Jenkins says he has not abandoned transportation for illegal immigration

‘‘I did not run on issues of illegal immigration,” Jenkins said. ‘‘Only when we went through the budget did I learn something needed to be done. I never thought illegal immigration was a problem.”

Jenkins immediately went to work.

Jenkins garnered plenty of media attention last year when he failed in his attempt to require all agencies, nonprofits and schools that receive county funding to verify that the people they help are in the country legally.

He continued his fight in April with a proposal to designate English as the official language in Frederick County. His commissioner colleagues instead passed a resolution proclaiming English as the official and primary language. To his dismay, the resolution was neither a new law nor a change to the county code. It required the county government to do nothing.

Jenkins is now working with County Attorney John Mathias on a new proposal that would allow the county to crack down on businesses that hire illegal immigrants. Jenkins wants the county to withhold building permits from companies that hire illegal immigrants.

Jenkins is also adamant, however, that his commitment to transportation has not wavered.

‘‘I have not abandoned my commitment to roads,” he said. ‘‘We [commissioners] deal with a lot of issues, whether it’s taxes or roads. ... I still have [improving transportation] as a goal.”

Since taking office in 2006, Jenkins said he has organized the I-270 Transportation Summit, was elected vice chairman of a regional transportation board that looks for ways to ease traffic, and has been instrumental in requiring developer Land Stewards to improve roads in New Market.

‘‘My election to the Transportation Planning Board came after my first immigration proposal,” Jenkins said.

Jenkins also realizes that solving the county’s traffic problems is not easy. Less money coming from the state and federal governments has partially doused his dreams. Prior to taking office and during his election, he had no idea how difficult it would be to get funding from the state and federal governments.

‘‘I have a better appreciation for the limits of what I would like to accomplish and a better appreciation,” he said. ‘‘There’s less money now for roads then when I was elected.”

Jenkins has the support of two transportation advocates.

‘‘I work with him fairly closely on the Transportation Planning Board, and I’m aware of a lot of what he has done [on the board],” said City of Frederick Alderman C. Paul Smith (R). ‘‘It’s [immigration] just a different issue. He has not abandoned transportation. It’s just another issue he is addressing. I don’t see it as abandoning it at all.”

Smith also ran on a platform of road improvements.

Mike Smariga, chairman of the roads committee of the Frederick Area Committee for Transportation, contends that because budget constraints have forced the state to withhold funding for many road projects, road advocates like Jenkins have slowed down much of their efforts.

‘‘Because of the budget crisis in Annapolis, the amount of funding has been reduced, and it’s kind of hard to get any funding to move anything forward,” Smariga said. ‘‘I don’t sense that he has abandoned transportation, but I think we are all in a holding pattern. It’s still a high priority, but we’re all waiting to see how best to address priorities.”