Billy Shreve (born November 16, 1967) is an American politician and realtor.
Early years
Shreve was born and raised in
Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Maryland. At the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 271,717. The county seat is Frederick.
Frederick County is included in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV ...
.
[Farrell, Liam.]
Shreve announces candidacy for county commissioner
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. June 29, 2006. He graduated from
Governor Thomas Johnson High School and received an
associate's degree from
Frederick Community College.
[
]
Professional career
Shreve has worked in real estate since 1994.[deLeon, Joseph M.]
Population boom feeds construction
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. July 19, 2006. Shreve sells commercial real estate at the Frederick Land Company.[ He also sells residential homes for Natelli Communities, which developed ]Urbana, Maryland
Urbana ( ) is a suburban census-designated place located in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. It lies at the I-270/ MD 80 interchange, approximately southeast of Frederick and about northwest of Washington, D.C. Urbana started to develo ...
, and Main Street Homes.[
Shreve also works as a ski and snowboard instructor at ]Whitetail Ski Resort
Whitetail Mountain Resort is a four-season resort located on Two Top Mountain, a mountain in the Bear Pond Mountains of Pennsylvania. The resort opened for skiing in 1991, and was acquired a few years later by Snow Time, Inc., the company which a ...
in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania.
Political career
Frederick County Board of Commissioners
Shreve was one of a group of three politically conservative, pro-development candidates elected to the council in 2010; the others were Kirby Delauter and Blaine Young. Together they dominated the 5-person Council.
2006 campaign
In 2006, while serving as chairman
The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...
of the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals, Shreve ran as a Republican for a seat on the Frederick County Board of Commissioners.[Here comes Billy]
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. March 22, 2006.[
Shreve said he would consider cutting the county's expenses and increasing taxes in order to eliminate the county's budget deficit.][Cumber, Clifford G.]
Candidates give views on tax rate
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 8, 2006. Shreve said that the only people who complain about taxes are senior citizens on a fixed income.[ He said he would freeze property taxes for property owners over 65, on a fixed-income, who have lived in the county for at least.][Cumber, Clifford G.]
Commissioner candidates talk housing, economics, traffic
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. August 24, 2006.
Shreve advocated for reducing county fees for building permits and infrastructure such as sewer hookup, claiming doing so would reduce the cost of homes.[
Shreve blamed overdevelopment on the lack of planning by Frederick County, rather than by the developers who built the homes.][ Shreve said that Frederick County should spend its budget on its infrastructure, such as roads, schools, and water and sewer systems.][ Shreve supported building a Beltway around Frederick. Shreve supported giving people financial incentives to commute to work outside of rush hours in order to improve traffic.
Shreve said he would encourage developers to build affordable housing by waiving certain fees for affordable-housing projects; those county fees pay for schools and libraries.][ He would also create a land trust that would own the land on which affordable housing could be built; homeowners would then only own their homes, not the land the home sits on.][
Shreve's candidacy was endorsed by Frederick Countians for Real Republicans Political Action Committee.
Shreve lost the Republican primary, coming in sixth place with ten percent of the vote.][Election Summary Report, Gubernatorial Primary Election, State of Maryland, rederick County, Tuesday, September 12, 2006, Summary For Jurisdiction Wide, All Races, Official Final Results]
. ''Frederick County Board of Elections''. September 20, 2006.
2010 campaign
In 2009, Shreve announced he would run again for the Frederick County Board of Commissioners.
Shreve said that the five most important priorities in Frederick County were education, public safety, water, solid waste, and roads.[ He said that decreasing government spending, taxes, job creation, and illegal immigration were less important priorities.][
Shreve's candidacy was endorsed by the Frederick County Teachers Association and the Frederick County Association of Realtors.
Shreve came in fourth place with ten percent of the vote in the Republican primary, advancing to the general election.][Results: County Commissioner: Republicans]
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. September 15, 2010.
In the general election, Shreve won a seat on the Frederick County Board of Commissioners, coming in third place with twelve percent of the vote.[County commissioner race results]
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. November 2, 2010.
Responding to comments that the incoming Frederick County Board of Commissioners would have no women serving for the first time since 1978, Shreve said, "It would be like saying there are no Asians on the board, or no Hispanics. Everyone has their own issues, but I think in general, people are all alike."
Shreve was sworn in on December 1, 2010.
First term
The editorial board of ''The Frederick News-Post
''The Frederick News-Post'' is the local newspaper of Frederick County, Maryland. In addition to discussing local news, the newspaper addresses international, national, and regional news. The paper publishes six days a week.
History
On October ...
'' criticized Shreve for missing, arriving late, or leaving early for 4 out of 56 weekly Board of Education meetings.[Not showing up: Shreve's excuses for missing Board of Ed meetings are lame]
(editorial). ''The Frederick News-Post''. August 9, 2014.[Karas, Rachel S.]
