Jerry Donald
Jerry Donald is an American politician who represents District 1 on the Frederick County, Maryland County Council.
Education and professional career
Donald was raised in Braddock Heights, Maryland. His first job was working the early morning shift at a McDonald's at age 16.
From 1985 to 1987, Donald worked on the staff of Congresswoman Beverly Byron. Donald has worked as a teacher since then, most recently at Middletown High School.
Political career
Frederick County Council
2014 campaign
Donald ran to represent district 1 on the newly formed Frederick County Council.
Donald said he was running for office in order to change the direction that the incumbent Frederick County Commissioners had been taking.
Donald emphasized having adequate infrastructure for development through zoning ordinances, increasing funding for schools, and building hard shoulders on county roads with a 40 mph speed limit or greater. Donald said he would put a stop to allowing the construction of a thousand houses on a rural road. Reducing local services and the quality of the county's education system in order to justify a tax cut was not something Donald would support. Donald supported technology training for teachers to prevent teachers from finding higher-paying jobs elsewhere.
Donald's candidacy was endorsed by the Frederick County Teachers Association, the local chapter of the Sierra Club, and Clean Water Action.
Donald won the Democratic Party primary election with 58 percent of the vote. He advanced to the general election against Republican candidate Ellen Bartlett.
In the general election, Donald received 25 more votes than Bartlett, winning the election.
First term
Council members M.C. Keegan-Ayer and Jessica Fitzwater introduced a bill to repeal an ordinance designating English as the county's official language. Advocates of the law said the ordinance was saving the county money, but Donald disagreed, saying the county still had to print public forms in multiple languages due to state and federal laws. Donald asked the county attorney whether the English-only ordinance had any practical purpose or changed county operations in any way; the county attorney said no. The Council did not approve Chmelik's idea. With no practical purpose or affect, Donald called the ordinance "government overreach". The bill to repeal the ordinance passed; Donald voted for the repeal.
Donald introduced legislation that revised rules about building on strips of land along bodies of water. The rules intend to protect the water by filtering pollutants carried by runoff from nearby land. The ordinance prohibited impervious surfaces, such as athletic courts, open shelters, and pole-type structures, to the list of prohibited uses of the land next to bodies of water. Permeable-surface trails and bike paths would still be allowed. The bill passed the council.