Sitting in the kitchen of his Bel Air home, Terry Hanley speaks in earnest as he describes his views on Harford County politics. It’s a proto-stump speech laden with enthusiasm, aimed at a moderate Republican base, and one he’ll deliver many more times after he entered the race for the county council’s District C seat on Friday.
Hanley, 45, will face off against incumbent “Captain” Jim McMahan in September’s primary election. He announced his candidacy in front of the county courthouse in Bel Air Friday afternoon, shortly after County Executive David Craig joined with former Governor Robert Ehrlich to open their joint Harford campaign headquarters on Main Street.
The night before his announcement, Hanley spoke with The Dagger, providing a glimpse of what will likely be his pitch to voters, casting himself both as an everyman and his own man, and defending his decision to seek a council seat. In recent months, Hanley’s name has been bandied about as a possible candidate for several positions, but he said he believes a county legislative job is the best choice.
“The fact is that I’m a local guy, and county council fit me best, and fit my family best,” said Hanley, who has served as a town commissioner since 2003. “It just felt like this is kind of positive work that shows what you can get done, with a phone call, with an e-mail.”
Hanley said his agenda is centered around the core Republican issues of reducing government spending and supporting local business efforts while preparing the county to take full advantage of the Army’s BRAC effort before its September 2011 deadline.
While private businesses and citizens have been pummeled by the deep economic recession of the last few years, Hanley said he believes government has yet to feel those effects, and is still riding a “gravy train” left over from the housing bubble. However, he said he believes that will end soon, requiring a sharp reduction in government spending.
“This county needs to concentrate on the private sector more than ever, government needs to get out of the way,” Hanley said. “You can’t get a job from a poor man.”
To be elected, Hanley will have to follow in the footsteps of and defeat McMahan, who was elected to the District C seat in 2006 after four years as town commissioner. The district includes a portion of central Harford County including the Town of Bel Air.
Hanley said there were several races he could have jumped into, but chose District C to stay involved in Harford County, not to defeat McMahan.
“I’m running for the job,” he said. “Numerous people said, ‘well, you’re running against Captain Jim.’ I’m not running against him, I’m running for the job.”
“For the last year and a half, I’ve had people say I should do this, or I should do that, and I’ve had a lot of options,” he said.
And some of those weighing his options may not have been members of his own party. Hanley claims he was approached by Democratic operatives who offered to back his candidacy for higher office if he’d switch parties.
“I’ve been approached by Democrats, they said ‘switch parties, we’ll put you up as county executive,’” he said. “I said, I can’t do it, these are my core values, I can’t switch platforms.”
But Hanley said he would also keep members of his own party at arm’s length during the election.
“You see a lot of guys doing these alliances, and quite honestly I’m running my own race,” he said. “There are a lot of good people out there, they’ll get my vote, but I’m not walking down the street with [their] banners.”
Hanley’s decision to run for higher office comes after two handpicked candidates, Gregory Adolph and Ricky Davis, were unsuccessful in their bids to unseat incumbent town commissioners David Carey and Robert Preston in last fall’s election. Hanley admits that he “hung it out there a little bit” in his backing of the two challengers, but said his intentions were not just to bring them on the board to vote for him as commissioner chairman, a position that carried the honorary title of “mayor.”
“Everyone thought that was about me being mayor, that was about me having enough votes to stop the expansion of town hall,” he said. “Last time I checked, not one single family hasn’t had to cut back.”
At several points, Hanley spoke strongly about his passion for politics. Despite referring to himself several times as “a local guy,” he said an eventual run at a state-level elected office was in his future, but paused when asked how high up his ambitions ran.
“We’ll see where the ride takes me,” he said.
Well, what do you know? I finally found the one thing that could make me vote for Capn. Jim (besides Art H. running against him, of course). At least there’s still time for a good candidate to file for the spot.
If Hanley were truly committed to this run for higher office, he would resign immediately as Town Commissioner and devote his time to campaigning for County Council. Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?
