(9/27) A "horse race" of four candidates vying for two seats brought victory to incumbent Commissioner Frank Davis and Planning Commission Secretary Amy Pollitt during Emmitsburg Town Council election September 27.

Hundreds of voters turned out for the town election for the council seats up for election previously occupied by Davis and TJ Burns.

A total of 290 ballots were cast, with Davis receiving 246, Pollitt with 204, Mark Long with 64, and Planning Commission Vice-Chair Kevin Hagen with 60 votes.

Davis, President of the Vigilant Hose Company said his main goals for the next three years is to develop and prioritize projects and major expenditures, as well as improving customer service to our businesses and citizens. "As there are major plans for both residential and business development, we need to strategize what would be best for our town and work hard to make the right choices and bring it to reality."

Davis noted several concerns for the future of Emmitsburg. "While it is important to have regulations and ordinances, there comes a point when we overregulate and establish unnecessary fees. These need to be reviewed. Additionally, a lot of effort has been put forth over the last several years to beautify our town; the same effort is needed to upgrade our infrastructure. We also need to become a business-friendly town. We need to help our businesses succeed not discourage customers from visiting downtown," stated Davis.

Pollitt said she has always been vocal about her options at town meetings since becoming a resident in 2015, and felt it was finally time to reach for a council position, she said. A graduate of the Mount, Pollitt worked for Frederick County Public School as a general education teacher and a teacher specialist for instructional technology and now works as an assistive technology teacher specialist.

Pollitt aims to use her knowledge from the Planning Commission to help provide an understanding of many considerations and issues faced by the town as it develops. "I hope to bring fresh ideas and work with existing town council members to find solutions that are unique to our community," she said.

Pollitt said she was initially drawn to Emmitsburg for its close-knit atmosphere and is passionate about not seeing Emmitsburg "turn into another Frederick or Urbana where every inch is packed with new housing developments."

The two seats are three-year terms. Council members are paid $4,000 a year.

Burns made the difficult decision not to run for reelection, citing a growing family to put first. At Council’s August meeting, the public and council members alike expressed gratitude to Burns for his dedicated service to the community and local government and wished him success.

Burns and Davis previously swept to victory together as newcomers in 2019 in the last contested town election.

Last year’s election returned incumbent Commissioners Tim O’Donnell and Cliff Sweeney to the Town Council with a 269-resident turn out.

Following the swearing in of newly elected Pollitt and incumbent Davis at the Counicl’s October meeting, the Emmitsburg Town Council reorganized to include Tim O’Donnell as Council President, Joseph Ritz as council Vice President, and planning commission liaison, Clifford Sweeney as Treasurer, Davis as Planning Commission liaison, and Pollitt for the Citizens Advisory Committee liaison.