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A Frederick County restaurateur said he is learning the hard way that engaging in a war of words with county Commissioner John L. Thompson Jr. can lead battle scars.

Gary Brooks, who criticized Thompson (R) for supporting a proposed alcohol tax increase in The Gazette on Sept. 2, was stunned when an e-mail exchange he had with Thompson last week deteriorated into what he called a "personal attack" involving a failed business endeavor.

The e-mail recipients included members of the media and a number of Frederick County residents.

"These e-mails included personal attacks on myself and many other citizens," said Brooks, who operates Barley and Hops on Urbana Pike, in a written statement. "While Mr. Thompson's references ‘may' have been accurate, they did not include all the information, and hence created a circumstance of innuendo. In short, the implications were that myself and other citizens did not have good standing in the community, as the information was too limited."

Thompson e-mailed information available in public court records that reveals a history of unfavorable financial judgments against Brooks between 2001 and 2003 that culminated in a bankruptcy filing.

The justification for unearthing the information is that Brooks has established himself as an authority on business matters through his appearances as a caller and commentator on radio talk shows, Thompson said.

"In essence, he [Brooks] is saying, I am a businessman ... so he opens the door to impeach his credibility and invite scrutiny," Thompson said in an interview. "Nineteen of 20 restaurants fail, but most owners don't go out and purport to be a foremost authority on business."

Brooks acknowledges that he made mistakes that led to the bankruptcy, but he does not understand why Thompson wants to take the low road. "I didn't go delving into his personal life," Brooks said. "I was just trying to get answers that any constituent has a right to ask."

Brooks asked candidates via e-mail for their position on the proposed alcohol tax increase and if they would forego healthcare and pension benefits if elected to office to save taxpayer money.

Thompson, who is running for District 4A in the House of Delegates, initially ignored Brooks' benefits questions, but after prodding, his response suggests he will not forego the benefits: "The compensation received by members of the General Assembly is fair and reasonable. If it wasn't I wouldn't be asking the voters for the job."

Thompson also asked about Brooks' motives given his membership in the Restaurant Association of Maryland and the Brewer's Association of Maryland. Brooks believes that it was his insistence on an answer that fueled Thompson's desire to humiliate him publicly about his bankruptcy.

But Thompson is not backing down, he said, because he does not like Brooks' implications that Thompson is supports a lobbyist. Thompson is the sole Republican in Frederick County running for state office who signed a pledge to increase alcohol excise taxes. The pledge was written and sponsored by Vincent DeMarco, president of the Maryland Healthcare Initiative and a registered lobbyist.

Brooks brought up the connection in multiple e-mail exchanges and in The Gazette story last week, citing Thompson's history of contempt for lobbyists. Thompson denied he has any relationship with DeMarco.

"Just don't lie about me," Thompson said. While he acknowledges that DeMarco is a registered lobbyist, he said his opinion happens to coincide with DeMarco's on the alcohol tax.

Thompson's opinion of lobbyists is well documented. In 2004, he told The Gazette that "lobbyists fall somewhere between parasites and pond scum on the evolutionary scale," and that "lobbyists represent the interests of their clients, not the general public."

As for broadcasting Brooks' financial woes, Thompson said that Brooks is considered a public figure because he injected himself into a public debate. Thompson said he has the law on his side, but Brooks is less than impressed and called Thompson "a bully" who uses his elected status to go after people who publicly disagree with him.

"I never professed to be a public figure. I am a business person in Frederick County who is concerned about taxes and what is going on in my business," Brooks said. "And this is the type of response a citizen gets to those concerns?"

Brooks is not the first private citizen to be called out by Thompson. In his 12 years as a commissioner, Thompson has investigated others he believes have tried to hurt him politically.

William Custer, who opposed the planned incinerator, felt the sting of Thompson's retribution in 2008 when he took Thompson to task for his lack of knowledge of the recycling process. Thompson then brought to light a restraining order related to Custer's divorce, as well as information related to Custer's financial tribulations.

And when Ian Stuart McCarthy lambasted Thompson in a letter to the editor in The Gazette earlier this year, Thompson responded by publicizing that McCarthy was not a registered voter.

He investigated barber Walter T. Mills in 2002 when Mills sought Thompson's ouster in his role as president of Defenders Rights Inc., a pro-development group that played a role in that year's election. Thompson publicized that Mills' federal taxes were in arrears. Mills was fair game, Thompson said, because he was part of a political action committee and a public figure.

Thompson's defense is that when an individual voluntarily injects himself into the "vortex" of public debate, he forfeits any claim to privacy. The U.S. Supreme Court, he said, defines those who "inject themselves voluntarily in the vortex" as public figures, and therefore not immune to criticism.

To try and censor him, Thompson believes, is an attempt to suppress his rights to free speech. But Brooks and others believe that by scouring public documents for dirt on those who disagree with him, Thompson is the one standing on the throats of his constituents.

During the public comment segment of Tuesday's Board of County Commissioners' meeting, Brooks asked commissioners to aspire to transparent and ethical behavior by not trying to "bully or intimidate" people into silence.

After Brooks left the room, Thompson quipped, "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

kheerbrandt@gazette.net