Housing – Gary Bennett Publishing

Bernard W. Brown: 95 years of serving and going strong

By Gary Bennett

Bernard Brown stands in front of the building named after him on N. Market Street in downtown Frederick. Staff photo by Ric Dugan

This article appears in the October 15, 2025 issue of the Frederick News-Post’s Prime Time Magazine.

There are not too many living Fredericktonians with their names on a building, but Bernard W. Brown of Thomas Avenue is one of them. He is, without a doubt, the epitome of a life well lived. He has accomplished much in his 95 years and is determined to remain active and vital for as long as he can.

At the current United Way of Frederick County offices at 629 North Market Street, the Bernard W. Brown Community Center proudly bears his name. The Center stands as a testament to his lifelong work advocating for affordable housing in Frederick.

“I’m very proud of the Bernard Brown Building,” he said recently. “The Housing Authority named it after me after serving as chairman [for the Housing Authority] for more than 20 years. I go way back. I first got involved with my daughter at some programs there.”

His building is no longer a community center but serves as the United Way’s main conference room, featuring prominent floor to ceiling windows. Seeing it still thriving and providing support to residents makes Brown proud.

“I’m really pleased with the way things worked out. It gave the United Way a good, central place to operate and tied in the Housing Authority and their properties with it in a way that is good for both.”

AN ELK AT HEART

Throughout his career, Brown has worked tirelessly behind the scenes, not only leading the Housing Authority but with a number of boards and committees.

Remarkably, he also served as exalted ruler of the Mountain City Elks Lodge for more than 50 years. Oct. 15 of every year is now Bernard W. Brown Day at the Elks. He was even presented a key to the lodge, so he can come and go as he pleases.

“What can I say? I love the world of ‘Elkdom,’” Brown said of his time and service with the Elks. “My brother Adrian and I joined up together. He got sick and passed at a young age, but he told me that’s a good organization so stay there as long as you can. I’ve been a member for 58 years now. I stepped down five or six years ago as exalted ruler.”

As for his special day at the Elks, Brown is characteristically humble.

“My brother and I saw that a lot of help was needed. We wanted to do as much as we could and didn’t want our efforts to fall away, so I pledged to carry on after my brother died as a tribute to him. Before I knew it, decades had passed,” Brown said.

Now he looks forward to his special day every year because friends near and far call to congratulate him on his life and legacy, typically ones he’s not heard from in years.

It wasn’t always hard work with the Elks.

“We’d go to the convention in whatever city, and then we’d stay an additional week,” he recalled. “That gave us a chance to travel, and most of the time we drove. My wife wouldn’t fly or take the train. These were some of our most enjoyable times. We’ve been to Vegas, Detroit and lots of trips to Atlanta. My wife was also a teacher, so we had summers off and took advantage of that for our trips.”

ORIGINAL POWER COUPLE

Brown lost his wife Ruth in 2023. They had been married for 68 years. Ruth Brown worked as a local teacher and coach and founded the Bernetta R. Brown Dance Troupe, named for their late daughter.

Brown credits Ruth as the person who kept him grounded. Together, they were a power couple to be reckoned with.

They both joined the NAACP and delighted in helping others solve problems. They didn’t always succeed but generally felt they made things a little better.

“I miss her a lot. We had a good life together. We were both Christians, and I just remember all the special things she did for the community and family. She was the backbone of the family. If I came to her with something I wanted to do, she never turned me down. She always said, ‘Give me one good reason why you can’t do this?’ I could never come up with anything. I took care of her at the end. That left me with a very special feeling. It gave me the opportunity to show her how much I loved her.”

LABORING SONS

Along with his passion for the Elks and his work at the Housing Authority, Brown was instrumental in the restoration of Laboring Sons Memorial Grounds on Chapel Alley between Fifth and Sixth streets. It was a Black cemetery when it was donated to Frederick in 1941. The city then converted the site to a whites-only playground in 1948, but after the original purpose for the site was discovered in 1999, the playground was dismantled and the site was re-dedicated as the Laboring Sons Memorial Grounds in 2003.

“I looked into the history of the cemetery and found they closed it and built a park over it,” Brown recalled. “The park at that time was segregated. I got together with Bill Lee and a couple of friends and said we need to restore it so people can remember it. We went to Mayor [Jennifer] Daugherty, at the time and she allowed us to restore it. So we got it restored and added the monument. It turned out to be something nice for the community.”

LEARNING AND SERVING

Brown credits a surprising career change for sparking his love for learning and serving.

