ELECTION 2022: Special Edition of CHEAP SHOTS – Editorial Opinion: Vote Republican -EXTRA – The County Times Endorsements
2022 PRIMARY ELECTION ENDORSEMENTS
THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY Election Endorsements will begin to be published on June 18, 2022, and will be posted during the following days. Not all races in the region or statewide will be considered.
ELECTION 2022 ENDORSEMENT 4th District Saint Mary’s Lexington Park – DAWN ZIMMERMAN
ELECTION 2022 ENDORSEMENT ST MARYS COUNTY SHERIFF – JOHN E. O’CONNOR
ELECTION 2022 ENDORSEMENTS: St Mary’s County Commissioner Districts 1-3 Seats
The Unprepared Will Be Better Choices Than Those Committed to Big Spending
In 2018, St. Mary’s County voters selected an all-Republican Board of Commissioners. Starting on July 7, the Republicans of St. Mary’s County can decide if of the three incumbents running for another four-year term on the Board deserve the votes of the citizens. No independents or Democrats may be allowed to cast their ballots for these positions in the GOP primary.
Democrats have a scant choice with only one race that is contested and all others that have collected a small number of folks not as sane as a Junebug.
Just thirty years ago, there were around 20,000 Democrats and less than 5,000 Republicans, and thanks to growth, and moves of more than 20,000 new workers at Pax River, the GOP has seen huge gains.
Many Democrats, embarrassed by the nut jobs in the national and state Democratic Party who do not represent their values, have changed to the Republican Party. Some Republicans have sought to move from the tax-hell of Maryland for more friendly vistas such as Tennessee, the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas. Who the hell ever heard of anyone retiring and moving to the north where the weather is cold and the taxes are high?
Recent candidate forums sponsored by the leftist groups at the Lexington Park library were not cosponsored by the Republican Central Committee or Republican clubs.
Still, though the GOP candidates were peppered by loony leftist questions that have nothing to do with the St. Mary’s County issues, challenges, and problems, those questions were brilliant reminders of how out of touch the loons of the St. Mary’s County Democratic Party have become.
The choice of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY for Commissioner President in St. Mary’s County has already been published for the benefit and consideration of our readers.
Now it is time to note the attributes of the brave souls who offer themselves up for public scrutiny for elected posts that are important to the community and the continued health and prosperity of everyone. All who run for the first time or offer themselves for another term are to be congratulated. Those currently holding office have amassed records of failure and success.
The most glaring success is that of meeting the legitimate emergency of providing EMS services at a time of health crisis where older rescue squad members could no longer participate safely due to their own vulnerability to the wicked Wuhan Virus released upon the world by Communist China.
Two massive failures are that of allowing the Pot Factory to be dumped in the quiet rural residential area of the Abell community near Canoe Neck Creek in the Seventh District. Of the three incumbents running for reelection, Eric Colvin, Randy Guy, and Mike Hewitt, two were also on the Board that held office between 2014 and 2018, which oversaw the seeds of the eventual siting of the Pot Factory.
Colvin gained the stain of the Pot Factory when he glibly slid in and out of commissioner’s meetings each week and failed to avail himself of the ample opportunities in the wild world of internet media to warn the public of the looming industrial operation being foisted upon Abell. Colvin joined Guy, Hewitt, Todd Morgan, and John O’Connor in presiding over the county operations from 2018 to this year. A month ago, following scathing criticism of their dismal failure, the Board sent through the Planning Commission zoning rules, which allegedly may prevent another Pot Factory from being dumped in yet another residential neighborhood.
Allowing any of these marijuana facilities is just dumb and placing them in a residential neighborhood is entirely absurd.
Morgan and O’Connor escape the cleaver of public anger because neither is running again for the term of county commissioner and aspire to other elected offices. The electorate must judge those offices on the available choices and the challenges ahead. THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY has already taken a position on Todd Morgan in his quest to be a member of the House of Delegates in District 29-B for the reasons stated for the consideration of our readers. An endorsement in the St. Mary’s Sheriff election is on the way.
