As Frederick City’s primary election draws near, residents hope the candidates will make city life more affordable as housing prices across the nation continue to outpace household incomes.

Incumbent Mayor Michael O’Connor is running for his third term against fellow Democrat Ron Beattie, while Republican Tom Trott is running for his party’s nomination unopposed.

Incumbent Mayor Michael O’Connor - Democrat

O’Connor was first elected in 2017 and has served as mayor for two consecutive terms. Eight years later after his first victory, O’Connor is running for his third term, as he says there’s still more work to be done. “I think the big thing we want to focus on is continuing the progress the city has made over the last eight years,” O’Connor explained. “We have worked very hard to expand opportunities across the city.”

Ron Beattie - Democrat

Having served nearly five years on the Frederick City Planning Commission, Ron Beattie resigned early to run against O’Connor in the Democratic primary. He says Frederick is operating as if it isn’t the fastest growing city in the state. He wants to go against the status quo. “What we’re trying to do is have [the] government be more responsive,” Beattie said. “This city government is known for ignoring these really talented caring people that we have in the city.”

Tom Trott - Republican

Republican Tom Trott is running unopposed for the GOP nomination. The co-founder of Victory Mortgage Solutions, a Frederick run business, says he wants to help taxpayers by encouraging new businesses. “Number one, I don’t think the taxpayers have been put as our number on priority,” Trott said. “I’ve got a big business focus, I want to be bringing more businesses into Frederick.”

Affordable Housing

Frederick City’s housing costs increased nearly two hundred percent since the turn of the millennium. Angela Burke, a resident of Frederick City’s district five, says she hopes this election will bring change to the rules developers are held to. “I would like whoever ends up being elected to finally do something about builders being allowed to just buy their way out of actually implementing affordable housing on the site that they’re building,” Burke said.

In Frederick City, 12.5% of the homes in new housing developments must be reserved for affordable housing, otherwise a company has to pay a fee-in-lieu of that.

Mayor O’Connor says most companies choose to pay the fee, and explains that money is leveraged for other affordable housing projects across the city. “When you look at the universe of workforce or affordable type housing that has been built using those low income housing tax credits, we’ve seen hundreds of units come online over the last ten or so years,” O’Connor explained.

If reelected, O’Connor says he will work with the county to continue finding new solutions to address affordable housing. “[The City is] in the midst of a needs assessment, working with Frederick County to look at housing and to help inform how that affordable housing conversation needs to unfold,” O’Connor said.

Having worked on the Panning Commission for five years, Ron Beattie says he can see where things are going to fail. He says the current system is working backwards, against the people. “You have developers who see a piece of property that they want to develop, but they haven't really checked with the people who live there,” Beattie said. “So, we react to a developer's proposal as opposed to planning it.”

If elected, Beattie plans to cut costs by fast-tracking developers who agree to build one hundred percent affordable housing developments. “You take two or three years of development cost out cause they’re going to make a profit on it,” Beattie said. “That’s the problem with all the development we do here, you’re building conflict into the system.”

As co-founder of Victory Mortgage Solutions, Tom Trott says he has worked on affordable housing for years. Trott says Frederick City will need to look out of the box to solve the housing issue. “There are several programs that the city participates in and they have grants for first time home buyers,” Trott explained. “I want everyone to have the American dream and be able to own their houses.”

He adds taxes may also play a large role in access to affordable housing, as Frederick City residents pay more in taxes than anywhere else in the county. Trott wants tax payers to be at the center of this discussion. If elected, Trott says his focus will be on growing the economy. He wants to encourage new business growth in the City. “Seven years ago, both the golden mile and downtown were a lot more lively during the week, and we’re going to get things back and get some businesses open and some buildings fixed and working on infrastructure,” Trott said.

How to vote

All Frederick City residents, regardless of citizenship status, are allowed to vote due a bill passed by the -then- board of aldermen, in 2024.

Registered voters will receive new voter registration cards via mail which will show their city district, as well as mail-in ballots for both primary and general election.

The City Council approved new district boundaries in February to improve local representation. The five newly appointed districts will each be represented by one of the seven City Council Members, with the remaining 2 members operating at-large.

Residents can drop off their their mail in ballots at the locations bellow:

• The Bourne Building, 355 Montevue Lane, Frederick, MD 21702
• Hillcrest Commons, 1150 Orchard Terrace, Frederick, MD 21703
• Talley Recreation Center, 121 North Bentz Street, Frederick, MD 21701
• Housing Authority Office, 209 Madison Street, Frederick, MD 21701
• Governor Thomas Johnson High School, 1501 North Market Street, Frederick, MD 21701
• Frederick Community College, 7932 Opossumtown Pike, Frederick, MD 21702

Residents will also be able to vote in person at the Trinity Recreation Center at 6040 New Design Road, Frederick, Maryland 21703.

Early voting for the primary election takes place on August 22 and 23, with same day voting taking place on September 9. Early voting for the general election will be held on October 24 and 25, with election day voting occurring on November 4.