Hi Phil,
I don’t know enough about Terry either way. I’ve met him a view times and he seems ok on the surface. In trying to form a better opinion of Terry, what specific things about Terry do you not like? Is it a personality thing or are there specific policy or position issues that you disagree with?
Thanks,
No way.
Couldn’t make it as a used car salesman now he wants to be a County Councilman….runs his mouth too much as exhibited in your interview..even if Captn Jim can’t hear, he is better than this guy.
At least he’s trying.
Capt Jim actually voted to give Clark Turner a huge tax break with the TIF financing approval. TIF was never intended for properties that were already going to be developed, it was for properties that could not develop otherwise. TIF was the last resort. Capt Jim didn’t understand the difference or didn’t care, but neither did the other Council members.
Based on what I know of Hanley, he won’t vote for spending increases and I agree w/ him that gov’t hasn’t cut back enough yet. That day is coming and Capt Jim hasn’t shown me that he is interested in cutting spending.
Between the 2, I’d rather have Hanley. Capt Jim just doesn’t seem as sharp and doesn’t pay enough attention to detail for me.
Terry Hanley is a great man and he has my full support. With all due respect to Capt. Jim, I believe we need fresh, bold leadership representing us here in Dist. C!!
The only thing I can add about Capt Jim is that he UNCONDITIONALLY supports Jesse Bane. This says a great deal about Capt Jim given that Jesse Bane has allowed the Police Budget to increase at unsustainable amounts without corresponding decreases in crime, has practiced a policy of displacing crime from Edgewood to other parts of the County and has allowed Department morale to reach all time lows. It is troubling that these politicians protect each others XXXXX…..
Ask the Officers in the local Bel Air Police Department about the Captains loyalty and honesty.
‘casting himself both as an everyman and his own man…’
“The fact is that I’m a local guy, and county council fit me best, and fit my family best”
‘Hanley claims he was approached by Democratic operatives who offered to back his candidacy for higher office if he’d switch parties.’
‘referring to himself several times as “a local guy”…’
“We’ll see where the ride takes me.”
Because, as Stuart Smalley liked to say, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
What has Hanley ever done to you to make you think he wouldn’t do a better job than Capt Jim? Capt Jim set the bar pretty low.
Stuart Smalley is now Senator Smalley! Doggone it….people DO like him!
Yes, especially convicted felons.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/12/felons-voting-illegally-franken-minnesota-study-finds/
Bel air politics seems to be full of opportunist and at least Hanley has stay true to his party and views.
On the other hand Rob Preston and Jim McMahan who were elected as Democrats to the Town Board with the help of Art Helton and George Harrison and the Democratic central committee switched political parties right after the were elected.
This tells what kind of character these two possess and the voters of Harford County should not be fooled by them, kinda like Arlan Spector vote them out!
I’m sick of all the signs already. I wonder how much people are getting paid to keep signs up? As far as county council goes with District C – why would I want to vote for self admitted political climber the Hanley. Capn Jim sure isn’t going anywhere after county council except more retirement. We get a full time council guy at part time pay. If Hanley is such a hot shot why did he screw up with trying to kick out Preston and Carey. I’m sick of political games, guys with wide smiles, and empty suits. Isn’t this country screwed up enough.
I guarantee that Carey and Preston will revive the BB&T purchase for a new Town Hall. Hanley has said no to spending $5 million plus twice already. Can Bel Air or Harford County continuing to keep spending without restraint?
I don’t blame Hanley for trying to oust those two. Look at the Bel Air budget. The spending increased another 3% this year.
Capt Jim hasn’t lead any move to cut spending or control the growth of County government. You say you get a full time Councilman but what makes you think it is any more productive than a part timer. I like the idea that Hanley isn’t afraid to say what he thinks, regardless of the political fallout.
Terry has been looking out for the Bule Collar resident of town. He votes against spending and supports the residents who pay taxes. He supported Ricky Davis and Greg Adolph to have a change on the town council. Dave Carey and Rob Preston voted to raise taxes and do not have consideration for the retired residents and the people who work two jobs to pay there climbing tax rate. There is alot of Fat that needs to be trimmed out of the town of Bel Air budget high payrolls and studies for issues that common sense says we do not need in the tough economy. I feel that Terry Hanley will be a great addition to the county council.