The three incumbent Republicans have presided over an unprecedented expansion of spending and lined up a public debt that will loom over the future taxpayers like the sword of Damocles. Colvin talks and walks like a Democrat, and Guy and Hewitt, who both switched from Democrats to Republicans not too long ago, spend money like Democrats. The best example is their support for a $26 million Sheriff’s Palace in Leonardtown after blowing $6 million on a secure deputies’ restroom facility on Great Mills Road.
For those who are surprised that the Pot Factory was sited on a waterfront farm, without as much as a single public hearing, public review committee, or any participation in the decision, the Three Big Cheeses who want your vote once more learned that after putting a Sheriff’s Palace in the capital budget and allowing the Pot Factory to be placed in a critical area, they can get away with any damn thing they please.
Voters have alternatives.
Roy Alvey shows he has all the sense one needs to raise and provide for his family, and putting those attributes to play when sitting as one of the members of the Board of Commissioners; he will do just fine. Our readers are invited to consider electing Roy Alvey to replace Eric Colvin. Alvey has enough experience not to be bamboozled the way Colvin has done and is young enough to serve the voters for four years.
Mike Alderson Jr. is well-rounded in his life experience, learned a trade in the tech center, and has excelled in a management position in a bustling business. Elizabeth O’Connor has equal qualities serving a career from she has retired as a St. Mary’s Deputy Sheriff. There is an excellent argument to make that including who would only become the sixth woman in history to be elected commissioner, as well as including the role of those who have learned the life of law officers from the inside, has value. Both are well-qualified and respectable candidates. The weight of recommendation swings to Alderson because Elizabeth O’Connor has a pending lawsuit against St. Mary’s County over serious allegations involving disgusting actions in the Sheriff’s Department. Therefore, she can’t bring legal action against the same people whom she wishes to represent.
Our readers can be assured that both candidates are worthy and are recommended to cast their ballots for Mike Alderson Jr.
Mike Hewitt is a homegrown business talent rising from the ranks of grease monkey working to keep sailors and workers at Pax River driving vehicles that are functioning and filled with gas to a wide-ranging rental and large repair facility. Hewitt’s pronouncements that he was against the Pot Factory are less than convincing since he sits on the Critical Area Commission. Marcus Drake is not an average guy in that he served in the United States Army and retired, became an independent truck driver operator owner, and learned to make his business work rolling down America’s highways delivering commerce and commodities that were just as important as the services provided by Hewitt’s businesses. Marcus Drake says he would make different decisions in the future from those taken by Mike Hewitt in Democrat-like spending and borrowing. Thank Mike Hewitt for his participation in St. Mary’s County.
Readers of THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY are invited to give Marcus Drake their votes and cast their ballots for his election.
District Four Commissioner Endorsement Coming Soon
ELECTION 2022 ENDORSEMENT – HOUSE OF DELEGATES DISTRICT 29 C: Vote for Todd Morgan
The Republican primary candidates, St. Mary’s County Commissioner Todd Morgan and General Timothy Gowen provide strong contrast for the voters.
Morgan began his professional career in business in Lexington Park, participated in the formation and growth of a home-grown small defense contractor along with two other entrepreneurs, and established a varied and extensive record of contributing to youth sports, education, and community service. Todd Morgan contested the race for county commissioner from District Four and won in 2010. Morgan won again, twice more, and now is term-limited. When a commissioner serves three terms in office, a record is built, with various failures and successes, as this is the human condition.
St. Mary’s County and the Lexington Park/California area have seen significant change, prosperity and decline, and a significant rise in crime. Morgan has supported annual budgetary expenditures in law enforcement, road projects, and education. Like the boards of commissioners before Morgan’s terms, the completion of FDR Blvd. remains a cruel joke and an elusive promise of relief for congestion – as well as a monument to government failures.
