Election letters
County commissioner candidate believes diversity of thought would benefit board
To the editor:
I’m a candidate for Washington County commissioner because I want to help our county face its challenges thoughtfully, honestly, proactively and decisively. I want to ensure our county government operates ethically, not based on party affiliation, or who you know. I’m running because I believe diversity of thought on the Board of County Commissioners will lead to better decisions. As an old white guy, I can’t bring diversity of gender or diversity of race, but as a Democrat, I’ll bring a much-needed different perspective to the BOCC.
It’s been 12 years since we’ve had a bipartisan Board of County Commissioners. It’s time for that to change. I believe one party government, no matter which party it is, doesn’t bring about the best solutions. By electing a bipartisan BOCC, voters will not only guarantee differing viewpoints on the board, but they’ll also be adding checks and balances, increasing transparency and encouraging commissioners to hold each other accountable.
If the polls are correct, Maryland will likely have both a Democratic governor and Democratic legislature. Having at least one Democrat on the Board of County Commissioners will help when we need to open doors in Annapolis.
Washington County faces continuing challenges: public safety; water and sewer; roads; land use; rural, historical, and agricultural preservation; aging schools, teacher retention, and more. These aren’t red problems or blue problems, but their best solutions, I believe, are purple.
I have organization, leadership and problem-solving skills developed over a 40-year career as a WCPS educator. I’m an experienced meeting-facilitator and collaborative participant. As a retired librarian, I bring a respect for facts, research and preparation. I ask for your vote for Washington County commissioner. Go to https://electDaveW.com for more information about me, my ideas and my platform.
Dave WilliamsCandidate for Washington County Board of County CommissionersSmithsburg
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GOP-backed attack ad makes 'leap' in Grossman's stance on crime
To the editor:
Many lies have been flying around this election season, but the most egregious have been in attack ads against Brooke Grossman who is running to represent Hagerstown in the House of Delegates.
The latest one asserts that Brooke is “fanatical” for the idea of "releasing violent prisoners straight into local neighborhoods." The ad cites a July Herald-Mail article as its source in which Brooke’s only quote about crime is regarding the dirt bike issue: “We must hold those that break the law accountable, however, if the operation of an illegal bike is their only offense, incarceration is not the answer." How’s that for a leap?
The same ad also claims that Brooke is pushing for “Baltimore-style injection sites for heroin use.” This is not true either. Check her website and every post or comment she’s ever made. She advocates for a 24/7 intervention center to provide help for at-risk addicts in crisis. She lost her mother to a battle with addiction. This is not a joke for her.
Not only is this all blatant misinformation but it is also dangerous fear-mongering that can have real consequences if people are genuinely convinced that Brooke intends to release violent prisoners into their neighborhoods or freely hand out heroin.
Before the election on Tuesday, stop to consider what the ads you’re seeing have claimed and do a little research to ensure you’re getting the whole picture. You only have one vote, and it is important to be informed when you use it.
Brett GuessfordCampaign manager for Brooke GrossmanHagerstown
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Grossman is best community-oriented candidate for District 2B seat
To the editor:
I've gotten to know Brooke Grossman in the past several months and I think she's the best person for Hagerstown.
There have been deceptive ads from the other party that makes her sound like a monster. This is only because she has been running a good campaign and her opposition is afraid that Brooke will get elected.
If you live in Hagerstown, you would know that Brooke has been involved in lots of community events and openly talking to people about her views. Her views are common sense and rational and are not radical, as stated in the ads supporting her opponent.
Her opponent has not been around to show who she is or what she stands for and has been only a "yes" person to the rest of her party.
Don't let those crazy ads scare you from getting the best person elected for the job.
Lorraine BlaydesHagerstown
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Md. House Republican Caucus Committee makes 'blatantly false claims' about Grossman
To the editor:
Perhaps it is naïve to believe that electoral politics actually can be conducted nowadays without blatantly false and scurrilous campaign ads. Nonetheless, I was dismayed to see that the Maryland House Republican Caucus Committee in support of Brenda Thiam has made such blatantly false claims against her opponent in the race to represent Legislative District 2B in Hagerstown.
One attack ad insinuates that the Brooke Grossman is supporting heroin use. Anyone who is familiar with the work of Brooke knows that she has been actively engaged for years in the community, working to heal the wounds and damage that substance abuse causes. The false claims made by Thiam's supporters bring dishonor to her campaign and make me wonder how low she will stoop to conquer.
Brooke Grossman has earned the endorsements of such mainstream groups as the Sierra Club, the UAW, the AFL-CIO, the SEIU and AFSCME — groups that support a healthy environment and a healthy economy for everyone. Mainstream groups such as these are not going to get behind a candidate like the one that Brenda Thiam's supporters have painted in her desperate attack ads. I hope that voters do their homework and do not assume that Brenda Thiam's attack ads tell the truth.
Eric SchwartzBoard memberWashington County Sierra Club
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In supporting Grossman, letter writer is 'voting for a plan, not fear'
To the editor:
Fear mongering and tangential relationships with the truth have been part of politics since before it was defined as politics. Here locally, in this election cycle, it seems to be most embraced, somewhat ironically, by incumbent Republicans.