He’d worked for Frederick Construction Company for 22 years as the concrete supervisor when a friend told him the school system was changing the way they hire teachers in the construction field.

“I interviewed and because of my time in construction, they hired me as a teacher. But I had to pick up 18 credits right away during the summer at the University of Maryland to get my teaching degree. I got my degree and then got my first teaching assignment at Brunswick High School teaching the building trades. I retired after being at Brunswick High and New Market Middle schools. It all came about because research showed that students learned better from people that had actual hands-on experience in the trades.”

Brown credits community service for his longevity and constantly working his mind to remain mentally fit and agile and recommends getting involved in the community as much as possible.

“I got involved in a lot of community stuff early because of my wife. She was involved in a lot of things, so I started going with her. I started volunteering under Ron Young. He appointed me to the first block grant committee. After that, everything took off.”

In his many decades, he has seen and contributed to more change than most of us can imagine.

“Things are better now than they were. Now, we’ve sort of come to a halt nationally, but we’re still doing alright compared to the old times.”

Brown was no stranger to discrimination, segregation and redlining. With a twinkle but slight hint of sorrow in his eyes, he told the story of how he came to be in his current home on Thomas Avenue in Frederick.

“My first home was on South Street. We bought that one. After 10 or 12 years there, we built this house. My realtor was a real nice Christian man and he had us a place lined up on Route 40 — the Golden Mile — up on the left [in the Hillcrest neighborhood]. But, at that time there were terrible racial problems. People up there found out we were Black and started talking. The owners took it off the market. My realtor was mad and said, ‘I’m going to get you a nice home if that’s the last thing I do.’ He found this lot on Thomas Avenue and we jumped on it. I got a contractor to set up the shell and we did the rest ourselves — me, my father and two brothers. We were all builder types.”

THE FUTURE

At 95 years old, Bernard Brown’s lifelong dedication to service continues to inspire everyone around him, and he is optimistic about the direction of the city.

“I think we’ve had good people as mayors and on the boards,” he said. “I believe we should support our leaders, not condemn them unless they’re really doing something terrible. I talk with Mayor O’Connor some, and he spoke at my 95th birthday. And Ron Young, too. I’ve been friends with them all. When I’ve had a problem, I go to them and they’ve never backed off.”

His impact is lasting, and his example reminds us of the power of service and community.

Gary Bennett is a longtime Frederick resident who spends his time hiking, biking, volunteering and providing childcare for grandchildren. He serves as a board member of Advocates for Homeless Families and is on the Affordable Housing Council for Frederick County.

‘YIMBY’ analysis ignores reality

By Gary Bennett

The letter to the editor appears in the September 12, 2025, issue of the Frederick News-Post

The Sept. 5 column “Forget YIMBY. The housing shortage could disappear on its own.” is an example of a column from an outsider that really says nothing.

The word “could” in the title should be the tipoff. I “could” become a millionaire tomorrow. Sure, but not very likely.

The same can be said about the author’s opinion on a subject he apparently knows little about. He says the housing shortage will straighten itself out in five years due to demographic shifts and a surge in construction.

Five years sounds pretty good, but that is no solace to the 20- and 30-somethings who can’t find an affordable home for their growing families now.

Demographic shifts and a surge in construction also sound plausible, but I know from my time on the Affordable Housing Council of Frederick County that affordable housing simply cannot be built without incentives to do so.

The math just does not work because of the cost of land and other factors, including the price of materials, and, yes, zoning regulations.

I’m part of the demographic that would like to downsize, but downsize into what? Plus, we’re living longer than ever.

He goes on to say the housing issue is a local one and cannot be solved by national policies or national groups like YIMBY.

He is mostly right. Housing policy is a local issue, but national policies play a big part, especially federal tax credits and funding from HUD.

Frederick politicians say all the right things, especially at election time, but the problem is when push comes to shove in public meetings, the NIMBYS — the “Not In My Backyard” types — often win the day because they are organized and motivated, and they vote.

That is why national groups like YIMBY (“Yes In My Backyard”) have state and local chapters that work at the local level.

I’ve been in discussions with the national YIMBY group to start a Frederick chapter to hold politicians accountable and to push back at the NIMBYs. If you are interested in joining our cause for more affordable housing now, contact me at gabennett01@comcast.net.

Gary Bennett
Frederick

Editor’s note: Gary Bennett is a member of the Affordable Housing Council of Fredrick County, but is speaking on his own behalf.

County’s new housing director wants to gauge shortage

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon

This article appears in the Saturday, June 8, 2024 issue of the Frederick News-Post.

