Meet Jim Rutledge, Candidate For Bel Air Board Of Commissioners (2024)

Meet Jim Rutledge, candidate for Bel Air Board of Commissioners. Four candidates are running for three seats on the board.

Posted Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 12:17 pm ET|Updated Fri, Oct 27, 2023 at 12:18 pm ET

What ways can people contact you with questions?
Email is best at jim@jimrutledge.me

Campaign website?
www.jimrutledge.me

Age as of election day?
61

Place of residence?
Bel Air

Family members?
I am a widower. I have two adult children, ages 30 and 36.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
My son serves in the military.

Education?
J.D. University of Maryland, 1986; Bachelors, University of Georgia, 1983; North Harford High School, 79.

Occupation?
Attorney, Jim Rutledge Esq LLC on N. Hickory Ave in Bel Air.

Previously held elected or appointed political positions?
Judicial Nominating Commission for Harford County District and Circuit Court, appointed by Gov. Larry Hogan and my term ended in December 2022.

Why are you running for office?
I decided to step up and run because the Board of Commissioners are taking our town in the wrong direction by setting policies that encourage high density residential development that will change the small town character of Bel Air. The majority of town commissioners consistently promote the interests of developers over the interests of the people of Bel Air. Our schools in Bel Air are overcrowded. Our roads are jammed with traffic. Our infrastructure is stressed, and people are feeling less safe due to the recent spike in crime. I have answered the call of my friends and neighbors to run for a seat on the Town Board of Commission and help make a change in our town hall.

What is the single most pressing issue facing voters?
The threat that the construction of large, mid-rise buildings poses to the character and quality of life in small town Bel Air. To address this threat, I will vote for an Adequate Public Facilities law that does not allow high-density residential projects to be built in areas of town that have
overcrowded schools. Second, I will advocate and vote for a change in the zoning code and development standards that limit new buildings to three stories consistent with the aesthetics of our small town. Third, I will explore ways to cut the red tape and make it easier for owners to renovate, rebuild, and repurpose our existing office buildings and housing stock consistent with the small town ethos of Bel Air.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?
I have been an attorney for more than 35 years. I built my livelihood on the bedrock of client service. My career has been devoted to listening, weighing different viewpoints, asking questions, and critical thinking, which are vital skills to shaping solutions to hard problems. I have argued cases in state and federal courts and have an extensive background in property law and complex financial and regulatory matters. I know how to ask tough questions and I will bring my experience and training to serve the people of Bel Air.

I have serious policy differences with the incumbent candidate who has a voting record that does not reflect the best interests of the people of Bel Air, particularly regarding the incumbent’s support on high density residential development projects. I share the values of two of the other candidates, Jake Taylor and Steve Chizmar, who like me, seek to implement policies that will conserve the small town character of Bel Air and give the people of Bel Air a voice in Town Hall.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community?
The incumbent in my opinion has demonstrated loyalty to the interests of developers who seek to build high density apartments and condominium buildings while discounting and dismissing the negative impact that increasing the population of Bel Air will have on our schools, roads, and small town quality of life. Two examples illustrate my point.

First, the incumbent voted to deny the people of Bel Air their right to hold a referendum on the dramatic zoning changes to a traditionally historic area of Broadway. I joined more than 2,000 registered voters of Bel Air signing a petition to bring the controversial zoning decision to referendum. I, like so many of my neighbors, felt betrayed by the decision of the Commissioners to out of hand reject the referendum. Instead of respecting the voice and rights of the people to be heard, the incumbent voted to fight against the referendum in court. The Commissioners lost their case, but instead of doing the honorable thing and accepting the Judge’s decision, the Commissioners decided to challenge the decision of our local Circuit Court and spend our tax dollars appealing the decision to the courts in Annapolis where the case sits today. I believe that litigating against the people’s right to vote in a referendum is a waste of our tax dollars and is manifestly disrespectful to the people of Bel Air.

Second, our elementary schools in Bel Air are overcrowded. The current Bel Air law sadly allows intense apartment and condominium projects to be built in Bel Air so long as the schools that surround Bel Air are under 110% capacity even if our schools here in Bel Air are overcrowded. In other words, the children of Bel Air and their parents pay the price with more crowded classrooms so the developers can flood our town with more people, more traffic, less parking, and more crowded schools, and the incumbent is fine with that. I am not. Just this year, the incumbent refused to vote to change the Adequate Public Facilities (APF) law that would have reinstated a sensible rule that high density residential buildings cannot be built so long as the local schools are overcrowded. I will vote for a law that focuses on our children in our schools and in our town.
Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

I support public safety, and as I have gone door to door across Bel Air over the past two months, many have expressed serious concerns about the noise levels and the reckless driving that endangers pedestrians. I will work with the Police Department to identify areas where our local laws can be strengthened to better define and more seriously punish noise and traffic violations.

I also oppose opening up our residential neighborhoods to short term rentals that would encourage the conversion of homes for permanent residents into weekend rentals for transient, temporary stays. The Town needs to engage proactively with the County government to solve the problem of a lack of hotels in and near the heart of Harford County, but unleashing a short term rental culture on our quiet residential neighborhoods is not the answer.

I would also like to provide more time for the public to be informed of proposed law changes, and provide more time for the public to petition for referendum. The current time frames for public notice and input are not realistic and do not provide a meaningful opportunity for informed public input before decisions are made.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?
My legal experience has included litigation involving government entities and agencies and large utilities, felony prosecution, racketeering and conspiracy cases, and constitutional rights litigation.

I have been active professionally and personally in conservation and historic preservation matters, including Agricultural Preservation easem*nts in Baltimore and Harford County, and historic zoning and preservation matters in Savannah, Georgia. I successfully took an active and lead role as co-counsel for farm owners against the power line company Transource Maryland to our fight to conserve and protect the Norrisville community of Harford County from unnecessary confiscation of their lands for high-voltage transmission lines, instead of using the existing rights of way.

My leadership and community service has included serving as the president and vice president of the Jarrettsville Lions Club; president, vice president and secretary of the Wellington Woods
Homeowners Association; and serving as the founding and charter president of Bulloch County, Georgia Habitat for Humanity; as well as spending many happy years as recreational youth lacrosse coach.

The best advice ever shared with me was:
Don’t bury your talents.