Thurmont
election season now underway
By Chris Patterson
Contributing Writer
The
race is on in Thurmont.
At the Monday, Oct. 3 nominating convention, a town hall filled
with residents and press watched as resident Vic Jagow led those
present in making nominations for two commissioners seats and
the mayor’s seat on the town’s Board of Commissioners.
In Thurmont, a
resident must be nominated from the floor during the convention
and the nomination must be seconded. The entire process took
ten minutes.
The two incumbent
town commissioners, Wayne Hooper and Ron Terpko, were nominated
for re-election and will run unopposed. Unless there is a
successful write-in campaign for someone else, the two men
will serve another four years in office.
As for the mayor’s
race, however, the outcome is a little less certain for current
Mayor Marty Burns.
Robert “Bob”
Wagerman, 62, will run against incumbent Burns. A 38-year
resident of Thurmont and life member of Guardian Hose Company,
Wagerman served as town commissioner from 1988 to 1999. He
is retired from Moore Business Forms.
It is not the
first time that Burns and Wagerman have faced each other in
an election.
During the 2001
election, Wagerman ran against Burns and former mayor Eileen
Waesche. Wagerman came in third in that race with 130 votes
to Burns’ 589 votes.
Wagerman
told The Dispatch he needs to catch back up with
what is going on in Thurmont government after being out of
it for a few years. His goals are to keep Thurmont successful
and a “nice clean town.”
He considered
his service in office as inclusive of all residents of Thurmont.
“I was for
everyone in town. … When I made decisions I made decisions
for everyone in town,” Wagerman said.
Terpko and Hooper,
who remained after the meeting to chat with residents, agreed
they would walk around the town campaigning together and knocking
on residents’ doors. Hooper is seeking his fifth term
in office and Terpko is seeking his second term.
After the meeting,
Burns said he will begin campaigning again too, but said he
hopes his record, and that of the board, speaks for itself.
“I could
certainly see someone running against me if there were certain
things that weren’t working with the Board of Commissioners
or the administration,” Burns said. “But every
commissioner is working well together for the betterment of
the town.”
As examples of
effective teamwork between the mayor and board, Burns cited
success in lowering the tax rate, the cooperative effort with
the county in planning a new police station, and obtaining
the Maryland Main Street designation.
“I don’t
think that that is indicative of problems on the board,”
he said.
The town election
is Monday, Oct. 24, and the polling place at the Guardian
Hose Company Activities Grounds will be open from 7 a.m. to
8 p.m.
