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If voter turnout in the City of Frederick's last election is any indication of how interested or informed residents were about what the goings on of their local government, then it would 70 percent of city residents were out of the loop.

Barely 30 percent of the city's registered voters cast a ballot in the 2005 election, spurring proposals earlier this year that lawmakers consider changing the election year to pair with national elections.

But the discussion also sparked debate about how to engage and inform city residents in non-election years.

At the center of the debate about how to engage residents in city policies, candidates have suggested residents should have more face time from elected officials rather than learning about the city through press releases.

It also has been debated whether five-minute public comment opportunities — which is usually filled with the same five familiar faces — during public meetings are sufficient enough for the quality of input needed to impact decisions made by legislators.

Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R) has caught the brunt of the criticism regarding transparency in the last four years. The low-key chief executive traded in press conferences for individual meetings with reporters, and in-person visibility for televised accessibility.

However, as much as the Holtzinger administration has had to defend its degree of transparency, it has also noted significant strides in public access by using various technological resources to bring the city's news to residents' living rooms.

Under the Holtzinger administration, residents were afforded the opportunity to tune in to public meetings via Channel 99 and access press releases on the city's Web sites.

The administration also created an audio/visual department to manage its technological resources.

Though their timeliness has drawn criticism, agendas for public meetings are accessible online and backup material can be retrieved at City Hall. The administration has also boasted a strengthening the Neighborhood Advisory Council corps in the past few years.

In the past few months, the city has introduced two Web sites — Nixle.com and CrimeReports.com — through which city residents can receive real-time alerts on their cell phones and e-mail inboxes about police and City Hall activity.

Of the resources that the Holtzinger administration has made available to residents, the mayor has said: "This continues to be an area of service that residents can look forward to in the future. They give people the opportunity to be involved in city government, even if you don't have time to come down to city meetings."

However, the future of civic engagement has many facets, according to candidates running for office this year. While some of this year's mayoral and aldermanic candidates identified maximizing existing resources as the way to engage the public, others noted a need for the city to come up with more innovative ideas such as resident surveys and an interactive Web site.

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

In the second installment of The Gazette's Election Series, candidates responded to the question of how they would ensure and encourage more participation from residents, and how they would make the city's government more accessible.

Five out of six mayoral candidates responded. Eighteen of 20 aldermanic candidates responded.

Through Sept. 3, The Gazette will provide a series of stories and candidate forums to serve as a voter's guide leading up to the city's primary election on Sept. 15.

Each week the 2009 City of Frederick election candidates will be invited to sound off on a specific topic and question.

The mayoral candidate responses will be published in the paper, and aldermanic candidate responses will be published online on The Gazette's City of Frederick election page.

Readers can access this page at www.gazette.net/frederickelection2009 for all City of Frederick election coverage.

The city's primary election will be held on Sept. 15. The general election is Nov. 3.

Democrats
Jennifer Dougherty
Served as Frederick's first female mayor from 2002 to 2006. She lost a re-election bid in 2005. A downtown business owner for 20 years, Dougherty now works as a Realtor in Frederick. She is 48 years old.

"ENHANCE NEIGHBORHOOD ADVISORY COUNCILS - In 2002, NACs were designed to serve as ‘Soapbox for Residents.' Listening to resident issues, the NACs can conduct emergency training, planning of neighborhood initiatives like clean-ups and the framework for city initiatives like changes to trash/recycling. RE-ESTABLISH FREDERICK 101 - Training for city residents introduces new and long-time residents to city department heads and offers the background on operations. RE-ESTABLISH COMMUNITY ROUNDTABLES Semi-annual roundtables for in-depth discussion on the budget, infrastructure, public safety, and planning initiatives. UPDATE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - Channel 99, City Website, NAC Webpage, Ask the Mayor website and e-mail updates."

Jason Judd
A first-time City Hall candidate, comes from a background of labor- and community organizing. A trained economist, he works in Washington, D.C. as a campaign director for the Service Employees International Union. He is 37 years old.

"We've built a campaign that works hard to draw every community in Frederick into the conversation about what sort of City we're becoming and how we can help move Frederick forward. We need a Mayor who can pull more people — and a more diverse group of people —into the public life of Frederick. As a manager, I know how important it is to bring people together, to listen and build consensus. That's the kind of mayor I'll be. Structural fixes like more concrete roles for NACs and a relevant, easy-to-navigate city website are priorities for me."

Chris Simpson
A newcomer to city politics, is a native of Frederick and owns a liquor store on the city's West Side. He is 40 years old.

"I would like to promote all the available sources to the public. I believe if the city residents know about the programs they will use them more. Hopefully just advertising them will increase use. If not that maybe we can use the city police mobile headquarters for cookouts and pass out fliers."

Republicans
Randy McClement
Owner of Market Street Bagel and Deli in downtown Frederick. He ran unsuccessfully for alderman four years ago, and sits on numerous boards in Frederick. He is president of the Tourism Council of Frederick County. He is 52 years old.

"I believe that we need to make sure we are providing as much information to the public via any communication tool at our disposal. There are tools already in place that I would continue to use, such as the NAC's, Crimereports.com, Channel 99 and the newly implemented NIXEL program. I would also be a Mayor that would have a continual personal presence in our neighborhoods, our business communities, Winchester Hall and the State House. I feel it is the responsibility of the citizens of Frederick to stay informed and the responsibility of City Hall to communicate as efficiently as possible."

Ron Tobin
Serves as executive assistant for Mayor W. Jeff Holtzinger (R), where he has overseen city infrastructure projects. He is 68 years old.

"We will continue to upgrade Cable channel features and web casting technology. Currently four City public meetings are broadcast live on Channel 99 and streamed and archived on the City website. All City public meetings will be broadcast in the near future. Wi-Fi will be available in our Boardroom. I have committed to a bi-monthly press conference to insure a full dialogue on City initiatives and citizen concerns. Under my initiatives, we will reach out to the NACs in the budget process allowing for a more collaborative participation. The City website design will be more user friendly."

Clint Hoffman
Owner of Discount Towing in Frederick. This is his first political bid. Failed to respond for this story. He is 46 years old.