Below, Kirby Delauter's Name Is Used Without His Permission

Kirby Delauter represents District 5 on the County Council of Frederick County, Maryland. He was raised in Frederick County, graduated from Catoctin High School, and is a veteran of the U.S. Army. He is the owner of W. F. Delauter and Son, Inc., a construction company started in 1955 by his father and grandfather. W. F. Delauter and Son specializes in excavating, grading, utilities, and horizontal drilling. Mr. Delauter also has served on the Thurmont Police Commission and as Chairman of the Thurmont Board of Appeals.

Despite this sterling resume, Mr. Delauter is under the impression that his consent is required before he can be named and written about in a newspaper or other public forum, such as this blog. Bethany Rodgers is a reporter for the Frederick News-Post. Mr. Delauter doesn't like the way Ms. Rodgers has written about him in the past so he has ordered her not to contact him nor to use his name "in an unauthorized form in the future."

He did all this via a Facebook post. You can read it all here. Even after she, in a comment to his post, calmly explained both the law and basic journalistic practice, he doubled down and threatened to sue her if she ever writes about him again without his permission.

I don't know Mr. Delauter or Ms. Rodgers. I don't live in Frederick County. But I want in on this. I have not asked Mr. Delauter for permission to use his name in this post. Kirby Delauter Kirby Delauter Kirby Delauter Kirby Delauter Kirby Delauter Kirby Delauter.

Beating me to the punch was the Washington Post, which also courageously used Mr. Delauter's name without his permission. Doubtless he will sue them first since Jeff Bezos has more money than God.

Because Mr. Delauter is a public figure, you can not only use his name without his permission, you can say pretty much anything you want to about him. For him to sue for libel, he would have to prove that what was written was knowingly false and malicious. So since I am feeling pretty malicious toward this moron and petty tyrant right now, I better only write what is true, such as "Kirby Delauter is so unqualified for public office he should be removed immediately as he poses an imminent danger to the general public."

Imagine the legislation such a mind might propose.

Frederick County transitioned from a County Commissioner form of government to a County Charter form of government on December 1, 2014. Under Charter Government, there is an Executive Branch with a County Executive and a Legislative Branch with a County Council.

In the previous election, Mr. Delauter was elected a County Commissioner in an at-large election by all county voters. Under the new Charter Government, the County Executive and two of the seven County Council members are elected at-large. The remaining five are elected by district. Council members serve for four years and may hold no more than three consecutive terms. Their salary is $22,500 per year with no benefits.

The people of District 5 must be very proud to claim Mr. Delauter as their own.