View source for Tony Chmelik

{{Infobox Officeholder
|name            = Tony Chmelik
|order           = Frederick County Councilmember, District 2
|term_start      = December 1, 2014
|term_end        = December 1, 2018
|deputy          =
|predecessor     = Office created
|successor = Steve McKay
|image           = 
|birth_date      = 
|birth_place     = 
|birth_name      = 
|death_date      = 
|death_place     = 
|religion        = 
|party           = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
|alma_mater      =
|residence       = [[Ijamsville, Maryland]]<ref name= fcps/> 
|website         =
}}
'''Tony Chmelik''' is an American politician. He represents district 2 on the [[Frederick County Council]].

== Education and professional career ==


== Political career ==
=== Frederick County Board of Education ===
==== 2008 campaign ====
Chmelik ran for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Education in 2008.<ref>Breitenbach, Sarah. "Twelve candidates file in Board of Education race". ''The Frederick News-Post''. December 4, 2007.</ref>

Chmelik was opposed to teaching students about preventing [[sexual assault]].<ref name= fcps>Chmelik, Joe; Chmelik, Tony. "FCPS should stop usurping rights, duties of parents". ''The Frederick News-Post''. December 19, 2007.</ref> Chmelik said that teachers should be required to work for Frederick County Public Schools for a certain amount of time if the county pays for their graduate school tuition.<ref>Breitenbach, Sarah. "BoE candidates talk spending, policy at forum". ''The Frederick News-Post''. February 6, 2008.</ref>

In the race for three open seats, Chmelik came in seventh place with six percent of the vote in the primary election.<ref>Andyshak, Ashley. "Final vote count shuffles father and son BoE candidates". ''The Frederick News-Post''. February 26, 2008.</ref>

==== 2012 campaign ====
Chmelik ran for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Education again in 2012.<ref>Ames, Blair. "12 register to run for school board". ''The Frederick News-Post''. January 12, 2012.</ref> 

Chmelik said his highest priorities would be reevaluating the curriculum and increasing the board's effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency.<ref>Ames, Blair. "Chmelik ready to bring ideas to school system". ''The Frederick News-Post''. February 11, 2012.</ref>

When a secretary at [[Urbana High School (Maryland)|Urbana High School]] put a [[nativity scene]] on her desk, the principal asked the secretary to remove it because it promoted Christianity.<ref name= remove>Ames, Blair. "Secretary asked to remove nativity scene from desk". ''The Frederick News-Post''. December 22, 2011.</ref> Frederick County Public Schools' policy said that school employees are representatives of the state of Maryland while performing official duties.<ref name= remove/> As representatives of the state, school employees are not allowed to display a Nativity scene on school property because doing so would constitute the [[Establishment_Clause|state promoting a certain religion]], which is [[unconstitutional]] according to the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution]].<ref name= remove/> Chmelik said the nativity scene did not constitute teaching or preaching of Christianity and should be allowed.<ref name= remove/> 

In the primary election, Chmelik came in sixth place with ten percent of the vote, advancing to the general election.<ref>Ames, Blair. "Chmelik wins sixth spot on BoE ballot". ''The Frederick News-Post''. April 14, 2012.</ref><ref name= 2012p/> In the general election, Chmelik received fourteen percent of the vote, coming in fifth place for three open seats.<ref name= 2012g/>

=== Frederick County Council ===
====2014 campaign====
Chmelik ran to represent the second district on the newly created Frederick County Council in 2014.<ref>"On the ballot". ''The Frederick News-Post''. February 26, 2014.</ref> Stephens Dempsey and Fred Ugast also ran in the Republican primary election.<ref name= 2014p/>