All of the supposedly rampant societal and social ills that are trumpeted by these candidates — high crime rates, drug overdoses, abortion as birth control, runaway inflation, and so on — they say are products of their opponents’ policies.
However, Republicans have been in power while they say these issues arose. Does anyone else see the issue with this? Their opponents, from everything I’ve seen, have run on very specific and thoughtful plans to address the very issues with which the Republicans, here, are fear mongering. The national Republican strategy, promoting fear and the danger of not electing them, has sunk in here.
This is most exemplified in the race between Republican Brenda Thiam and Democrat Brooke Grossman. Ads supporting Thiam are by and large fear mongering, offering very little in the way of positive messaging. The only positive messaging is “results driven leadership” and “supporting good ideas from both sides of the aisle,” yet her record in the House of Delegates is filled with failed Republican bill after failed Republican bill.
She has alienated other local elected officials with ridicule in public meetings and correspondence (much like her colleague Paul Corderman). Without much to stand on, much of the advertising is aimed at how “dangerous” her opponent would be (compared to her own ineffectiveness).
Conversely, Grossman has collected endorsement after endorsement, even from across the aisle. She has presented real, concrete plans to address the local issues we all talk about (which her opponent has done nothing to effectively address during her time in office).
I’m voting for a plan, not fear.
Aaron PeteraneczHagerstown
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Mailer attacking Perry, Grossman leaves out Republicans have been in offices the past two years
To the editor:
We just received another nasty attack ad sent out by the Maryland House Republican Caucus Committee on behalf of Paul Corderman and Brenda Thiam against Shawn Perry and Brooke Grossman (in the state Senate District 2 and state House of Delegates District 2B races, respectively).
While blasting the Democratic non-office-holding candidates for their supposed "softness on crime" the two office-holding Republican candidates — the committee's candidates, on the very same flyer — admit "there is no quick fix for community safety."
So tell us Corderan and Thiam, what have you two been doing to solve the crime in Hagerstown the past two years you've been in office? If it's gotten worse in the past few years, it's your fault, not Shawn's or Brooke's.
There's a saying: Don't listen to what they say, look at what they do. Republicans have had their chance to "do" but we're not seeing much. Time for a change!
Catherine PoropaticHagerstown
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Who is Brenda Thiam? Biography and actions don't match up
To the editor:
I’m wondering who Brenda Thiam is, where she came from, and how she came to represent Hagerstown in Annapolis. Her candidate website says she is from North Carolina, and she is happy here in Hagerstown. It also says she “found a better quality of life in Hagerstown.” Going even further, it states, “Delegate Thiam understands that her purpose is to build coalitions from across the State of Maryland to better serve the citizens of Hagerstown.”
Really, Del. Thiam?
So why did you participate in an idea to have Hagerstown secede from Maryland to be part of West Virginia? If you like it here, Del. Thiam, please show us the love you claim to stand for. Do you think Hagerstown would benefit from seceding to join a fiscally poor state? Or did you forget you love Hagerstown and the exceptional quality of life here?
I get a feeling that Brenda Thiam is indifferent to truth and doesn’t remember what she says or to whom she says it. Last week Del. Thiam’s proxies tried an attack ad promoting the notoriously false concept that Brooke is soft on crime. The proof says otherwise. The scurrilous assertion was immediately proven false. During National Police Week in 2019, Brooke was honored by the Hagerstown Police Department as a valuable community asset. You only get awards like that through years of dedicated community service and engagement to make positive change.
Going just from information on Thiam’s website, she’s never been elected to her current, or any other position. She lists extraordinarily little community involvement on her Maryland Manual webpage or in her biography on her candidate website.
I’ve lived in Hagerstown District 2B since 1989, and I’ve never met Del. Thiam, and I’m still wondering who she is and why she deserves to represent Hagerstown.
Mark BrughHagerstown
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Attacks on Democratic candidate show opposition has 'nothing worthwhile to say'
To the editor:
We are writing today regarding false and malicious information which a notorious sect of the Republican Party is now publicizing about one of our local candidates for office and a present local community leader. These appalling actions by supporters of former President Donald Trump seem to be more and more common. They occur frequently when these people have nothing worthwhile to say about what they stand for, and therefore use this type of misinformation and lies to divert attention away from their opposing candidates’ more worthwhile causes.
Now the Maryland House Republican Caucus Committee is spreading lies in an ad about a local candidate (Brooke Grossman) wanting to release violent prisoners into local neighborhoods and advocating for injection sites locally for heroin users.
We would like to challenge them to tell the public what information they have which would prove these accusations to be true. We venture to guess that like the “fraudulent votes,” the “stolen election” and all the other misinformation put out by these people, these too are examples of malicious and dangerous statements that have no proof to back them. Unless proof can be provided, these shameful people and their statements should be called out and challenged by our citizens, and should be condemned by the rest of the Republican Party leaders.
Harold and Donna MasonHagerstown
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This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Dave Williams asks for your vote; writers denounce attacks on Grossman
