Draft:Larry Hushour

Larry Gene Hushour (October 13, 1958) is an American politician and mayor of Mt. Airy, Maryland. In the year 2000, he moved to Mt. Airy with his wife, Mary Hushour, and their two children.

Navy career
Hushour served in the U.S. Navy as an airline pilot for over 20 years. He fought in the Gulf War and He led a civilian maintenance department of over 60 mechanics and over one million dollars. This played an important role in his campaign and draws a comparison from working with people who have varying skills and personalities to cooperating with fellow council people in a local government environment; although, he acknowledges the difference between the rank structure in the U.S. military to the hierarchy of power in a local government.

Special Election
On November 2nd, 2021, the residents of Mt. Airy voted in a special election to replace previous mayor, Patrick Rockinberg, who passed away at the age of 58 due to complications from cancer on August 29th, 2021. Three months earlier in May, Rockinberg was elected to a fourth term, beating out Hushour by four votes. In the November election, despite not processing 116 absentee ballots, Bruce Walz, chair of the town's board of supervisors of elections, declared Hushour the winner in a press conference at 9:30AM on November 3rd, 2021. Approximately 1,160 people cast a ballot in favor of Hushour. In contrast, his opponent, town Councilwoman Pamela Reed, received 548 votes. 1,710 people voted in-person, representing 24% of the town's 7,014 registered voters. Hushour was therefore chosen to finish out the forth term of Rockinberg.

Mayor of Mt. Airy (2021-present)
Hushour ran in the May 2021 election on the platform of controlling urban growth; however, he admits that some development is still required for the town's budget to stay viable without raising taxes. He ensures the people of Mt. Airy that the town government will continue its commitment to upholding and restoring the history and heritage of the town. As of 2023, current priorities for Hushour include: securing a new home for the police department and restoring the town's historic flat iron building. He assembled a crew of residents experienced in construction to study structural and engineering improvements necessary to save the building from being demolished. In February 2023, the town council voted to rehabilitate and preserve the building, as opposed to demolishing it. Additionally, with the use of funds from the American Rescue Plan Act, to change underperforming water meters, along with completing many water and sewage construction projects. On May 3rd, 2024, Hushour proposed an increase in the local property tax to fund the construction of a permanent building for the Mt. Airy police department. This would bring the local property tax to 19.62 cents per $100 of assessed value; although, Mt. Airy will keep its position as charging the lowest property tax out of all municipalities in Carroll County, Maryland.