Chmelik said he was running for Council because he wanted "to keep Frederick County moving in a positive direction".<ref name = district>Rodgers, Bethany. "County Council District 2 candidate Tony Chmelik". ''The Frederick News-Post''. June 7, 2014.</ref> Chmelik said that the biggest issue facing the second district was roads and schools.<ref name = district/> Chmelik supported improvements to [[Maryland Route 75|Route 75]] and [[Maryland Route 80|Route 80]].<ref name = district/> Chmelik wanted to accelerate construction of a new elementary school in [[Urbana, Maryland|Urbana]], expand the middle school in Urbana, and build a new elementary school in [[Monrovia, Maryland|Monrovia]].<ref name = district/>

Chmelik won the Republican primary election with 54 percent of the vote.<ref>Loos, Kelsi; Mullins, Patti Borda. "Voters pick County Council contenders". ''The Frederick News-Post''. June 25, 2014.</ref><ref name= 2014p/> Chmelik appeared on the general election ballot along with [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] candidate Annette Breiling.<ref name= 2014g/> Stephens Dempsey renounced his Republican Party affiliation and ran as an [[independent politician|independent]] [[write-in]] candidate, saying he could not possibly support Chmelik's campaign.<ref>Rodgers, Bethany. "CASA entreats Md. governor candidate to disavow Jenkins". ''The Frederick News-Post''. August 8, 2014.</ref><ref>Rodgers, Bethany. "Write-in candidates fight uphill battle". ''The Frederick News-Post''. October 29, 2014.</ref> 

Chmelik promised to never vote to increase his own salary.<ref>Rodgers, Bethany. "Candidates discuss changing charter's budget process, cutting elected posts". ''The Frederick News-Post''. July 19, 2014.</ref> Chmelik signed the [[Americans for Tax Reform]]'s [[Taxpayer Protection Pledge]] to "oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes".<ref>Rodgers, Bethany. "Young, GOP council candidates sign anti-tax pledge". ''the Frederick News-Post''. August 6, 2014.</ref>

Chmelik won the general election, receiving 57 percent of the vote.<ref>Loos, Kelsi; Borda-Mullins, Patti. "At-large race favors Republicans in county council". ''The Frederick News-Post''. November 5, 2014.</ref> Following the win, Chmelik promised to work with all other members of the Council, regardless of political party affiliation.<ref>Jones, Paige. "County Council pledges teamwork before swearing-in". ''The Frederick News-Post''. November 8, 2014.</ref>

====First term====
At the beginning of the term, the Council decided to establish the position of [[treasurer]], and the Council voted to appoint Chmelik to the position.<ref name= rewritten>Gaines, Danielle E. "Political Notes: Rewriting the Rules, again". ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 12, 2016.</ref> After a year and a half, Chmelik had not yet produced any quarterly financial reports, which he had promised when he was originally appointed.<ref name= rewritten/> Chmelik defended keeping the position, saying that having a treasurer is the way to provide accountability for spending public funds.<ref name= rewritten/> The Council voted in favor of abolishing the treasurer position.<ref name= rewritten/>

In 2015, the Frederick County Council approved a county budget that included $615,000 of spending cuts.<ref name= budget>Rodgers, Bethany. "Frederick County Council advances budget with $615K in cuts". ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 1, 2015.</ref> Chmelik voted against the budget, saying it did not cut spending enough.<ref name= budget/> Chmelik said he saw the budget as a property tax increase, even though the property tax rate was not changed.<ref>Fefield, Jen. "County Council hopes county executive will negotiate on budget". ''The Frederick News-Post''. April 30, 2015.</ref> The [[editorial board]] of ''[[The Frederick News-Post]]'' criticized Chmelik for not being specific on where he wanted to cut the budget and presenting no budget-cutting ideas during the Council hearing, making the editorial board feel that he had no idea where to begin.<ref>''Footloose approach to budget by Shreve, Delauter & Chmelik'' ([[editorial]]). ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 3, 2015.</ref>