Liaison attendance falls short at school board meetings
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. August 6, 2014. During one such meeting, Shreve left the meeting just before the vote on whether to approve the school budget.[ In a letter to the editor, Shreve debated the definition of the word meeting, the importance of the meetings, and whether he is legally required to attend the meetings.
As a cost-saving measure, Shreve said he would consider ]layoff
A layoff or downsizing is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or, more commonly, a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as personnel management or downsizing (reducing the ...
s of ten percent or more of the county government's employees. Shreve also supported cutting funding to the county's critical farms program, which supports establishing new farms or enlarging established farms.
Shreve supported increasing the tuition
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spending (by governments and other public bo ...
at Frederick Community College.
Shreve opposed building a new library in Walkersville, saying that having a library in the Walkersville Middle School was sufficient.
When fellow Commissioner David Gray said that members of the Board of Commissioners should not treat it as a part-time position, Shreve disagreed.[Rodgers, Bethany.]
Commissioners debate time commitment
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. October 2, 2011. Shreve said he works between ten and twenty hours per week as a Commissioner.[ Shreve stated Commissioners should leave most aspects of governing to government employees, saying, "You don't add anything to the equation most of the time. Most of the time you just screw things up."][
]
Frederick County Council
2014 campaign
In 2014, Shreve ran as a Republican candidate for one of the two at-large
At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather than ...
positions on the first elected council of Frederick County. Shreve was one of thirteen candidates for the two at-large seats.
Shreve said that overcrowding was not a problem in county schools.[Rodgers, Bethany.]
Council candidates offer differing views on county school capacity
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. September 10, 2014. Shreve said that he would prefer to have classes taught in trailers on school grounds rather than build more schools.[
On the subject of teenagers who abuse prescription drugs, Shreve said the solution was to increase education.
Shreve and Bud Otis won the Republican primary election, advancing to the general election. Shreve received 24 percent of the vote.][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.
In the general election, Shreve won an at-large seat on the Council with 25 percent of the total vote.
. ''Maryland Manual On-line''. Maryland State Archives. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
First term
Two weeks prior to the swearing-in ceremony, there was an orientation for future Frederick County Council members, where ethics rules, office setup, and communication were discussed.[Rodgers, Bethany.]
Future council members get first taste of new roles
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. November 19, 2014. Shreve did not attend.[ The Maryland Association of Counties also held an orientation for newly elected officials, which Shreve did not attend.
Shreve abstained from virtually all ]budget
A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmenta ...
-related votes, saying he would continue to do so until he has a larger staff that can advise him. Shreve abstain
Abstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote (on election day) or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot. Abstention must be contrasted with ...
ed from over sixty such votes in 2015. When County Executive Jan Gardner invited each council member to meet with her to discuss the proposed budget, Shreve declined the offer. Shreve has also complained that he was not assigned a parking spot at the county's government building and that it took too long to get a key to his office.[Rodgers, Bethany]
Shreve raises staffing, parking concerns
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. January 3, 2015.
Shreve opposed a proposal to increase the county's hotel tax
A hotel tax or lodging tax is charged in most of the United States, to travelers when they rent accommodations (a room, rooms, entire home, or other living space) in a hotel, inn, tourist home or house, motel, or other lodging, generally unless th ...
from three percent to five percent, some of which would fund construction and improvements to conference halls and exhibit halls in the county. Shreve also opposed a bill to fund part of the construction of a hotel and conference center in downtown Frederick.
Shreve supported selling a county-owned nursing home, Citizens Care and Rehabilitation Center and Montevue Assisted Living, to a private company.
On a bill to make it easier for the Frederick County Sheriff's Office to enforce noise violations, Shreve voted against.[Gaines, Danielle E.]
Council approves rewrite of Frederick County noise ordinance
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. November 1, 2016. Shreve said he opposed making it unlawful to operate an off-road vehicle within 300 feet of an adjoining property.[
Shreve proposed cutting the county's budget for snow removal by $1.2 million.][Cutting snow removal]
. ''The Frederick News-Post''. May 2, 2015. His proposal did not pass the council.[
On a bill to make it unlawful to tamper with a fire hydrant, subject to a fine of up to $1,000, Shreve voted against the bill.
Shreve voted against a bill to increase identification of human-trafficking victims and create a provider network for comprehensive services to victims of human trafficking.
The ]Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a scientology as a business, bu ...
requested historical designation for Trout Run in order to use it as a Narconon rehabilitation center
Drug rehabilitation is the process of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cannabis, cocaine, heroin or amphetamines. The general intent i ...
for drug addicts. Shreve was the only member of the council to vote in favor, saying that he was afraid the council would be sued if they did not approve it.drugs
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
.
Maryland Senate
2018 campaign
In 2018, Shreve ran to represent District 3 in the Maryland Senate.[ In the Republican primary election, Shreve came in second place with 24 percent of the vote.][
]
Electoral history
2006
2010
2014
2018
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shreve, Billy
Living people
Politicians from Frederick, Maryland
Maryland Republicans
1967 births