Jessica Fitzwater announced the structure of her Transition Team.
FREDERICK, Md. – Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater today announced the structure of her Transition Team, which will help to set priorities for her Administration. Co-chaired by Toni Bowie and Rick Weldon, the Transition Team comprises eight committees: a senior advisory committee and seven working committees. Nearly 100 Frederick County residents will serve on a committee to help shape the county’s future.
“This community-driven process will be guided by the same values as my Administration: inclusion, sustainability and accountability,” Executive Fitzwater said. “Our goal is for this process to be collaborative, community-driven and open.”
The team of senior advisors is composed of distinguished community leaders. They include Marvin Ausherman, Elizabeth Chung, Thad Goodman, Sue Hecht, Ted Luck, Helen Propheter, Joe Richardson, Dr. Olivia White, and Ron Young. Seven additional working committees have been established to examine and make recommendations. The topics, and their corresponding members as of today, are:
Economic Development and Jobs: Co-Chairs Jason Lee and Linda Thane-Morgan.
Lee is the CEO of Lee Building Maintenance, Past President of the Carroll Creek Rotary, and Past Board Chair of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce.
Thane-Morgan has lived in Frederick County for nearly 25 years and has owned and operated a small business for nearly 35 years.
· Additional members: Tom Barse; Daryl Boffman; Sharad Doshi; Khalil Elshazly; Wilford “Wil” Graham; Stephen Heine; Tad James; Luis Rugeles; and Emily Snyder.
Education and Workforce Development: Co-Chairs Missy Dirks and Melissa Muntz.
Dirks is an elementary art teacher who has worked in Frederick County Public Schools for 26 years and has served as the President of the Frederick County Teachers Association since 2015.
Muntz is the Executive Director of the Student Homelessness Initiative Partnership of Frederick County. Melissa has worked for the Maryland State Legislature, United States Congress, and Capitol Hill lobbying firms.
· Additional members: Kathie Callahan Brady; José Bueso; Michael Concepcion; Dr. Kevin Cuppett; Tiffany Green; Hebba Hassanein; Carey Murphy; Jen Staiger; and Desiree Tucker.
Government Innovation: Co-Chairs Rachel Mandel, MD, and Gayon Sampson.
Mandel is a healthcare executive with over 30 years of clinical, executive, administrative and consulting experience.
Sampson is the Chief of Staff to Frederick Mayor Michael O’Connor, and earned his Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Maryland, College Park.
· Additional members: Jon-Mikel Bailey; Edwina Benites-LM; Barbara Kershner Daniel; Don DeArmon; Dana French; Edmond B. (Ted) Gregory; Jeff Griffin; Stuart Harvey; Joshua Pedersen; Justin Saltzman; and Stephen Slater.
Housing and Quality of Life: Co-Chairs Mark Long and Ryan Trout.
Long served seven years on the Affordable Housing Council, seven years on the Board of Interfaith Housing Alliance, six years on the Board of Envision Frederick County, and on the scoping group for the South Frederick Corridors Plan of Livable Frederick. He serves as Chair of the Emmitsburg Planning Commission.
Trout is a senior level housing policy and program professional with more than 10 years of experience in the field including as an advocate, local and state government innovator, and stakeholder collaborator.
· Additional members: Danielle Adams; Kandy Alexander; Shayne Boucher; Carlton Boujai, Jr.; Peter Brehm; Mary Ann Brodie-Ennis; Jeff Cooper; Melanie P. Cox; Bruce Dean; Catherine Dorsey; Jazmin Di Cola; Hugh Gordon; Michael Hatfield; Veronica Henry; Ben MacShane; Mary-Ellen Mitchell; Eric Soter; and Bruce H Zavos.
Public Health and Human Services: Co-Chairs Malcolm Furgol and Dr. Denise Rollins.
Furgol serves as the Executive Director of the Frederick County Health Care Coalition and previously worked as Director of Community Impact & Grants at United Way of Frederick County.
Rollins is the Executive Director of the Whole Heart Grief & Life Resource Center and co-owner of the Rollins Life Celebration Center. Born and raised in Frederick, MD, she has a B.S. in Accounting, M.A. in Thanatology, and PhD in Marriage & Family Therapy.
· Additional members: Tawanda Bailey; Michael Baran; Lisa Bromfield; Rosario Campos; Brooke DeSantis;; Richard Haney; Danielle Haskin; Stella Henson; Stephen J. McKenna MD, MBA, FACS; Dr. Julio Menocal; Dr. Yewande A. Oladeinde; Pilar Olivo; Shahid Rafiq, MD;; and Sr. Roberta Treppa.
Public Safety: Co-Chairs Kim Dine and Clarence “Chip” Jewell.
Dine has over four decades of uniformed, management, administrative, investigative, command, and executive leadership police experience at the municipal, federal, major city, and national level, including a decade as the Chief of Police of the City of Frederick.
Jewell retired in 2017 as Deputy Chief/Division Director of Volunteer Fire & Rescue Services and served eight years as the Director of the Department of Emergency Communications. He is presently President/Deputy Chief of Libertytown Volunteer Fire Department and Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Maryland State Firemen’s Association.
· Additional members: Shannon Aleshire; Karl Bickel; Jessica Douglass; Rabbi Jordan Hersh; Inga James; Sara Laird; Dr. Mark Landahl; Tarolyn McKinney; and Scott Rose.
Sustainability, Infrastructure and Transportation: Co-Chairs Dusty Rood and Barbara Trader.
Rood is the President & CEO of Rodgers Consulting, Inc., a regional land use planning and civil engineering firm. A lifelong resident of Frederick, he is an avid fly fisherman, proud father of three and enjoys restoring his family’s historic home in Urbana
Trader’s background spans natural resources management, recreation therapy, disability rights advocacy and nonprofit leadership. She worked with local groups to advance climate change action, including the Climate Emergency Resolution in 2020, then co-chaired the Climate Emergency Mobilization Workgroup and co-authored its report.
· Additional members: Karen Cannon; Harry George; Jeremy Holder; Jim Jamieson; Ronald Kaltenbaugh; Mark Lancaster; Veronica Lowe; R. Gary Magnuson; John Miller; Linda Norris-Waldt; William Reid; Lib Rood; Kelly Russell; and Chris Smariga.
Providing staff support to the Transition Team is Pat Murray, Senior Advisor to the County Executive. Mr. Murray served as chief of staff to the late Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, Jr., and as an aide to the late House Speaker Michael E. Busch. He most recently served as chief of staff to Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski, Jr. Murray is a senior adjunct lecturer in the Department of Political Science & International Studies at McDaniel College. He earned his B.A. from Swarthmore College and his J.D. from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, and he is admitted to practice in Maryland.
The Transition Team will hold its first meeting on Monday, December 12, at 6:30 p.m. in the first floor public hearing room of Winchester Hall. The meeting, which is open for the public to observe, will be broadcast on FCG TV cable channels 19 and 1085 and streamed to www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGtv. For live translations, watch on www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/Transition.
Reports from each team will be due to the County Executive for consideration in the spring. Information on the Fitzwater Administration Transition can be viewed at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/Transition.