The first director of Frederick County’s new Division of Housing, Vin Rogers, knows he has his work cut out for him. In this era of nationwide affordable housing shortages, he believes there are many ways, however, to help solve this problem in Frederick County.

This year, Housing was elevated from department to division, with a director for the first time. This change was based on a recommendation from County Executive Jessica Fitzwater’s transition team.

“It elevates us to a comparable position as other large divisions within the county,” Rogers said. “And most importantly, it’s a recognition that the county executive sees this as a key issue going forward.”

Rogers’ top priority is to update the 2016 Frederick County Affordable Housing Study, to know exactly how big the problem is.

The updated study is a key piece of the county’s affordable housing puzzle and will include the needs of Frederick County and the incorporated municipalities. In 2016, the study showed a deficit of over 11,000 units for those making less than $50,000 per year.

After measuring the scope of the housing gap, Rogers plans to devise a strategic plan to address it.

He feels it’s imperative to consider real-life circumstances in the affordable housing debate. “What happens when your adult children want to stay in the area and be close to their families? What happens when you have an elderly parent who can’t afford to stay in the home they have now? I think it is critical for us to help people understand why it is so important for our entire community.”

Rogers alsov expects to further refine and expand upon proven programs and policies that will be addressed in the study.

Rogers said the county’s moderately priced dwelling unit (MPDU) ordinance, which recently changed its fee structure, will need time to kick in. The ordinance requires developers to pay the county $2 per square foot of total development if they opt to not build affordable units.

Developers used to pay a relatively modest, static fee, but now must pay a larger, more dynamic one, which could cause them to build smaller, more affordable units.

Since the cost of land is the highest in construction, Rogers is eager to consider how much county-owned land can be devoted to affordable housing. The county recently applied for $7.5 million in federal funds to be earmarked for pre-development costs on county-owned land.

“If we are able to use county-owned land for affordable housing and have funds available for pre-development costs, we believe developer savings would be substantial enough to require deeper subsidized units or more overall units,” Rogers said.

Rogers said developers are hamstrung by red tape and suggested that a speedier, streamlined process, or “green taping,” is needed.

“We’d like to make it less burdensome for developers to bring projects to the table because it can take so long. I’d like to raise affordable housing projects to the top.”

Other jurisdictions of Frederick County’s size sell bonds to finance housing projects, replacing private equity firms as the main source of investment. This typically saves developers millions and allows more below-market units to be built.

“What I’m used to is a housing authority that can issue bonds. Unlike the city, Frederick County doesn’t have a housing authority. If we had something like that, we could be a bond issuer,” Rogers said.

Since there’s a clear need for more senior housing, which typically doesn’t add to school overcrowding and not much to crowded roads, Rogers sees substantial community value on focusing on seniors, but strategically.

“What I’ve found is that you must be able to demonstrate success before people will get on board with affordable housing development, including senior housing. You need to produce a property so impressive that people are open to more of it.”

Rogers sees accessory dwelling units (ADUs) as part of the solution. ADUs, sometimes called “granny flats,” are independent, self-contained units that can be within a single-family dwelling, as an addition, or on the same lot as the dwelling.

“I don’t know why we wouldn’t look at expanding opportunities for homeowners to provide ADUs on their own properties. I don’t think the impact of ADUs pushes us to the point where we shouldn’t go forward with them.”

More manufactured housing could help, he said. “The speed of building housing is a problem that manufactured housing could help address. The stigma of what some people call ‘trailer homes’ is slowly disappearing. The way they’re built now, it’s almost hard to distinguish them from other types.”

Rogers wants to continues the policy exempting developers from paying impact fees when they develop affordable housing units. He sees that as a key tool that requires careful consideration based on the site and the populations served.

“There’s no easy answer on how to balance the need for more housing with the clear strain on county infrastructure. But I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. We need to build, but we also need to preserve and make homeownership more affordable for the existing housing stock we have.”

On a practical level, Rogers hopes to build on a good working relationship with the city of Fredrick.

“The city is so important to affordable housing objectives. That is where the need is the greatest. We have a good relationship now, especially through the Affordable Housing Council, which has representatives from both the city and county. But the incorporated municipalities are very important, too. We hope to get them more involved in affordable housing issues.”

Editor’s note: Gary Bennett is a retired marketing executive. Hugh Gordon is the association executive for the Frederick County Association of Realtors and has decades of experience in the real estate world, including 24 years as a mortgage banker. They are longtime Frederick County residents and members of the Frederick County Affordable Housing Council.

