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Fresh off his nomination to fill a vacancy on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners, Republican Blaine Young is already addressing old news.

Young said this week that he expects the infamous "black book" prostitution scandal, which scathed the end of his political tenure in the City of Frederick nearly a decade ago, to rear its head again as he prepares for confirmation to the seat.

If Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) confirms the nomination, Young said he would run for the seat in the fall to retain it.

The Frederick County Republican Central Committee nominated Young on Saturday as its choice to fill the seat of former Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins, who was appointed to represent District 3B in the Maryland House of Delegates last month.

While serving as a Frederick city alderman in 2001, Young's name was connected to a prostitution sting that allegedly involved with several other city officials.

"I think that that issue has been beaten to death," Young said. "It's always going to be an issue that my detractors will use to criticize me, and I understand that. It's part of being in public office."

An investigation of the sting by the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor cleared Young of any lawbreaking, a fact he said his critics need to remember.

"I had always stuck by the statement that I had never broken any laws," he said. "It was investigated by the state prosecutor ... where the issue was looked at thoroughly."

More importantly, he said, the criticism surrounding the near decade-old incident will not deter him from serving the citizens. "Even after that issue, I didn't hide, I didn't withdraw from the community, and I stayed involved," he said. "I've never shied away from it, even on the radio station."

The issue of his plans to keep his social-and-political commentary radio show, which he has hosted on Frederick's WFMD for about a year-and-a-half, has also raised the hairs of critics.

Young said those criticisms are preliminary. "People are speculating, but they're speculating without me even being confirmed to be appointed yet," Young said.

Young was chosen by the committee on Saturday after he was interviewed as a finalist for the seat. Former Frederick city Aldermen C. Paul Smith and sitting Frederick County Board of Education member Donna Crook also interviewed as finalists.

Young said during his interview that he would be willing to relinquish the show if it was found to be in conflict with his role or time commitments on the Board of County Commissioners. He said those conflicts have yet to be determined, he said.

He also wrote a bi-weekly column for The Gazette for two years before applying for the seat, a position from which he has since resigned.

Kelly Schulz, chairwoman of the Frederick County Republican Central Committee, said she hand delivered Young's nomination letter to the governor's office on Monday.

O'Malley will have until Feb. 15 to seek the advice and consent of the Senate and make the appointment, according to state law.

During a recess of the Frederick Board of County Commissioner's meeting on Tuesday, Young spoke of how he plans to spend the next couple of weeks preparing for confirmation to his new post rather than fight public battles about his past.

During the Tuesday meeting, he said he shook hands with his new colleagues and accepted congratulations from Commissioners' President Jan H. Gardner (D).

"My main focus right now is to get up to speed and make sure I'm productive in the discussions," he said. "Everyone knows my beliefs and philosophies, and those beliefs and philosophy will be applied to the way I govern."

At the top of his list, he said, is budget and business. Young, 38, of Monrovia, is co-owner of Yellow Cab in Frederick.

During his interview for the commissioner's seat, Young drew on his experience as a business owner to drive home his key platforms of fiscal responsibility and making the county more efficient and business friendly.

"We have over 100 folks who work for us [at Yellow Cab], and we feel responsible [for them]," he told the committee. "...They have to make a living, but we also have to make a profit to keep the business solvent and I think that's an important [perspective] that I bring to the Board of County Commissioners."

Young fielded questions from the eight members of the Republican Central Committee on how he would approach cuts in the county's budget, how he thinks the county could be more business friendly, and how committed he was to ensuring a strong Republican ticket in the coming county and state elections.

Of the county's budget, Young said he would advocate for scrutiny of anything beyond essential services: "We have to do it, we ask businesses to do it, [and] the government has to do it. And sometimes, you have to make tough, unpopular decisions."

Young also presented a pledge he took not to raise taxes, and would specifically look to the county's permitting department to see if its workload reflects it staffing and funding levels, especially since development has slowed.

On businesses, Young said: "We should constantly be having conversations with them to say, ‘What can we [do] to help you?" he said. "Sometimes the best thing the government can do for businesses is get out of the way."

In response to one question, he also said he would be in favor of a blue-ribbon task force, which he said he would call a "blue-collar task force," to look at permitting and other potentially burdensome regulations for county businesses.

Young was also asked his position on the county's controversial plan to build an incinerator, or what some people call a "waste-to-energy" plant because it burns trash to generate electricity. "I am a fan of the incinerator concept, but I did not like the McKinney site," or the location the commissioners chose to build it.

Even those who Young beat out for the vacant seat on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners said they believed that Young would be a strong Republican voice.

Crook and Smith, who both said they would run for a commissioner's seat in the fall, said they believed he would be a strong Republican candidate.

"He brings a lot to the table that no one else does, in terms of experience and influence," Smith said.

E-mail Erica L. Green at egreen@gazette.net.