Council President Otis Takes Issue With Accusations From Delauter & Mrs. Bartlett

He calls them ‘totally false.’


Frederick County Council President Bud Otis has issued a statement in response to accusations made by Councilman Kirby Delauter. He says alleged threats made against Delauter and his business are “completely false.”

He says he has only met with Delauter twice since they both were sworn into office in December, 2014, and Delauter’s business and his family were not discussed. He says the meeting involved permitting issues, and they were favorably resolved.

Otis also says in his statement that Delauter’s claim that he will not include his items on the Council’s agenda are “totally false.” He says it’s important for any Council member who wants an item on the agenda to approach the President so that it can determined what staff time and documentation would be needed.

In his statement, Otis also responded to accusations made by Ellen Bartlett, the wife of former 6th District Congressman Roscoe Bartlett. “The allegations made by Mrs. Bartlett are beneath the dignity of the office I hold and the regard which I held for Mrs. Bartlett, ” he said in his statement. “The accusations leveled against me by Mrs. Bartlett are patently false.”

Mrs. Bartlett said Otis was about to be fired by her husband when he was in Congress, but he managed to persuade the Congressman to let him resign. She also said Otis went to college with  her sister, and got one of her best friends pregnant. She also describes Otis as “underhanded.”

Mrs. Bartlett spoke on WFMD’s Morning News Express with Bob Miller on Wednesday, May 18th.

“I am truly saddened by these uncivil and ugly comments that become standard in out political discourse. I have always said that it is possible to disagree but that does not necessitate becoming disagreeable. Unfortunately, there are those in Frederick County today that do not ascribe to that belief,” Otis said in his statement.

“I am sorry to the citizens that a few individuals are wasting the Council’s time on these nasty and personal insults,” says Otis in his statement.