A Positive Change for Cecil: Danielle Hornberger Runs for County Executive

The gauntlet has been thrown and a new challenger has stepped forth for the chance at unseating Alan McCarthy and claiming the title of Cecil County Executive.

Not long ago, it was reported by various news blogs that the paperwork had been filed to start a committee known as the Friends of Danielle Hornberger. Many county residents speculated that this foretold a primary challenge against Executive McCarthy.

But the Hornbergers and those surrounding them were mum about exactly what she was running for until the October 3^rd fundraising event, where the lady of the hour confirmed her run.

Unless you’re living under a rock, you can’t live in Cecil without knowing the Hornberger name. Kevin Hornberger has been the representative of District 35A in Maryland’s House of Delegates since 2015. Danielle Hornberger is a teacher and a liaison to Congressman Andy Harris. She is well known throughout the community and is a friend to many.

In light of the many glaring failures of the McCarthy administration, she feels compelled to act and do what she feels is right for the community, which has only suffered under current policies.

Her platform is simple: roll back the tax increases that Executive McCarthy pushed as soon as he came into office; cut the lavish spending and keep the county fiscally conservative; combat the growing opioid crisis; take a more careful approach to development in the county, and be a public servant who listens to the people and their needs.

Almost as soon as she took the stage in her fundraiser, Danielle Hornberger immediately addressed the insults and slurs leveled against Executive McCarthy, and said that it has no place in her campaign, which would be run clean and stick to the issues.

Hopefully the competition can show the same respect, which historically has not been the case. Alan McCarthy and his Cecil Business Leaders PAC have attacked the Hornbergers before. They’ve also resorted to slandering and harassing their critics.

As a matter of policy, everyone knows that McCarthy’s administration raised income taxes and property taxes. They’ve taken advantage of the state’s enterprise zone tax credits to enrich their friends in Stewart Properties and the CBL.

They have overreached their authority and blocked the Town of Rising Sun’s utility expansion (which had been required by state and federal authorities for over a decade) in favor of their own Master Water and Sewer Plan and give business to Artesian Water Resources, a prominent donor of Alan McCarthy. And now they plan to expand the enterprise zones which would include Williams Chevrolet (David Williams is chairman of the CBL and a friend/donor to Alan McCarthy), and develop wetlands along 213 to build an industrial park.

It was also discovered and proven that Executive McCarthy has been flagrantly violating the County Charter by failing to divest from his outside interests and collecting income from properties he rents out; and suing former business partners for burdens he was stuck with after they divested themselves from Baker’s Hill LLC.

 And when it comes to supporting the Republican Party, Alan McCarthy has dropped the ball by not supporting President Donald Trump, and by donating to the campaign of Democrat Anthony Brown in the 2014 gubernatorial election rather than Larry Hogan.

In our opinion, this is why Danielle Hornberger’s run is so important. For too long Cecil County’s residents have been the victim of shysters looking to proliferate their bank accounts at our expense by pretending to support our economic growth and welfare.

America cannot be a free country without a free and fair market that empowers the individual to choose. What we’ve seen in Cecil County is the opposite, where competitors install themselves into power and name themselves as the winners.

What we’re witnessing is the beginning of the fight against public corruption and cronyists monopolizing with the help of the government. We’re watching a bid for the return of honest Conservative and Christian values.

“We’re pretty lucky here in Cecil. We’ve got a Republican President, a Republican Governor, and Republican legislators all who are fighting to stop Democrat tax hikes and provide tax relief for hardworking families,” Danielle Hornberger said in her speech. “So how is it that right here in Cecil County we keep seeing tax increases? We’re seeing higher property taxes, higher income taxes and higher fees.”

“For several years our County Executive, without shame, has worked to increase taxes on our hardworking families,” she continues. “He calls himself a Republican, but he is undoing great work by conservative Republicans. While they’re saying ‘no, no tax hikes, no more,’ he is saying yes. We’re seeing unchecked spending, poor choices that we will be paying for, for generations. It’s time to stop complaining and start doing something about it. That’s why we’re here tonight. I’m running for County Executive as the fiscally conservative Republican alternative to the tax hikes and poor choices of the last several years.”

We will continue to cover the campaign of Danielle Hornberger and wish her all the success in the world.

As always, thank you for reading Cecil County News.