FROSTBURG — Candidates seeking Frostburg city government seats participated Monday in a forum hosted by the Allegany Chamber of Commerce.
Nearly every candidate on the ballot participated. The only contested seat in the election is for finance commissioner, currently held by Donny Carter, who is not seeking reelection.
Candidates for the seat are Kelly Mears, Jennifer Smouse and John Shoemake Jr., who did not attend the forum.
The resounding theme of the forum surrounded housing and affordability.
Questions arose of what’s to come of the number of homes that are diminishing in quality or sitting vacant within historical districts.
Mears, an information technology employee, said she thinks investment is needed in houses that are sitting in poor condition.
“We need to invest in the houses that are crumbling, we need to provide places and ways for homeowners to be able to accept their houses and invest in making them better,” Mears said.
“But we also need to be able to fund and support rent-to-ownership programs that allow folks who are interested in becoming homeowners to actually take that jump.”
Smouse, a finance controller for a local company, said she’s noticed most of the homes in Frostburg are filled, but would like to see the vacancies that remain filled.
“I think the biggest problem is the economy, and there’s really no way to fix that currently. None of us have that Magic 8 Ball that just fixes the whole economy,” Smouse said.
“But I think if we bring in more jobs to this area, then these houses are going to be filled because those people are going to need a house to live in.”
Will Coburn, who is running unopposed for commissioner of Public Works, said he’s particularly familiar with the issue as he just purchased his first home.
A local teacher, he said finding a reasonably-priced home was difficult.
“What I’ve found, since living at my current house, which is a multifamily home, more of those need to be built to accommodate smaller families, single people, new couples in the area,” he said.
“That’s what gets people into Frostburg, that’s what allows them to build their wealth, that’s what allows them to eventually reach a house that is $500,000 or $600,000.”
Nina Forsythe, commissioner of Water, Parks and Recreation, has held the position since 2018 and is unopposed in her reelection bid. Forsythe said supply and building material costs surged following COVID-19, which put a stop to some development projects.
“Rezoning could be another answer, allowing people with larger properties to have smaller homes in the backyard or a mother-in-law house or something like that. Rehab of the housing that has become vacant because of the smaller student population size, maybe even partnership with the career center,” Forsythe said.
“But the mismatch between wages and housing costs and the interest rates, everything conspires against starter homes.”
Commissioner of Public Safety Kevin Grove, who if elected will have racked up 51 years of service to the city — 41 as a police officer and 10 as a commissioner — is also running unopposed.
He also serves as chairman of the board of directors for the Frostburg Housing Authority.
“We had 100 units that were always filled before with low-income people. I think we have to look at maybe that type of building, maybe get a large blighted property,” he said.
“If we can get an investor to come in and maybe help us with investing in that property, you could make either several townhouses or small houses on that property.”
Mayor Todd Logsdon is unopposed in his bid for a second term.
“We need senior housing, we need limited- income housing. There’s a great need, believe it or not, for student housing. The enrollment at FSU is way down. They’ve changed kind of the housing structure at FSU. There’s still great need for that, too,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of opportunities, a lot of places that could happen.”
The last date to vote is June 2. All registered Frostburg residents should have received a ballot in the mail.
Ballots can be returned via mail or dropped off inside the police department lobby.