No one understands more than Todd Morgan the failure of law enforcement to use motorcycles for traffic enforcement for red-light runners and speeders on Rt. 235 rather than toys to bring out for parades and as traffic escorts for funerals.
General Gowen was looking past the end of the Hogan years in Annapolis and spotted the coming vacancy in the House of Delegates as Jerry Clark ends his non-descript years.
Gowen has an admirable military background and has excelled at being anonymous for twenty-five years. Knocking on doors to introduce himself was completely necessary as no one has seen this guy before, and he needs to thank Todd Morgan for appearing at the candidate forum at the Lexington Park Library so viewers could meet the General for the first time.
Gowen’s claim that he is a small business owner is an insult to those who have struggled to keep their head above water over the last three years as executive orders rendered in Annapolis shut down businesses, some forever, while Walmart and liquor stores remained open. General Gowen proudly says he mucks stalls in his stable where riding lessons are provided in what may be creating a tax shelter out of a hobby on his waterfront estate.
Perhaps the General may wish to participate in more activities in the community as he looks to the future where he may have a chance to be of value in other ways than his honorable service in the National Guard. Many groups could prosper from his leadership skills. Voters should choose a leader who they know and who knows the community that he or she wishes to represent. It is nice that the General decided to use his GPS to find the homes of so many folks to let them know he is the right one to send to Annapolis.
The difference between the General and the Commissioner is that Todd Morgan can navigate his way around Calvert and St. Mary’s without a GPS. Todd Morgan has been there from Buzzy’s in Ridge to Fitzies in Compton to Sandgates Inn on the Patuxent, to Potomac Gardens in Colton’s Point. Morgan knows folks and their problems and won’t need a PowerPoint presentation from a bureaucrat or a staffer to explain issues of taxes, zoning, and growth proposals as he ponders solutions that may be found in legislation in Annapolis.
Todd Morgan has the perspective to see above the crowd of political confusion in the sea of liberal dominance in the Maryland General Assembly and the backbone to ensure that his constituents’ views are heard.
Vote for Todd Morgan for District 29-C in the Maryland House of Delegates.
ELECTION 2022 ENDORSEMENT Vote for Craig Kontra for Calvert Sheriff
Mike Wilson, a retired Maryland State Police officer and current chief of the Capitol Police at the Maryland General Assembly, has worthy experience as an administrator.
Calvert Sheriff Deputy Ricky Cox is an accomplished law officer with a well-rounded life story as a coach, family man, soldier, and leader in the Calvert Sheriff’s Department.
Assistant Sheriff Dave McDowell has a long Calvert Sheriff’s Department background.
Craig Kontra is the only candidate who has demonstrated that he understands what the public does about the Hooterville operation of the Calvert Sheriff’s Department under Sheriff Mike Evans, carried out by McDowell. The public is tired of the corruption under Evans, which was demonstrated by the killing by a DUI deputy of Leah Clark as she walked along Dares Beach Road.
The coverup was almost immediate; the corruption was a reflex for Sheriff Evans and States Attorney Rappaport, and the other senior officers such as Lt. Col. Dave McDowell and Captain Steve Jones. They all showed that it was a virtual contest to see who could quickly forget all about the law concerning the arrest of a suspected drunk driver because the man behind the wheel of the death car was a deputy sheriff.
All the wrong moves were made in deference to the DUI deputy. He was given water to drink before having blood draws or field sobriety tests. Evans decided to have his tainted agency conduct the investigation. Not one of the educated and well-paid senior officers took one single step to a Judge’s office in the nearby courthouse to obtain a search warrant for the blood draw from the drunk deputy.
McDowell blew it that day, and recently he is attempting to shift his blame to Evans. Evans earned his guilt; he doesn’t need to shoulder the responsibility McDowell shirked.
Kontra has put forward a plan to ensure that the agency’s boozing deputies who have alcohol problems be identified and given help as being a cop is a tough job with lots of awful scenes that can never be unseen.