Council members [[M.C. Keegan-Ayer]] and Jessica Fitzwater introduced a bill to repeal an ordinance [[English-only movement|designating]] [[English language|English]] as the county's [[official language]].<ref name= english>Loos, Kelly. "Bill introduced to repeal Frederick County's English-only ordinance". ''The Frederick News-Post''. June 16, 2015.</ref> Rather than repeal the ordinance altogether, Chmelik suggested keeping the ordinance in place while asking Council members to only repeal offensive parts of it.<ref name= repealed>Loos, Kelsi. "Frederick County's English-only ordinance repealed". ''The Frederick News-Post''. August 18, 2015.</ref> The Council did not approve Chmelik's idea.<ref name= repealed/> The bill to repeal the ordinance passed; Chmelik voted against the repeal.<ref name= repealed/>

A county law requires contractors to pay prevailing wages, rather than minimum wage, to their employees on school construction projects where the state pays at least one-fourth of the cost.<ref name= mind>Fifield, Jen. "Construction law top of mind as County Council considers legislative priorities". ''The Frederick News-Post''. September 22, 2015.</ref> Chmelik called the law a "political boondoggle” intended to please labor unions.<ref name= mind/> Chmelik wanted to make it so prevailing wage was only required when the state paid at least half the cost.<ref name= mind/> Chmelik's proposal did not pass the Council.<ref>Fifield, Jen. "Frederick County's priorities in Annapolis to go to public hearing". ''The Frederick News-Post''. October 2, 2015.</ref>

Frederick County assesses a school impact fee on builders when they construct new residential projects, to offset increased costs to schools due to the additional enrolled students.<ref name= proposed>Gaines, Danielle E. "Council discusses proposed increase to school fee paid when new homes built". ''The Frederick News-Post''. December 8, 2015.</ref> When [[Jan H. Gardner]] considered increasing the school impact fees, Chmelik strongly disagreed, saying the fees disproportionately burden one part of the county's economy.<ref name= proposed/> Chmelik was critical of estimates of the impact of building new housing near overcrowded schools.<ref>Bauer-Wolf, Jeremy. "Frederick county council members blast bill to raise developer fees". ''The Frederick News-Post''. February 9, 2016.</ref> 

Council member [[Bud Otis]] introduced a bill to make it a [[conflict of interest]] for elected officials and their immediate family members to be awarded bids for county projects.<ref name= ethics>Gaines, Danielle E. "New ethics bill goes before Frederick County Council". ''The Frederick News-Post''. January 12, 2016.</ref> Chmelick voted against the bill.<ref name= ethics/>

Chmelik supported new zoning standards that would allow [[solar power|solar arrays]] on agricultural land.<ref name= solar>Gaines, Danielle E. "County Council works to update regulations of large solar arrays". ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 24, 2016.</ref> Chmelik said he wanted to allow farmers to maximize the use of their land while still being considerate to neighbors' concerns about changes in the landscape.<ref name= solar/> 

Chmelik proposed increasing the Frederick County Executive's annual salary to $180,000 in order to attract private-sector executives, rather than only politicians.<ref name= pares>Gaines, Danielle. "Frederick County Council pares down proposed charter amendments". ''The Frederick News-Post". June 7, 2016.</ref> When the rest of the Council criticized the proposal, Chmelik withdrew it.<ref name= pares/> Chmelik also proposed allowing County Executives to hold outside employment, which had been prohibited, in order to attract candidates who are executives from the private sector.<ref name= pares/> The proposal did not pass the Council.<ref name= pares/>

Chmelik opposed a proposal to increase the county's [[hotel tax]] from three percent to five percent, some of which would fund construction and improvements to conference halls and exhibit halls in the county.<ref>Gaines, Danielle E. "Political Notes: More hotel tax hullabaloo". ''The Frederick News-Post''. March 10, 2016.</ref> Shreve also opposed a bill to fund part of the construction of a hotel and conference center in downtown Frederick.<ref>Lavin, Nancy. "Frederick County Council OKs agreement for downtown hotel". ''The Frederick News-Post''. October 25, 2016.</ref>

