WORCESTER COUNTY–Bud Church, president of the Worcester County Commissioners, filed for re-election last month.
First elected in 2002, Church decided he wanted to continue representing his constituents in District 3, which includes West Ocean City, South Point, Taylorville and parts of Berlin.
“I very, very seriously considered running for [state] delegate. I was probably within two days of going to Annapolis and filing,” Church said Monday. “Then I received a phone call from folks asking me to have lunch with them at the Atlantic Hotel.”
Expecting, two or three people to meet him for lunch, Church was surprised to see about six.
“They said they had heard I might run for delegate and they said, ‘We’re here to ask you not to file.’ “
When he asked them why they did not want him to run for the delegate’s seat, they told him they thought he was doing an excellent job for the county. They also said they were concerned that he would not be happy in Annapolis as a Republican in a Democrat-controlled state.
“They said, ‘You’d be very frustrated at not being able to get things done,’ so I said that I would think about it for a week,” Church said. “During the week, they had another dozen people call me and I started asking questions of my campaign people and 99 percent of them said I should stay in the county.”
His wife, Ally, and his children also told him to run for office as a county commissioner again instead of for a state seat.
“They said serving in Annapolis wouldn’t fit my personality,” he said. “Finally, I decided that my friends and family were correct that I would just be frustrated in Annapolis, and I decided to stay in Worcester County.”
Looking ahead to 2014, Church said his top priority is to get ground broken for the renovation and addition project for Snow Hill High School. Next on his list is to get the Mystic Harbour Wastewater Treatment Plant officially opened. He expects that opening might take place this month or in February.
“It has been years in the making,” Church said.
Another major project will be the annual budget sessions.
“We’ll continue to monitor the budget, our revenues and expenses and what the state will do to us next,” Church said. “I won’t vote to raise taxes regardless of what the state does to us.”
Another project for Church in 2014 will be to check into the possibility of providing 24-hour ambulance service to the West Ocean City area.
Although he filed for re-election to maintain his county commissioner seat, he already won a different re-election last month. His fellow commissioners voted unanimously for him to be the president for the fifth consecutive year.
“I guess they decided I do an OK job,” he said.
First elected in 2002, Church decided he wanted to continue representing his constituents in District 3, which includes West Ocean City, South Point, Taylorville and parts of Berlin.
“I very, very seriously considered running for [state] delegate. I was probably within two days of going to Annapolis and filing,” Church said Monday. “Then I received a phone call from folks asking me to have lunch with them at the Atlantic Hotel.”
Expecting, two or three people to meet him for lunch, Church was surprised to see about six.
“They said they had heard I might run for delegate and they said, ‘We’re here to ask you not to file.’ “
When he asked them why they did not want him to run for the delegate’s seat, they told him they thought he was doing an excellent job for the county. They also said they were concerned that he would not be happy in Annapolis as a Republican in a Democrat-controlled state.
“They said, ‘You’d be very frustrated at not being able to get things done,’ so I said that I would think about it for a week,” Church said. “During the week, they had another dozen people call me and I started asking questions of my campaign people and 99 percent of them said I should stay in the county.”
His wife, Ally, and his children also told him to run for office as a county commissioner again instead of for a state seat.
“They said serving in Annapolis wouldn’t fit my personality,” he said. “Finally, I decided that my friends and family were correct that I would just be frustrated in Annapolis, and I decided to stay in Worcester County.”
Looking ahead to 2014, Church said his top priority is to get ground broken for the renovation and addition project for Snow Hill High School. Next on his list is to get the Mystic Harbour Wastewater Treatment Plant officially opened. He expects that opening might take place this month or in February.
“It has been years in the making,” Church said.
Another major project will be the annual budget sessions.
“We’ll continue to monitor the budget, our revenues and expenses and what the state will do to us next,” Church said. “I won’t vote to raise taxes regardless of what the state does to us.”
Another project for Church in 2014 will be to check into the possibility of providing 24-hour ambulance service to the West Ocean City area.
Although he filed for re-election to maintain his county commissioner seat, he already won a different re-election last month. His fellow commissioners voted unanimously for him to be the president for the fifth consecutive year.
“I guess they decided I do an OK job,” he said.