Can Frederick County ever be ‘Montgomery County North?’

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon

white and gray concrete buildings under blue sky — Montgomery County, Maryland

You hear the sentiment thrown around all the time: “If we don’t stop all of this development, Frederick’s going to become Montgomery County North.”

Hyperbole? Sure. But like a lot of things, if we don’t rely on facts, misinformation can take hold.

It makes a nice political sound bite and is easy to fall back on when we see traffic getting heavier and schools more crowded. We do have an infrastructure problem that will take real political will to solve.

The hard truth, however, is we still don’t have enough housing in this county to satisfy demand. That is irrefutable.

Experts and politicians from both sides say so. But not just that, ask the 20- and 30-year-olds around Frederick who would like to purchase a starter home but can’t. Ask the working parents about finding a reasonable rent that doesn’t take most of their paycheck.

Ask the 60- or 70-year-olds who want to downsize but can’t find anything to downsize into. The problem is real and the construction you see is Frederick County’s attempt to bring balance back to the housing market.

When comparing Frederick County with Montgomery County, here are some facts to consider.

Size

Montgomery County is huge. Frederick County has about 290,000 people; Montgomery County has nearly 1.1 million.

In geographic size, Frederick County is the largest in the state. We have a land mass of about 660 square miles. Montgomery County has about 493 square miles. Frederick County has a density of about 440 people per square mile while Montgomery County’s is about 2,100 people per square mile. It would take growth of biblical proportions for Frederick County to get anywhere near the density of Montgomery County.

Growth

Frederick and Montgomery counties are growing at comparable rates. Most growth in Montgomery County is concentrated in nine large cities or areas, including Bethesda and Silver Spring, which mostly border Washington, D.C. In Frederick County, most growth is centered in and around the city of Frederick, where infrastructure and transit options are strongest.

In Montgomery County, the growth in the larger cities near Washington, D.C., has been allowed to run together, giving it a feel of sprawl. In Frederick County, most municipalities have adopted slow-growth policies. Because of this and the open-space initiatives discussed below, there can be no running together of municipalities in Frederick County.

Open space

In Frederick and Montgomery counties, large swaths of land must be kept perpetually rural because of Maryland’s agricultural reserve program. In fact, the northern part of Montgomery County is just as rural, if not more so, than Frederick County. One-third of Montgomery County, or 93,000 acres, has been designated as the Agricultural Reserve.

But Frederick County does a better job.

Its priority preservation program seeks to permanently preserve at least 160,000 acres of agricultural land and protect a total agricultural base of 200,000 acres as a rural reserve to support a diversity of agricultural practices.

When you add on land in programs like the conservation reserve enhancement program (CREP) and the Creek Releaf program, land protected in stream buffers and county parkland, the county aims to have over 200,000 of its 427,000 acres (47%) in some type of program that is or is intended to be protected against development.

The availability of adequate public facilities focuses planning and development on the municipalities of the county, chiefly the city of Frederick. Therefore, discussions shouldn’t center on maintaining the agricultural nature of the county that we all love — that is not going away—but rather should be focused on how we can best plan for development in the municipalities of the county.

Migration

It is convenient to claim that large numbers of people from Montgomery County are moving to Frederick County every day to escape growth and taxes. Some of that is happening, but not as much as we think.

According to the 2020 American Community Survey, roughly 16,000 people migrated into Frederick County from 2016 to 2020. During this same time, about 14,100 migrated out, for a net gain of nearly 2,000. Would anybody have guessed this?

Of the 16,000 who migrated into Frederick County during this time, about 3,200, or 20% came from Montgomery County. But, 2,200 Frederick County residents migrated to Montgomery County during this time, for a net of about 1,000 people.

Yes, in-migration from Montgomery County is higher than for any other Maryland county, but it is certainly not an invasion. Interestingly, when you look at per capita in-migration, Carroll and Washington counties lead the way.

an amusement park at night — Frederick County Fair, 2023

How housing (or lack thereof) affects our economy

By Gary Bennett and Hugh Gordon

Sharpe Square affordable housing units in Frederick

This article appears in the January 12, 2024 issue of the Frederick News-Post.

As the largest monthly expense for just about all of us, it is no surprise that housing plays an outsized role in our regional and national economy.

First, there is the robust construction industry and all it employs.

We see the workers every day as we make our way around Frederick. It is no surprise that housing construction and allied trades are a large economic engine for most localities, including Frederick County.