==Electoral history==


===2012===
{{Election box begin no change
  | title     = 2012 [[Primary Election]], [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]] [[Board of Education]]<ref name= 2012p>"[http://elections.state.md.us/elections/2012/results/primary/gen_results_2012_3_by_county_110.html Election Summary Report, Presidential Praimry Election, Frederick County, Maryland, Tuesday, April 3, 2012, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Final Results]". ''Frederick County Board of Elections''. May 2, 2012.</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Kathryn B. Groth
  |votes      = 11,463
  |percentage = 15
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Tom Shade
  |votes      = 8,179
  |percentage = 10
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Zakir Bengali
  |votes      = 7,495
  |percentage = 10
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Joy Schaefer
  |votes      = 7,488
  |percentage = 10
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Colleen Cusimano
  |votes      = 6,776
  |percentage = 9
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Tony Chmelik
  |votes      = 6,677
  |percentage = 8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Emily Ann Meyer
  |votes      = 6,665
  |percentage = 8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Donna Crook
  |votes      = 6,329
  |percentage = 8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Pam Ward
  |votes      = 6,296
  |percentage = 8
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Cindy Ann Rose
  |votes      = 5,231
  |percentage = 7
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = James E. Hoover
  |votes      = 4,613
  |percentage = 6
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Kiesha La Kay Edmonds
  |votes      = 1,607
  |percentage = 2
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
  | title     = 2012 [[General Election]], [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]] [[Board of Education]]<ref name= 2012g>"[https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/257321 Election Summary Report, Presidential General Election, Frederick County, Maryland, Tuesday, November 6, 2012, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Final Results]". ''Frederick County Board of Elections''. November 20, 2012.</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Kathryn B. Groth
  |votes      = 58,525
  |percentage = 23
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Joy Schaefer
  |votes      = 54,237
  |percentage = 21
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Zakir Bengali
  |votes      = 44,623
  |percentage = 18
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Colleen E. Cusimano
  |votes      = 41,861
  |percentage = 17
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Tony Chmelik
  |votes      = 35,387
  |percentage = 14
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Tom Shade
  |votes      = 18,066
  |percentage = 7
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Nonpartisan
  |candidate  = Write-in
  |votes      = 716
  |percentage = 0
}}
{{Election box end}}

===2014===
{{Election box begin no change
  | title     = 2014 [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] [[Primary Election]], [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]] [[Frederick County Council|Council]]<ref name= 2014p>"[https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/272064 Election Summary Report, Gubernatorial Primary Election, Frederick County, Maryland, Tuesday, June 24, 2014, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Final Results]". ''Frederick County Board of Elections''. July 8, 2014.</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Tony Chmelik
  |votes      = 2,144
  |percentage = 54
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Stephens Dempsey
  |votes      = 997
  |percentage = 25
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Fred Ugast
  |votes      = 860
  |percentage = 21
}}
{{Election box end}}

{{Election box begin no change
  | title     = 2014 [[General Election]], [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]] [[Frederick County Council|Council]]<ref name=2014g>"[https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/277460 Election Summary Report, Gubernatorial General Election, Frederick County, Maryland, November 4, 2014, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Counters, All Races, Official Results]". ''Frederick County Board of Elections''. November 18, 2014.</ref>
}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Republican Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Tony Chmelik
  |votes      = 10,108
  |percentage = 57
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link no change
  |party      = Democratic Party (United States)
  |candidate  = Annette Breiling
  |votes      = 6,430
  |percentage = 37
}}
{{Election box candidate no change
  |party      = 
  |candidate  = Write-in ''(Stephens Dempsey and others)''
  |votes      = 1,055
  |percentage = 6
}}
{{Election box end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==External links==
* {{URL|https://www.frederickcountymd.gov/5920/Tony-Chmelik|Official Council web site}}
* {{facebook|Tony-Chmelik-Candidate-for-County-Council-District-2-610674465674994/}}

{{Current Frederick County Council (Maryland)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chmelik, Tony}}
[[Category:Belmont Abbey College alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Frederick, Maryland]]
[[Category:Maryland Republicans]]
{{Source Wikipedia}}