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Tony Chmelik | |
---|---|
Frederick County Councilmember, District 2 | |
In office December 1, 2014 –December 1, 2018 | |
Preceded by | Office created |
Personal details | |
Political party | Republican |
Residence | Ijamsville, Maryland [1] |
Tony Chmelik is an American politician. He represents district 2 on the Frederick County Council.
Chmelik ran for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Education in 2008. [2]
Chmelik was opposed to teaching students about preventing sexual assault. [1] Chmelik said that teachers should be required to work for Frederick County Public Schools for a certain amount of time if the county pays for their graduate school tuition. [3]
Sexual assault is an act in which a person intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence which includes rape, groping, child sexual abuse or the torture of the person in a sexual manner.
In the race for three open seats, Chmelik came in seventh place with six percent of the vote in the primary election. [4]
Chmelik ran for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Education again in 2012. [5]
Chmelik said his highest priorities would be reevaluating the curriculum and increasing the board's effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency. [6]
When a secretary at Urbana High School put a nativity scene on her desk, the principal asked the secretary to remove it because it promoted Christianity. [7] Frederick County Public Schools' policy said that school employees are representatives of the state of Maryland while performing official duties. [7] As representatives of the state, school employees are not allowed to display a Nativity scene on school property because doing so would constitute the state promoting a certain religion, which is an unconstitutional according to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. [7] Chmelik said the nativity scene did not constitute teaching or preaching of Christianity and should be allowed. [7]
In the primary election, Chmelik came in sixth place with ten percent of the vote, advancing to the general election. [8] [9] In the general election, Chmelik receive fourteen percent of the vote, coming in fifth place for three open seats. [10]
Chmelik ran to represent the second district on the newly created Frederick County Council in 2014. [11] Stephens Dempsey and Fred Ugast also ran in the Republican primary election. [12]
Chmelik said he was running for Council because he wanted "to keep Frederick County moving in a positive direction". [13] Chmelik said that the biggest issue facing the second district was roads and schools. [13] Chmelik supported improvements to Route 75 and Route 80. [13] Chmelik wanted to accelerate construction of a new elementary school in Urbana, expand the middle school in Urbana, and build a new elementary school in Monrovia. [13]
Chmelik won the Republican primary election with 54 percent of the vote. [14] [12] Chmelik appeared on the general election ballot along with Democratic candidate Annette Breiling. [15] Stephens Dempsey renounced his Republican Party affiliation and ran as an independent write-in candidate, saying he could not possibly support Chmelik's campaign. [16] [17]
Chmelik promised to never vote to increase his own salary. [18] Chmelik signed the Americans for Tax Reform's Taxpayer Protection Pledge to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes". [19]
Chmelik won the general election, receiving 57 percent of the vote. [20] Following the win, Chmelik promised to work with all other members of the Council, regardless of political party affiliation. [21]
At the beginning of the term, the Council decided to establish the position of treasurer, and the Council voted to appoint Chmelik to the position. [22] After a year and a half, Chmelik had not yet produced any quarterly financial reports, which he had promised when he was originally appointed. [22] Chmelik defended keeping the position, saying that having a treasurer is the way to provide accountability for spending public funds. [22] The Council voted in favor of abolishing the treasurer position. [22]
In 2015, the Frederick County Council approved a county budget that included $615,000 of spending cuts. [23] Chmelik voted against the budget, saying it did not cut spending enough. [23] Chmelik said he saw the budget as a property tax increase, even though the property tax rate was not changed. [24] The editorial board of The Frederick News-Post criticized Chmelik for not being specific on where he wanted to cut the budget and presenting no budget-cutting ideas during the Council hearing, making the editorial board feel that he had no idea where to begin. [25]
Council members M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Jessica Fitzwater introduced a bill to repeal an ordinance designating English as the county's official language. [26] Rather than repeal the ordinance altogether, Chmelik suggested keeping the ordinance in place while asking Council members to only repeal offensive parts of it. [27] The Council did not approve Chmelik's idea. [27] The bill to repeal the ordinance passed; Chmelik voted against the repeal. [27]
A county law requires contractors to pay prevailing wages, rather than minimum wage, to their employees on school construction projects where the state pays at least one-fourth of the cost. [28] Chmelik called the law a "political boondoggle” intended to please labor labor unions. [28] Chmelik wanted to make it so prevailing wage was only required when the state paid at least half the cost. [28] Chmelik's proposal did not pass the Council. [29]
Frederick County assesses a school impact fee on builders when they construct new residential projects, to offset increased costs to schools due to the additional enrolled students. [30] When Jan H. Gardner considered increasing the school impact fees, Chmelik strongly disagreed, saying the fees disproportionately burden one part of the county's economy. [30] Chmelik was critical of estimates of the impact of building new housing near overcrowded schools. [31]
Council member Bud Otis introduced a bill to make it a conflict of interest for elected officials and their immediate family members to be awarded bids for county projects. [32] Chmelick voted against the bill. [32]
Chmelik supported new zoning standards that would allow solar arrays on agricultural land. [33] Chmelik said he wanted to allow farmers to maximize the use of their land while still being considerate to neighbors' concerns about changes in the landscape. [33]
Chmelik proposed increasing the Frederick County Executive's annual salary to $180,000 in order to attract private-sector executives, rather than only politicians. [34] When the rest of the Council criticized the proposal, Chmelik withdrew it. [34] Chmelik also proposed allowing County Executives to hold outside employment, which had been prohibited, in order to attract candidates who are executives from the private sector. [34] The proposal did not pass the Council. [34]
Chmelik opposed a proposal to increase the county's hotel tax from three percent to five percent, some of which would fund construction and improvements to conference halls and exhibit halls in the county. [35] Shreve also opposed a bill to fund part of the construction of a hotel and conference center in downtown Frederick. [36]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Kathryn B. Groth | 11,463 | 15 | |
Nonpartisan | Tom Shade | 8,179 | 10 | |
Nonpartisan | Zakir Bengali | 7,495 | 10 | |
Nonpartisan | Joy Schaefer | 7,488 | 10 | |
Nonpartisan | Colleen Cusimano | 6,776 | 9 | |
Nonpartisan | Tony Chmelik | 6,677 | 8 | |
Nonpartisan | Emily Ann Meyer | 6,665 | 8 | |
Nonpartisan | Donna Crook | 6,329 | 8 | |
Nonpartisan | Pam Ward | 6,296 | 8 | |
Nonpartisan | Cindy Ann Rose | 5,231 | 7 | |
Nonpartisan | James E. Hoover | 4,613 | 6 | |
Nonpartisan | Kiesha La Kay Edmonds | 1,607 | 2 | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Nonpartisan | Kathryn B. Groth | 58,525 | 23 | |
Nonpartisan | Joy Schaefer | 54,237 | 21 | |
Nonpartisan | Zakir Bengali | 44,623 | 18 | |
Nonpartisan | Colleen E. Cusimano | 41,861 | 17 | |
Nonpartisan | Tony Chmelik | 35,387 | 14 | |
Nonpartisan | Tom Shade | 18,066 | 7 | |
Nonpartisan | Write-in | 716 | 0 | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tony Chmelik | 2,144 | 54 | |
Republican | Stephens Dempsey | 997 | 25 | |
Republican | Fred Ugast | 860 | 21 | |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Tony Chmelik | 10,108 | 57 | |
Democratic | Annette Breiling | 6,430 | 37 | |
Write-in (Stephens Dempsey and others) | 1,055 | 6 | ||