Name: Steven J. McKay
Steven J. McKay
Steven J. McKay
Political party: Republican
Where you live: Monrovia
Current occupation and employers (may also list up to two previous jobs you've held); if retired, list your last job and employer: National Security Professional (GCI Inc.); Frederick County Council member
Political experience (public offices held and when; as well as unsuccessful campaigns for office and which years; do not include political party positions): Frederick County Council member since 2018
Campaign information:
- email: steve@mckay4frederickcounty.org
- website: www.mckay4frederickcounty.org
- Facebook: SteveMcKay4FrederickCounty
- Twitter: @McKay4FredCo
1 – Why are you running for the County Council? (75 words max)
I have accomplished my initial goals (updating impact fees and school mitigation fees, tightening our DRRA, zoning, and APFO ordinances), but there is more work to be done to control our growth — both how we grow residentially and how we grow our government — and to reduce taxes. I will continue to be a strong voice for controlled growth in each of these areas. I’ll also look for additional opportunities to help our veterans.
2 – What is the most important issue in this race? How specifically would you address it? (100 words max)
Controlling growth is our most important issue. We can and must grow, but must always do so in time with the development of critical infrastructure to support growth, including schools and roads. I have already accomplished much in this area. For schools, I cosponsored a bill to keep our impact fees up to date, and I sponsored a long overdue bill to update our school construction mitigation fee. I supported improvements to our zoning ordinance and am currently sponsoring a bill to toughen our traffic mitigation standards for new development. I take no donations from developers!
3 – What experience (work, political or other) has prepared you to hold this position? (100 words max)
My experience comes from four different areas. I have a masters in public management that continues to serve me well. My day job in the national security field involves dealing with federal regulatory statutes, which helps me a great deal with my legislative role on the council. As president of RALE, I immersed myself in Frederick County development issues, as well as many other facets of county government. But lastly, there has been no more important experience than my last three and a half years on the County Council — learning the issues and doing the work.
4 – What is one major issue the current County Council has handled poorly? What would you have done differently? (100 words max)
Budget and taxes. For the past four budget years, I have proposed budget cuts to enable the council to lower the property tax rate. Each year, the council majority opposed it. Since 2017, the county has been generating increasing budget surpluses and has dramatically grown the budget, but has done very little to return excess revenues to the taxpayers. Ironically, I had to vote against the income tax cut this year because this meager cut was far too little. We had the money to do 2x or 3x more, particularly for those who need it most!
5 – What do you think of the county's goal of preserving 100,000 acres of farmland by 2040? (100 words max)
I absolutely support our farmland preservation goals and believe that we should do more. I supported the increase in recordation tax, which has been a boon to our agricultural preservation funding. We’re funding more requests each year now than we ever have. We need to raise our target and continue to aggressively preserve the farmland and agricultural traditions that are such a part of Frederick County. So many of our farmers want nothing more than to stay on the land, and we should do everything we can to support their goal.
6 – How well does the county do at attracting new businesses and significant employers? What should the county do? (100 words max)
The county has a strong track record of attracting high-quality new businesses, thanks to the efforts of our economic development team, and thanks to Frederick’s location near the nation’s capital, our strong educational system, and high-quality residents. We must continue to strive to balance our growth with new employment opportunities to match our residential growth. One thing that we can’t do, however, is sacrifice our public processes to the demands of large businesses. We can grow and attract new employment opportunities, but we can’t sacrifice our citizens’ rights in the process.
7 – What do you think of the Livable Frederick Master Plan? How should the county grow in population and development? (100 words max)
The Livable Frederick Master Plan is a strategic plan composed of lofty goals for the county. I support the document. I was able to change things I didn’t support, including growth designations for Monrovia and New Market. I tried — and often succeeded — in pulling some of the more left-leaning social elements toward the moderate middle. I also argued against the “new town” concept for Eastalco and supported the amendments to strike that concept. The real work, however, is in the small area plans. I support the Sugarloaf Plan and look forward to evaluating the South Frederick corridor plan.
8 – Do you support a plan to widen interstates 270 and 495 and add tolls? Why or why not? (100 words max)
We don’t really have a choice but to widen 270 and 495 at the bridge. I drive this route every day and recognize the challenges. However, I do not support the dynamic tolling concept that will be implemented. The highway should not favor those willing and able to pay more to get to work faster when all taxpayers contribute toward our road infrastructure. I would strongly prefer a plan that includes expanded lanes, a small toll for everyone, and all lanes open to everyone. Unfortunately, I don’t believe that option is even remotely under consideration.
9 – How well is the county caring for a rapidly growing population of older residents? How would you address future needs? (100 words max)
We have a strong set of programs aiding seniors. We have multiple property tax credit programs, but we can expand these to better serve our seniors. Where we really need to do better, however, is in our property tax rates. Rather than offering credits to our seniors, we should charge them less! Our seniors wish to retire in place, but it is becoming so hard with rising property values. We need to help them remain in Frederick County, with their family and friends. We also need to do more to encourage development of moderately priced senior housing.
10 – Has the county spent its money wisely? Give specific examples. (100 words max)
Mostly yes, but we can do better. My biggest concern over the last four budget years has been the growth of our nondiscretionary spending. Each year, most of the budget goes to nondiscretionary spending requirements. This is primarily about staff growth. I understand that we need to pay our staff well, but we can’t continue the path of both increasing staff and providing routine pay increases each year. This is my primary concern. We need take a break on staff growth, slow down our nondiscretionary spending requirements, and give us the flexibility to help the taxpayers.
