Carroll conservative activist Ed Primoff, who for years has fought government restriction on development rights, announced yesterday that he will run for county commissioner as a Republican.
Primoff, 58, a commercial lender from Woodbine, has been known around the county for a decade as an activist in policy debates and a close adviser to conservative politicians such as Commissioner Robin Bartlett Frazier. He has headed the Carroll Landowners Association, a group committed to protecting land values and other rights for farmers.
He made headlines most recently as a member of a county commissioners-appointed committee that produced an amendment to the zoning code that county residents and state planning officials called an open invitation for residential development to overwhelm Carroll's rural landscape. The law eventually was watered down by revisions, but the battle that followed its passage dominated county politics between October and April.
Primoff said yesterday that he is seeking a more public leadership role because "the decisions we make over the next few years will determine whether we become an extension of urban areas like Baltimore City and county and follow their failed policies, or whether we preserve the independent status that has made our county one of the most wonderful places in the state to live."
Primoff has criticized the county's more moderate politicians, such as Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge, for supporting Gov. Parris N. Glendening's Smart Growth agenda. Primoff believes Smart Growth will unnecessarily urbanize Carroll by promoting high-density housing and mass transit.
"We'll know it's succeeded when people are fleeing Carroll at the same rate they're fleeing Baltimore," he said.
Primoff joins a Republican field full of experienced public servants. Gouge announced in March that she is running for a fourth term, and Frazier announced in April that she is seeking a second term. Three-term Commissioner Donald I. Dell has not announced a re-election bid. Other Republican challengers include David Brauning, Dean Minnich, Henry G. Griese IV and Union Bridge Mayor Perry L. Jones Jr.
Three Democrats, one Green Party member and one independent have filed to run for the three commissioner seats. Candidates have until July 8 to file.