Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News
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OAKLAND — Two Democrats and four Republicans will square off in the primary in a crowded race for the District 3 seat on the Garrett County Commission.
Incumbent Republican Denny Glotfelty, now at the end of his first term on the commission, said he believes the county needs experienced leadership more than ever because of the economic downturn.
“The biggest challenge is the economics of our county and trying to maintain services without raising taxes, which I’m against,” Glotfelty said. He pointed to things like the county hiring freeze as ways departments are working “as a team” to keep costs down.
Glotfelty said he views education as the county’s path to economic growth, and programs like the county scholarship program as the way to keep young people in the county and provide an educated, better-prepared work force.
The Deep Creek Lake area is the hub of county development and will be needed to play a major part in the future, Glotfelty said.
“We need to look at the economic end of development and figure out ways to help businesses that are already here,” he added.
Republican challenger Bob Gatto said he has no prior political experience but began feeling a “constant nudging in my heart, mind and spirit” toward running for the office.
“I have a strong Christian belief that when that inner voice starts talking to you, you should listen,” he said.
He hopes to build trust and use the knowledge of the people around him to help form decisions, something he believes the current commissioners aren’t doing.
Gatto said one of the most critical issues facing the county is economic development, and he suggests a greater focus on networking, both within and outside the county, to bring in new companies. That includes retirees from major companies outside the region, he said.
He also said the county needs to put the technology in place to make that possible, particularly broadband.
Republican Louis Newcomb said he, too, views the county’s financial situation and economic development as the most urgent issue of the upcoming term.
“We need to really focus on needs vs. wants,” Newcomb said. “If X amount of dollars are there, the needs have to come first.”
Newcomb proposed focusing future development on emerging technologies, structured around smaller companies as forms of high-tech “cottage industries.”
“We don’t need to have major industrial parks for industry to come in,” he said, describing a scenario of people working online out of their homes. “We don’t need tons of new roads, water lines and so on if we’re doing something that involves the use of broadband Internet.”
Republican Tim Thomas said he believes Garrett County needs to get its budget under control and spend more conservatively, something he feels prepared to take on by his experience as a business owner.
“Homes are going on foreclosure and we’re spending money like there’s no tomorrow,” he said.
Thomas also said that a crucial issue is updating the sewer system at Deep Creek Lake. He proposed hiring an outside, independent agency to conduct water quality testing at the lake.
“We have to protect our water,” Thomas said. “It’s not something we should be tampering with.”
Thomas said the county should seek out more federal and state government programs to help foster new businesses. Several of those businesses could be attractions targeted at providing entertainment for tourists, he said.
Gatto and Thomas spoke against the possibility of closing one or more county elementary schools, with Gatto saying the communities would be negatively impacted and Thomas calling for “more involvement” with the commissioners in the discussions.
“Right now they’re drawing a line and saying no more, we’re done with this, you’re on your own,” he said.
But Newcomb said some closures might be necessary for the greater good of all students in the county, as the population continues to decline.
“Will we have to cut programs for all the schools in Garrett County in order to save some schools?” he questioned.
Glotfelty defended his commission’s funding of the schools, and the school administration’s efforts to “act responsibly” in the face of state funding cuts.
“They’re not underfunded (from the county), and we can’t control the population and neither can they,” he said. “They’ve got some tough choices.”
Democrat George Falter, a self-described “iconoclast, muckraker, gadfly, any and all of those,” said he previously ran for the Maryland House of Delegates in the 1980s and has also run for the Garrett County Commission.
Falter said he is running because he believes government has “lost sight of who they are supposed to be working for.”
“They have forgotten the people,” he said. “My self-appointed job is to represent the people who don’t really have the wherewithal to represent themselves.”
Falter said his proposals for economic growth take a different approach than most. He gave examples of reaching out to the film industry to use the landscape of the region in movies, and also developing other industries based on Garrett County’s natural assets, such as a handmade furniture factory that uses local hardwoods and could also serve as a tourist attraction.
If elected, Falter pledged to hold open meetings on any issue to “iron these things out in a public forum where people get to hear both sides and have their input.”
Democrat Bill Welch said he has never before run for office, but is running for commissioner to share his understanding of how technology creates jobs, and to help attract high-paying jobs outside the tourism industry. He believes that would more equitably distribute taxes away from Deep Creek Lake.
“I think they’ve hit a ceiling in terms of a generational understanding of technology,” Welch said of the current commission. “Garrett County is not going to be ready to receive jobs when jobs start growing unless steps are taken.”
Welch said the county should place more emphasis on public-private partnerships with technology companies based outside the region, such as Verizon and Google. He also advocated more aggressive and improved grant writing to bring funding to the county.
“I think tourism needs to be brought into a 50-50 position with well-paying jobs,” he said. “If the county continues to put all its eggs in the tourism basket, Garrett County will continue to bleed young people, it will age and people will begin to be taxed off their property.”
Falter spoke against the possibility of closing some elementary schools, arguing that keeping young students closer to home and in their communities provides a great benefit to the children.
Welch said he believes the county should have more oversight on the Board of Education’s fiscal matters to help ensure better property management of school facilities.
“I think community schools are important and property management is the way to ensure community schools are not neglected,” he said.
Contact Megan Miller at mmiller@times-news.com.
