Shoge and Smolens Layout First Priorities if Elected to Ward 3

At Thursday’s candidate forum, sponsored by the Kent County League of Women Voters, Ward 3 Candidate Alex Smolens said one of his first priorities would be to enact term limits for the mayor and council and to require all candidates to file campaign finance disclosures, similar to what is required for candidates seeking state office.

“The first thing we need to look at is Chestertown’s election laws,” said Smolens, a local business owner who is self financing his campaign. “When somebody donates money to you it becomes public.”

While municipalities in Maryland are not subject to state campaign finance law, Salisbury and 11 other municipalities in the state have passed their own disclosure laws to make the election process more transparent.

“We all want to know who are elected officials are beholden too,” said Smolens, who studied public policy at Goucher College. “We can keep an eye on the kind of policies they pass — and if there is any difference in treatment with certain businesses or certain individuals.”

“Another thing we need to look at is term limits — so that we can keep the people in office diverse and ever changing, just like our community,” Smolens said.

Sam Shoge, who is competing against Smolens to unseat eight-term incumbent Mabel Mumford-Pautz, said he would focus on maintaining the services Chestertown residents have come to expect, like making sure water from the tap is safe and drinkable.

“Look at the overall budget for Chestertown and you see that a lot of it goes to services. When you take your trash to the curb it gets picked up,” said Shoge, who earned a degree in environmental studies from Elon University. “Your water is always delivered [and] your snow is always removed from the streets. Those little things are what keeps the community running. As a councilman working closely with town council, I’m going to ensure that those services continue without interruption.”