DEL. DEBRA DAVIS’S ROOKIE ERROR PROVES THE POINT OF CHARTER OPPONENTS

DEL. DEBRA DAVIS’S ROOKIE ERROR PROVES THE POINT OF CHARTER OPPONENTS

CHARLES COUNTY COMMISSIONER GILBERT “B. J.” BOWLING WAS WRONGFULLY DINGED FOR CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS OF HIS DEAD GRANDFATHER BY LIVING DELEGATE DEB DAVIS, WHO OUGHT TO KNOW BETTER AND CHECK THE SAME NAME OF MULTIPLE GENERATIONS

BY KEN ROSSIGNOL

THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY

LA PLATA, MD.  Charles County is in the midst of a battle royale over the issue of enacting Charter Government to replace Code Home Rule in the General Election on November 5, 2024. As the battle has been engaged, one of the chief fears being explained to the voters by opponents, among many, is that the cost of local government will soar, just as has taken place in Prince George, Anne Arundel, Howard, and other counties. Charles County Commissioner Gilbert Obie B. J. Bowling III (D. District One) leads the effort to oppose the charter based on how little control the public will have in the future if the charter is approved, saying that various political interests will reap financial rewards as costs soar. Unknown actions by a new county executive position could create an entirely new police department and fire service.

In recent days, the blowback to Commissioner Bowling came swiftly from a former commissioner and present House of Delegates Member, Debra Marie Davis (D. District 28). Davis is an attorney in Waldorf who apparently doesn’t have much of a law practice, as her filing with the Maryland Ethics Commission for the past several years values her law practice at $25,000 and states she does not have a spouse.

Delegate Davis, who served as a Charles County Commissioner for two terms and should be intimately familiar with all sections of Charles County, as well as Commissioner Bowling and his well-known family who have been in the tobacco auction business, antique and flea market business, and operating a family farm, Newport Valley Farm, which has been a landmark for decades in Maryland near Hughesville took a slam at Commissioner Bowling in a Facebook post (below). In the post, Delegate Davis accused Democrat Bowling, who leads the Democrats Against Charter Facebook group, of donating to Republicans in recent elections. 

As an experienced attorney and lawmaker for the past fourteen years and a supporter of the Charter, she is exactly the type of politician who will use the Charter to turn Charles County into an extension of PG County. Her post accusing Commissioner Bowling of supporting Republican candidates makes the case that Charter opponents have been pleading to voters. Delegate Davis knew that when political donations were made, there were three living members of three generations of illustrious Charles County farmers with the same name. 

Del. Debra Davis blasted Commissioner Bowling, saying ‘public records don’t lie’ – but politicians like her do…

Delegate Davis demonstrated how vague and unknown trouble will await Charles County when ruthless politicians rush ahead to make changes in zoning that will enrich their supporters and assist in changing large swathes of the rural areas of Charles County to development interests, such as Mark Vogel, who has been a campaign contributor to the Charles County Commissioner President Rueben Collins, Commissioner Gilbert Bowling, and others.

Delegate Davis was blatantly wrong in her Facebook post as the grandfather of Commissioner Gilbert “B. J.” Bowling. Gilbert Obie “Bud” Bowling Sr., who lived in LaPlata until his death in July of this year, was suffering from dementia as his health declined, which affected how he distributed his campaign donations. A long-time member of the Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative, he has annually donated to the Political Action Committee to which SMECO belongs and to his son’s election fundraising since he first ran for office.

Like so many people, Delegate Davis has experienced financial difficulty in her personal life. She has been involved in mortgage lenders’ efforts to foreclose on her home and obtained modifications in her loans to keep a roof over her head.

Loan modification for Debra Davis

The foreclosure sale of the home of Delegate Debra Davis, located at 6185 Acorn Place, Indian Head, Md., was set aside in Charles County Circuit Court on January 30, 2023, after her attorney, Stanley Brown of Largo, Md., filed Exceptions to the foreclosure sale.

As a litigant, commissioner, legislator, consumer, and attorney, Del. Davis should be intimately familiar with correctly identifying people and properties.

With the struggles that Delegate Davis has faced in her personal life, her experience as a two-term commissioner in the same political party as Commissioner Gilbert B. J. Bowling, and her presumably familiarity with his grandparents’ ownership of the Hughesville Bargain Barn, which was formerly the historic Hughesville Tobacco Warehouse and a large family farm, it’s hard to believe that Del. Davis would be so sloppy when trying to score a political point.

But she was.

B. J. Bowling’s grandfather made the donations to Republicans, not him. A careful and competent attorney and lawmaker in her second term on the House Judiciary Committee would not make such a rookie mistake.

But she did.

That really makes the point of Democrats Against Charter: aggressive politicians intent on obtaining power and riches will blindly splash through the waters of opportunity as they remake Charles County in their own image.

