a fire and police chaplain and public
information officer. The many years of experience has given me a good working
knowledge of the operations and the challenges that lie ahead.
Support economic development
I look forward to supporting our historic downtown shopping
and business district by working to continue to attract special events,
businesses, shopping and local jobs.
I owned a business for 25 years. I have been self-employed
as a writer and an artist since 1973. I have written for several newspapers and
magazine since I left office in 2005. I wrote about local government, ‘cops,
courts, and crime,’ community events, politics, and history. I look forward to
building upon my experiences as a business owner, elected, and appointed
official, and work as an historian and writer - to promote the business of
Westminster.
Support working with other public officials.
I was born and raised in Westminster. I have held various
appointed and elected positions in local, county, and state government since
1978. I look forward to using that background and experience to Westminster’s
advantage and benefit.
Over the years I have enjoyed working with many local
municipal, county, and state officials. I served on the statewide MML Board of
Directors for five years.
Increasingly, the future of Westminster and all local
government depends on how well we work with other governments, law enforcement
agencies, fire and EMS services, education officials, non-governmental
organizations, and government officials. I look forward to continue to working
my fronds and colleagues.
I look forward to continuing to work for the citizens of Westminster.
I am excited about the opportunities and the future.
My six principles of public service have not changed since
1999:
My Basic Six Principles - May 1999
1. Fiscal responsibility – Expanding Commercial,
Industrial, Retail and Community Based Employment Tax Base
2. Public Safety
3. Promoting Citizen Based Community Based Grass Roots
Customer Service Oriented Government
4. Economic Development – which includes a strong
approach to annexation, Community Based Employment, and continued downtown
revitalization.
5. Enhancing Family Quality of Life – to include
expanded recreational opportunities and emphasizing basic municipal services:
snow removal, trash collection, water and sewer service and education.
6. Infrastructure improvements – Water, sewer and roads.
Fundraising
I am really looking forward to taking
another turn as a Westminster elected official. We have been slowly and
thoughtfully putting together our campaign.
On March 20, 2019 we opened-up a
campaign finance checking account. We are looking forward to working hard on a
relentlessly positive campaign. If you would like to help, please consider
contributing to our campaign at:
Kevin Dayhoff
Dayhoff for Westminster
PO Box 124
Westminster, MD. 21158
Make the checks out to Kevin Dayhoff
and put 2019 campaign in the memo line. Thanks. Any questions, txt me at
410-259-6403 or email me at kevindayhoff@gmail.com
Authority Caroline Babylon Treasurer
Kevin Dayhoff Brief Bio March 6, 2019
From 1999 to May 2005, Kevin Dayhoff
served on the Westminster Common Council and as the Westminster mayor
(2001-2005.) Kevin retired from farming, property management, landscape design,
and contracting in 1999.
He is a second generation member of the
Westminster Fire Company. He has been a member since 2001. He has served as a
Chaplain for the Westminster Fire Company and Maryland State Police Troopers’ Lodge
#20 since January 2011. He has served as the Public Information Officer of the
Westminster Fire Company since 2007 and assistant secretary since Jan. 2018.
Kevin served in the US Marine Corps
Reserves from 1971 – 1973.
He has served as a non-partisan
appointed official on various state, county and local government boards and
commissions since 1978. Including his extended family, the Babylon family;
members of the family have served as Westminster, Carroll County, and Maryland State
elected officials since the 1890s, and in the military since the 1600s.
Since 2004 Kevin has written for a
number of national and local publications. He currently writes for the
Baltimore Sun Media Group and is assigned to the Carroll County Times. His current
primary assignment is local history, but in the past he has covered ‘cops,
courts, and crime,’ politics, and local, state and national government. The
Maryland Delaware DC Press Association awarded him an editorial award in 2009,
and a religion reporting award on May 12, 2017.
Although his ancestors were
historically Quakers, he was raised in the United Methodist Church. Since 1998,
he has been an active member of Grace Lutheran Church. He served on the Grace
Lutheran Church council from 2012 - 2018.
Kevin served in the Civil Rights
movement in the south from 1971 to 1973. He is a member of the Carroll County
NAACP Branch #7014 and served on the executive board since November 2012 and
secretary since Nov. 2016. Many members of the local Carroll County NAACP are
retired law enforcement officers or defense contractors.
He has exhibited art and photography
since 1981. An avid artist and writer, he continues his interest in art, music
and books, government and politics, technology, the environment, business and
Ag issues.
His family, the Wrights, Warfields,
Gillis and Haines family have lived in the central-Maryland - Carroll County
area since the 1600s. He was born and raised in Westminster and lives in
Westminster with his wife Caroline.
By Authority, Caroline Babylon, Treasurer
Sunday, April 7, 2019 Dayhoff for Westminster