Nearly 10% of employees in Frederick County work in the construction and allied trades industry. It is one of the largest industries in our diverse local economy. Any disruption in the construction industry, or any of our top industries, would be harmful to Frederick’s overall economy.

Second, there is the menace of inflation.

The wide gap we see now in the supply of and demand for housing that has driven up housing prices to historic levels had its origins in the recession of 2007.

Later, supply chain woes caused by the COVID-19 epidemic in 2020 drove up the cost of housing even more. The lack of balance in the housing market and the higher prices that come with it have been a major driver of inflation.

Even as food and fuel prices begin to moderate, housing prices remain stubbornly high. Mortgage interest rates that rose exponentially over the past year have only cooled demand slightly.

Rents remain artificially high, too, as folks get priced out of the home-buying market and increase competition for rentals. It seems clear, and most experts agree, that the best way to make a meaningful and long-lasting dent in inflation in the U.S. is to create more moderately priced housing.

Thirdly, our current lack of affordable housing may have a profound economic impact on the future if it’s not proactively addressed.

Research has shown that increasing access to affordable housing is the most cost-effective way to reduce childhood poverty and increase economic mobility in America. If we can somehow condition ourselves to take the long view on increased affordable housing instead of focusing on the short-term problems that can be solved with government action and political will, society will be better off.

In a large multi-year study, Stanford economist Raj Chetty found that children living in stable, affordable homes are more likely to thrive in school and have greater opportunities to learn inside and outside the classroom. Children who moved to lower-poverty neighborhoods saw their earnings as adults increase by approximately 31% and had an increased likelihood of living in better neighborhoods as adults.

Indeed, the lack of safe, affordable housing is costing U.S. cities in many ways we don’t always see. It forces families to live far from work, increasing their carbon footprint. It lowers tax bases that fund the amenities we take for granted. And, perhaps most painfully, we lose potential workers and customers that keep our local businesses thriving.

You don’t have to look any farther than our Maryland neighbor to the west, Cumberland in Allegany County, for a discouraging example.

Cumberland has long embraced a very slow-growth housing policy. With little excess housing stock, Cumberland cannot grow.

Young people who may want to stay cannot find entry-level housing. Older folks who wish to sell their large family homes in hopes of downsizing to a smaller, more manageable home cannot find buyers or more modest homes to move to.

Businesses that come to town cannot find appropriate housing for their employees. It is a self-fulfilling cycle that Cumberland has found itself in for years.

Prosperity for the Frederick region depends on decisive action now to make sure our housing stock meets the needs of the future.

We are pleased to see both Frederick City and Frederick County taking steps to make building moderately priced dwelling units more appealing to developers, and if they don’t build them, a revenue base so government can fund affordable housing programs.

For Fredrick businesses to grow and stay vibrant, they need more customers and reliable workers who have housing. To succeed, Frederick County must remain a diverse place where all people have decent, safe, affordable places to live in thriving communities.

Conflicting wishes in northern Frederick County

By Gary Bennett

This article appears in the February 2, 2023, issue of The Fredrick News-Post

Did anyone else scratch their head when reading the story with the headline “District 5 residents ask not to be ignored” (The Frederick News-Post, Jan. 30)?

It came a few days after Thurmont residents voted in a referendum to disallow the annexation of 16.7 acres of county land in order to stop a high-density development that would have brought in over $1 million in tax revenue?

Residents from the northern part of the county made their conflicting feelings known at a District 5 town hall held by the new county executive just a few days after the referendum.

They say they often feel left out so they came with a laundry list of spending wishes including repairs and upgrades to roads, new parks and trails, help for emergency services, and more affordable housing for seniors—the very things this nixed high-density development would have aided.

Of course, District 5 includes more than just Thurmont, but one has to wonder if these folks wish to have their cake and eat it, too.

The kicker came when one resident said “the referendum came to a vote because the people of Thurmont want an opportunity to have a development that fits in with their small town atmosphere, not rows of townhouses that looks like Frederick City.”

As a proud resident of Frederick City, I hope the person I quoted does not partake of our many fine restaurants, theaters, cultural activities, parks or trails—all those things that a higher-density tax base allows—because if they do, they have shown their true “not in my backyard” colors.

Perhaps it is time Frederick County adopt a “fair share” law in affordable housing that is now gaining traction in other states and jurisdictions—an approach that assigns each town a certain number of units to plan and zone for, based on the needs of the region and the wealth of the town in question. The towns would then share the responsibility for that need.

Thurmont, I hate to break this to you, but your working-age children and your aging parents simply can’t afford to live in your single-family town and will most likely move to a townhouse in Frederick.