Resume of Delegate Debra Davis of District 28, House of Delegates

Member of the House of Delegates since January 9, 2019. Member, Environment and Transportation Committee, 2023- (land use & ethics subcommittee, 2023-; local government & bi-county agencies subcommittee, 2023-; motor vehicle & transportation subcommittee, 2023-). Member, Judiciary Committee, 2019-22 (juvenile law subcommittee, 2019-20; public safety subcommittee, 2019-22; criminal law & procedure subcommittee, 2021-22). Chair, House Re-entry Work Group, 2021. Member, Work Group to Address Police Reform and Accountability in Maryland, 2020. House Chair, Charles County Delegation, 2022-. Member, Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, 2019- (chair, criminal justice subcommittee); Maryland Legislative Transit Caucus, 2019-; Women Legislators of Maryland, 2019-.

Member, Board of County Commissioners, Charles County, representing District 2, December 7, 2010 to December 3, 2018 (vice-president, Jan. 5, 2016 to Jan. 1, 2017). Member, Social Services Board, Charles County, 2010-15; Board of Health, Charles County, 2010-18.

Chair, Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland, 2016 (member, 2010-; 1st vice-chair, 2015; executive board, 2015-18, 2020-21).

Member, Police Accountability Task Force, Prince George’s County, 1999. Member, Charles County Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board, 2009-10;

Obituary of Commissioner Gilbert Bowling’s
grandfather, Gilbert (Bud) Obie Bowling Sr.

Gilbert (Bud) Obie Bowling, Sr., of LaPlata, MD, passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 15, 2024.

Bud was born on April 4, 1934, to the late Obediah and Bernice Bowling. He was a lifelong resident of Charles County and, graduated from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, and was a member of the Phil Kappa Sigma University Maryland Fraternity. He was employed as an Agronomist for the University of Maryland Cooperative Extension Services from 1957-1962, which led him to become a full-time tobacco farmer on the family farm he owned in Charlotte Hall, MD.

Bud served on the SMECO board starting in 1970, serving as Chairman for five years and Vice Chairman for nine years. He was also President of the Charles County Farm Bureau and a former Chairman of the Charles County Zoning Board of Appeals.

In 1983 he owned and operated, with his wife, the Hughesville Tobacco Warehouse, the oldest tobacco warehouse in Southern Maryland. After years of successful tobacco auctions, together they turned the Historic Tobacco Warehouse into the antique flea market called the Hughesville Bargain Barn which is still operating today. In 2000, the couple sold the business and happily retired, this allowed Bud to focus on spending more time on his farm that he loved and cherished so much.

Bud was preceded in death by his beautiful wife, Elizabeth (Bunky), whom he married in June 1955. They celebrated 58 amazing years together before her death in 2013. Together they had three children; Laurie Bowling, Gilbert (Buddy) Bowling Jr., and Darlene Richardson. He has six grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Bud was also a long-time member of the United Methodist Church in LaPlata and enjoyed singing in the choir, as well as, being a part of the Men’s Ministries group.

You could usually find Bud on his farm, planting crops, working in his garden, and riding his John Deere tractor. When he wasn’t there, he would be traveling up and down the East Coast, swinging a golf club and making memories with his wife. Many times his family would catch Bud sweetly slow dancing with Bunky in their kitchen, lost in their own world. And if you were lucky, you may have gotten serenaded by Bud, singing a tune like “In the Garden” or ‘You Are My Sunshine’. He always had a joke to share with a friend and truly was a generous, kind, and caring man who was eager to help in any way possible. Bud was a true testament to the saying, “Strangers are friends you haven’t met yet.”

Bud will be remembered for the undying love he had for his family. The world has lost a truly beautiful soul. Rest in peace Dad, Daddy, Pop Pop, Bud.

DWI arrest of Charles County Commissioner President
Reuben B. Collins II

On Jan 30, 2014, at 8:35 p.m., a Charles County sheriff’s officer was on patrol when she initiated a traffic stop in the area of St. Charles Parkway and Billingsley Road after observing the operator of a sedan driving erratically. Upon approaching the driver, the officer suspected he was under the influence. The driver, Reuben B. Collins, II, was administered several field sobriety tests, all of which he failed. He was arrested and transported to the Charles County Jail, where he agreed to take a breathalyzer test. His blood-alcohol content was above .08 percent. Under Maryland’s Transportation Code 11-174.1, anyone with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or above is automatically considered intoxicated. Mr. Collins was charged with driving under the influence, driving under the influence per se, and driving while impaired. He was released to a relative.
President, Board of County Commissioners, Charles County, since December 4, 2018 (member, representing District 3, Dec. 5, 2006 to Dec. 1, 2014; vice-president, Dec. 8, 2010 to Dec. 1, 2014.