Hanley winning a County Council seat will be a great thing for the Town of Bel Air – at least for the Board of Town Commissioners!
His signs may say “Energetic, Enthusiastic, Effective!”, but judging by his picture at the town website, I think “Tanned, Rested, and Ready!” would be more appropriate.
http://www.belairmd.org/about/commissioners.asp
Yes, it will probably be great for the Commissioners as they will get to spend the $5 or $6 million on a new Town Hall, that Hanley has been stopping.
Why is it a bad thing to stand up for your convictions? I’d rather have someone with a big mouth that speaks his mind that someone who doesn’t say anything except when it serves their own personal agenda.
You sound so petty and jealous, good genes are good genes, he had nothing to do with it. Get over it.
I appreciate the reply, Terry.
Sorry, I’m not Terry. Cross that off your list of guesses. My name is in fact John Becker.
you better watch your grammar
If Hanley is elected he will fall in line just like Cpt. Jim has fallen in line with Boniface at the helm. The County Council elections will have very little to no impact on our quality of life. They won’t raise taxes and look for additional TIF projects which isn’t necessarily a bad thing when administered fairly. Defining “fairly” may be a challenge.
They are already looking for more TIF projects
I find reading all the comments posted on here quite entertaining. What I find most entertaining, are the comments made from the people who try to act the most intelligent and educated, are the one’s who cannot spell nor punctuate correctly. There are plenty of websites that can help you in this area if need be. Use them!
Perhaps you should take your own advice and remove the apostrophe from “one’s”.
Brady
I see several errors with your comment
Many educated poeople can not spell correctly, spelling perfectly does not make u smart or stupid. Many people who lack the skills in grammar make up for it in other areas such as mathematics, geography, physics, medicine, have you ever seen a Dr. use good grammar? just think about what your saying, does a carpenter need to be an excellent writer? Does a dentist need to spell every word correctly? Does a mechanic need to puncuate every sentence properly? When you go to your lawyer do you expect him or her to know exactly where the comma goes? The answer is no. For the carpenter you expect them to be a builder and not an writer, for the dentist you need them to fix your mouth and not an English teacher, for the Chemist who allows you to enjoy clean drinking water dont expect them to use italics properly. People you are getting stupid and for every mistake you make or everything your not good at that must mean your not educated. No that doesnt mean that it means you have areas where you can do better, and areas which your geared toward. Some of you out there must be perfect. Perfect spelling, perfect grammar, P.h.d in English yes thats you. critizize others and live the perfect life, never make a mistake, never ever, you people are a bunch of Assholes, wait till you make a mistake, hopefully people will say oh your un educated, oh you have bad parents, oh you never went to school, people with that mentality can just go live in there happy little Perfect friekien worlds
What annoys me is when someone disagrees with a comment, instead of debating the merits of the thought or idea, responds off-topic that since the poster didn’t use proper grammar they must be an idiot (a typical Ad Hominem logical fallacy). In that respect I completely agree with you. However, I do expect my attorney to be damn sure to put every comma where it belongs – that’s his/her job and could affect the outcome of a trial or invalidate a contract.
I agree. Also, correcting grammar or criticizing someone due to their grammar on a blog is a waste of time. I am much more interested in the topic or the debate. The real savvy bloggers know how to type their post in Microsoft Word, spell check, thesaurus check and then cut and paste into the comment section. Of course, we won’t admit it.
Terry ,you are the one for the job and you alway’s voted on your belief’s ,not everyone else’s.
Hi Terry,
It is clear that the “Captain” is a big Jesse Bane supporter. Us taxpayers need something better. Hopefully you see what the Captain can’t.
The interview part of Inside the Actors Studio
ends with Lipton asking a collection of questions
from French journalist Bernard Pivot. As for
Freeney, some teams may look for him for the short-term solution in a very 4-3 system.
Mortgages in monopoly can be done only over the bank.