Peters to run in 2019
The Town of Mount Airy not only elected two town council members and a mayor on May 1, it encouraged a new candidate to declare his intention to run for council in 2019. Zachary Peters, a Mt. Airy economic development commissioner, garnered six write-in votes.
Peters, 23, said he was asked to run in the latest election but didn’t feel quite ready. He was appointed to the economic development commission in 2014 while he was still a student at Loyola University. He graduated in 2015 with a degree in political science.
The write-in votes, he said, gave him the confidence he needed to try and become part of his family’s legacy of leadership and public service in his hometown. Family friend and admirer Anissa Hastings said Peters has demonstrated leadership abilities since he was a child. “I said then, he will be president someday,” she said. His maturity and problem-solving abilities set him apart from his peers, Hastings said.
Peters has some big shoes to fill, given that his mom, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-uncle all held seats on Mt. Airy’s town council. Mom Wendi Peters; grandfather William E. Wagner Jr.; great-grandfather William E. Wagner Sr., and great-uncle Thomas W. Wagner were all inducted into the Mount Airy Hall of Fame.
Wendi Peters is the current Secretary of Planning under Gov. Larry Hogan. She was appointed Secretary in July 2016 by Hogan after serving as Deputy Secretary since March 2015. She served two terms between 2004 and 2012, and was the first woman to serve two terms as a member of the town council.
In his role as economic development commissioner, Peters said he was particularly pleased to help revise a zoning ordinance allowing MISCellaneous micro-distillery to open in downtown Mt. Airy. “That was a personal favorite of mine,” he said. “It was a great opportunity to help bring diversified businesses to town.”
At 23, he’s amassed an impressive resume, including his current position as a business development & external relations specialist with the Maryland Insurance Administration. At Loyola, he was elected as senator to the Student Government Association. He’s been a member of the Mt. Airy Historical Society and an auxiliary volunteer with the Mt. Airy Volunteer Fire Company since 2007. Peters has served on the town’s Hall of Fame Selection Committee since 2015.
A campaigner for Gov. Hogan in 2014, Peters has been exposed to politics for most of his life, Hastings said. “Being in the political arena, he was exposed to a lot of real world, life affecting situations,” she said. “I would be honored to work on his campaign. Caring and wanting to give back run deep in his blood. He wants to hear people’s problems and is solution oriented.”
Mt. Airy has five town council members. Those elected by the highest number of votes serve for a term of four years, and the three remaining councilmen serve for a term of two years.
