2014 City Council Candidates

Last week I told you what the local offices basically entail. The next natural step is to see who is running.

So who are they? Huh? Huh?

Patience, please.  

This week I briefly profiled each of the 2014 candidates for Cumberland City Council.

Now I received my list of candidates from the Maryland State election site but it is a bit outdated (Like, prior-to-primaries outdated).   I did some minor investigating and was able to narrow down the candidate list to three: Dustin Freas, Seth Bernard, and David Kauffman.

Dustin Freas  

Dustin Freas (32) is a Cumberland local. He is a graduate of Bishop Walsh High School, Allegany College of Maryland, and Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.   

What does he do right now?

Well he works with his family physical therapy business. He actually has a really informative website that has tons of helpful information. If I were to list it all, it would be too much. His LinkedIn profile lists him as the Chief Development Officer (CDO) at Flagship Rehabilitation Center.

Plus, he has a precious family picture of him, his wife (who is expecting their second child), and his daughter on the homepage so I highly recommend that you check that out if only for that.

Seth Bernard

 So Seth Bernard and Freas are like, super similar. For one, he’s young (Freas is 32, Bernard is 27). He has two

young children. He graduated from Fort Hill then he graduated from Point Park University which is located in –wait for it –Pittsburgh.

I know. Weird.

Back to the important stuff.

Bernard graduated from college in 2009. He goes into more detail about what he did immediately after graduation on his website but now he’s a Security & Privacy Consultant with IBM.

On October 3^rd, Bernard announced via his Facebook page that he has been endorsed by current Cumberland Mayor Brian Grimm.

P.S. His family picture is also super cute so make sure you take the time to fully admire it.

Dave Kauffman:

David Kauffman (42) is our one candidate that has experience in the job. He has been a councilman since 2011.

Before his election to City Council, Kauffman received his Bachelors and later his Masters from Frostburg State University.

Kauffman was the band director at Fort Hill High School 2001-2004, Beall High School beginning in 2005-2007 until it became Mountain Ridge and he resigned in 2013.

Kauffman is currently the vice principal at Braddock Middle School.

He and his wife Jen owned Kauffman Music LLC, a local music store and private lessons provider, from 2000-2009. (Fun Fact: I went to private flute lessons at Kauffman’s from 2000-2005. I’m practically famous)

Kauffman has a few things in common with his younger opponents. For one, he has two children (his are quite a bit older than Bernard’s two year-old and newborn, and Freas has a two-year-old and an unborn child, but those are just details). AND he has a super cute family picture.

Those are your three 2014 City Council Candidates! I hope I was able to give you at least a little more insight on who your options are for this election season.

In the next week or so, I will post the candidates for County Commissioner!

Is there anything in particular you’d like to know about your candidates? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy voting! J