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When I heard that a community organizing group in Frederick was paying people to go door-to-door to round up signatures on a petition, I thought ACORN had come to town.

But no, this group only looked and acted like ACORN. In fact, it was Friends of Frederick County.

I'm sure you know that the City of Frederick recently annexed three parcels of land on the northern and western boundaries of the city. These annexations went through the usual public process at both the Planning Commission and the Board of Aldermen. The Planning Commission recommended all three for approval, the Board of Aldermen approved all three (two unanimously), and the mayor signed all three into law.

That did not end the process, however.

The Frederick Board of County Commissioners went on a rampage, accusing the city of contributing to the deaths of people in crashes on U.S. Route 15. Never mind that most of the traffic on Route 15 comes from another state, not the City of Frederick.

In accordance with state law, Commissioner Kai J. Hagen (D) and his backers tried to obtain more than 6,000 signatures on a petition to take the three annexations to referendum.

Mr. Hagen was telling everyone that with his vast Internet savvy and contacts throughout the county, those signatures were a lock. He was wrong.

People figured out quickly that this didn't have as much to do with the annexations as it did with Mr. Hagen assembling a database of 6,000 registered voters for his upcoming re-election campaign. The signatures were hard to come by.

Throw in the mix Friends of Frederick County. They were willing to enlist people from not only out of town, out of county, but out of state to go door-to-door and collect the signatures, and in return promised these foot soldiers $1 dollar for every valid signature they obtained.

Does this remind anyone of the tactics of ACORN in last year's presidential election?

Apparently, $1 was not enough. The deadline for obtaining the necessary signatures ran out, and Friends of Frederick came up short.

One interesting issue that came up during the petition drive is the status of Friends of Frederick as a nonprofit entity. Under federal tax law, nonprofits are not permitted to engage in political activities, including "lobbying."

After financially backing a petition drive to stop growth and thereby advance the policies of county commissioners they support, can anyone tell me that Friends of Frederick County was not lobbying?

Between 2000 and 2004, I was a member of a local organization known as Defenders of Citizens Rights. When Defenders decided to become involved in the 2002 county elections, organizers hired a lawyer, spent more than $4,000 in legal and other fees, and formed a political action committee.

This was so that we did not violate state and federal law concerning lobbying by a nonprofit.

Frederick County Commissioner John "Lennie" Thompson Jr. (R) has on many occasions expressed his distaste for lobbyists, and he has personally investigated people and companies who have testified before county commissioners to see if they were following all the lobbying rules.

Where is Commissioner Thompson when it comes to Friends of Frederick?

I anticipate we will see more on this issue in the near future.

In the meantime, the right of the City of Frederick to govern itself has been vindicated by its residents. And we have learned that with friends like Friends of Frederick, who needs enemies?

Blaine R. Young hosts The Blaine Young Show, which airs every weekday from 3-5 p.m. on 930 AM WFMD, and served one term as alderman for the City of Frederick. To submit a letter to the editor in response to this column, log onto www.gazette.net, and click on the Speak Out tab.