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Blaine Young of Monrovia was sworn in Wednesday as the fifth and final member of the Frederick Board of County Commissioners, promising he will "stir the pot and shake things up."

Standing with his family by his side, Young (R) took the oath of office in Winchester Hall in front of a crowd of elected officials, county government department heads, attorneys, business associates, friends and family.

"I like to do things differently," Young said in his address to the crowd. "I like stirring the pot."

Young said first and foremost on his agenda is addressing the county's budget problems. "These are lean economic times, and we must think outside the box," he said. "We have no other choice."

Young warned everything from slashing services to cutting the government workforce is on the table. "I'm prepared to make the tough decisions," he said.

Young's appointment ends a domino effect of filling vacancies in elected offices in Frederick County.

It started when Richard B. Weldon Jr. announced in December he was stepping down from his seat in the Maryland House of Delegates to become the executive assistant for Frederick city Mayor Randy McClement (R).

Then-Commissioner Charles A. Jenkins (R) was appointed to fill Weldon's seat representing District 3B, creating a vacancy on the Frederick Board of County Commissioners.

Young filled that vacancy on Wednesday, and has already announced he will file to run for commissioner in this fall's election.

Young, 38, also co-owns Yellow Cab in Frederick and wrote a bi-weekly column for The Gazette for two years before his nomination to the board. He has hosted his afternoon radio show on WFMD for about 18 months, and does not plan to stop as the new board member. He also served on the Frederick city Board of Aldermen from 1997-2001.

In attendance at Wednesday's swearing-in ceremony were Young's colleagues on the board: Jan H. Gardner (D), David P. Gray (R) and Kai J. Hagen (D).

But Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson Jr. (R) did not attend. Young and Thompson have traded barbs for years as Young has criticized Thompson on his efforts to control growth.

Young was the former president of Defenders of Citizens Rights, a Frederick County landowners rights' group that opposed the election of Thompson and Gardner in 2002.

When contacted at his home after Wednesday's ceremony, Thompson said he had a dentist appointment and was also busy catching up on business related to his private law practice.

But Thompson also said he had no plans to attend because he is still not pleased with some of the comments Young has made about him over the years.

"He has made less-than-kind remarks about me," he said. "You don't wipe away 10 years of that kind of stuff."

Gardner made no mention of Defenders during her speech Wednesday, and welcomed Young to the board, telling him that today was a day to celebrate and tomorrow the work begins.

Young outlined what he wants to address over the next several months. His plans include the formation of a task force to study how the county can become more business-friendly, changing the county's form of government, and moving the site of the planned trash incinerator away from the Monocacy Battlefield.

E-mail Sherry Greenfield at sgreenfield@gazette.net.