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Photo by Skip Lawrence
Frederick mayor-elect Randy McClement talks to a resident
during a meeting with his transition team and the public Monday evening. |
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The meeting room at the city's municipal annex building filled up like a doctor's office as people sat patiently in rows of blue chairs, waiting for their names to be called.The room's occupants suffered not from ailments and injuries. Instead, they were there to offer advice to Frederick 's new mayor and aldermen. The meeting on Monday allowed people to interact directly with members of Mayor-elect Randy McClement's transition team. "It's one tool in the chest for us to be able to go do our jobs," McClement said. The transition team's five committees took suggestions during the open house-style event, which attracted about 50 people. Participants signed up to speak with each committee. Each person got three minutes to offer input to each committee. Dave Cook attended to pitch his ideas for the Frederick Municipal Airport. "It could be a jewel in the crown," he said. Cook said his main goal was to get an air show back at the airport. He also wants to begin an on-demand air service as well. Julie Whitehair said she and her husband moved within walking distance of downtown. She said they enjoy walking to eat and shop but want to see more services for residents. "It would be really great if we could do the same for a grocery store," she said. Alex Reyes attended to help give the city's Hispanic community a voice with the incoming administration and offer help where needed. "We want to partner and work together with the mayor," he said. Drex Ryberg said he wanted to learn the status of the construction of Monocacy Boulevard, a road project that will create a bypass on the east side of the city. The Worman's Mill resident also wanted to suggest trash pickup be reduced to once per week. "With the new recycling now, all my stuff is going into that big blue bin," he said. Suggestions will be compiled into a report for use by McClement and the five new aldermen: Kelly Russell, Michael O'Connor, Karen Young, Shelley Aloi and Carol Krimm. The final report will be released Dec. 3. McClement and the aldermen will be sworn in Dec. 10. Dale Driscoll, chairman of McClement's transition team, said the format of Monday's event allowed the most input to be collected. The discussions were recorded and could eventually be digitized and posted online. "The idea was to give citizens the most time to talk about issues," he said.
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