Planning Commission member running for Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners

Sep. 21—Valerie Turnquist didn't see herself running for elected office until Emmitsburg's Board of Commissioners in April voted to increase water rates 36% a year for five years.

"I just couldn't believe it," Turnquist said. "I figured out my own water usage, and based on that, in five years, the quarterly bill is going to be more than my mortgage."

Turnquist, 57, was appointed in December 2022 to Emmitsburg's Planning Commission. She began attending more Board of Commissioners meetings and learned about the water rate increase.

Then, Commissioner Joe Ritz said earlier this year he would not run for reelection.

"I decided to throw my hat into the ring and see what I could do about bringing fiscal responsibility to our town," Turnquist said.

Turnquist is one of three candidates for one commissioner seat. The others are former Commissioner Glenn Blanchard and a newcomer to town government, Dale L. Sharrer.

The election is Sept. 26.

Commissioners Frank Davis and Tim O'Donnell are running for mayor. The incumbent, Donald Briggs, is not running again.

Commissioners receive $4,000 annually, paid in monthly installments, according to the town code.

Turnquist said she is an administrative laboratory manager at the National Cancer Institute's Center for Cancer Research.

She supports moving money from the town's general fund to the town's water fund, an enterprise fund, to help with its longstanding deficit.

She also said the town could save money on contracted labor costs.

"The overhead is outrageous for contracts," she said. "Could we do some of that work in house?"

Turnquist said the town could look at its priorities and think about necessary costs. She cited a proposal to buy new streetlights.

The Board of Commissioners recently approved a bid to buy streetlights, according to code enforcement officer Kadeen Brim.

The current streetlights, from 1980, do not have a dimmer option, and town residents have complained that they shine into residential windows at night, according to town documents.

The town approved a bid from Catoctin Lighting Service for $266,140, primarily covered by several federal grants, with a town match of $71,590, according to the agenda packet.

Turnquist was appointed in December 2022 to the Planning Commission as an alternate, voting only if a regular member is absent.

In March 2023, she took the place of another member who resigned and is now serving a term that ends in March 2026.

In 2015, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office was called to her house because of a dispute between her and her teenage son. Turnquist was charged after the sheriff's office said she shoved and kicked sheriff's deputies and offered sexual favors in return for not being arrested.

Turnquist said she believes in transparency, so she talked in a recent interview about what happened.

"I think, at one time or another, we all face trauma and loss in our lives. And I dealt with that, through self medicating with alcohol at that time. Now, the charges that were written are completely without merit. And they were dismissed," she said.

Court records show that Turnquist pleaded guilty on July 29, 2015, to one count of resisting arrest and was placed on 24 months of unsupervised probation before judgment, according to court documents provided by Turnquist. She was fined $500, with $400 suspended.

The remaining charges — second-degree assault, attempted bribery of a public official, and obstructing and hindering — were dismissed.

The case was expunged in 2019, according to the documents.

Turnquist said she completed the terms of her probation.

She said the incident represented her "rock bottom." She has been sober for eight years and participates in Alcoholics Anonymous, she said.

"I guess it's an opportunity to inspire other people who may be in a negative situation that, you know, our past doesn't define us," Turnquist said.