With Evans finally leaving his regime, this is no time to reward his assistant, who was present the day the drunk deputy killed Leah Clark. Dave McDowell failed to take any action to ensure justice would be served to the victim by proper arrest and warrant procedures being followed.
Kontra gets it. Vote for Craig Kontra to rid the Calvert Sheriff’s Department of corruption and incompetence.
ELECTION 2022: Vote for Tom McKay for St. Mary’s Commissioner President
ST. MARY’S COMMISSIONER PRESIDENT: There are four candidates in the race for the GOP nomination for this office. Three have been interviewed and explained their reasons for filing for the position. Two, Randy Guy and Tommy McKay, have previously held the office and built a record.
Hide & Seek: William BJ Hall made a record over the past two years in public arenas as a radical intent on tossing popular slogans around as freely as a child playing hide and seek. BJ Hall has tried to hide his radical past as he seeks the GOP nomination. Hall fails to make a case for voters to select him as the best person for the job.
Just Hiding: School Board Member Rita Weaver didn’t answer several requests for an interview. Thus, the only criteria to base her credentials on is her record as a school board member. Those who serve on the school board fail to transition to the Board of commissioners as their experience deals solely with advocating unlimited spending with increasingly less than stellar results.
Guy’s experience as commissioner president is more recent than that of McKay. Guy’s credentials include a grade of A for reading prepared statements provided by staffers that appears he has little understanding of issues or complexities in the operation of county government. In the critical issue of where and how the Pot Factory got approved and how about an investigation, Randy Guy receives an F and should be sent to sit in the corner while wearing a dunce cap.
Tommy McKay is our choice for the post of St. Mary’s County Commissioner President. Former Commissioner Larry Jarboe has cited his four years in the post from 2002 to 2006 as being a record of achievement, efficiency, lower taxes, respect for the treasure extracted from taxpayers by county government, and meeting the needs of education each and every budget cycle.
Larry Jarboe should know; he served four terms for a total of sixteen years and proclaimed McKay, the best commissioner president with whom he served.
McKay recently said he first started getting tips from customers of his family grocery store when he was a kid carrying groceries out to their cars. Some tips were as much as a quarter, other times more, but he always appreciated the tips. McKay says that as he grew older and took on additional responsibilities in addition to bagging and carrying groceries, the tips came in the form of requesting other items to be stocked, other services to be provided, and even offering completed meals to take home.
McKay points out that his business experience over the past few years with one crisis after another, which has crippled small businesses, makes him understand the challenges to small and independent businesses in a way that is impossible for others. The McKay stores will soon be reconfigured into smaller stores, and efficiencies sought to make them a viable business in the future.
Taking the same approach to government is nothing new to McKay, as he and Larry Jarboe worked to consolidate departments, eliminate department head positions and expand services to the community.
Tom McKay says in several recent interviews with THE CHESAPEAKE TODAY that he listens to citizens with suggestions on how to make government better and serve the needs of the public. He will open up and expand public forums regularly.
The current public forum process operated and overseen by Randy Guy only allows a citizen a total of three minutes to address the commissioners on a topic, and the forum is only held four times a year, thereby restricting a citizen to twelve minutes in a calendar year to redress their grievances with their commissioners or to make a suggestion. In that spirit, Randy Guy presided over the establishment of a Pot Factory in a residential neighborhood in a Critical Area owned by unknown investors.
McKay points out that he will resume the practice of the Board of moving around the county to firehouse social halls for the regular public forum. Anyone can have more time to speak once each person has had their turn and will stay open for comment until midnight if need be.
Randy Guy’s campaign finance record shows only too well who has his ear as the county’s most prominent developers, and some of the investors of the Pot Factory in Abell are funding his campaign. It is clear why Randy Guy never provided the public with a way to learn about the Pot Factory or to provide their concerns before the industrial operation was placed in their residential neighborhood.
The choice is clear electing Thomas McKay as St. Mary’s County Commissioner President will provide the best leadership for St. Mary’s County.
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