A senior diplomat with 32 years of U.S. Foreign Service experience: “I’m not running to fight — I’m running to govern.”
I am a retired Senior Foreign Service Officer who served at the Minister Counselor level — the third-highest flag-rank equivalent in the U.S. diplomatic corps. A St. Michaels resident, Police Accountability Board commissioner, and 32-year veteran of complex government operations on five continents, I am running for Talbot County Council as a Democrat focused on practical governance and experienced local leadership.
Why I Am Running
The decision came from watching Talbot County’s government drift from its core responsibilities. I spent three decades solving hard problems for the United States government — in some genuinely difficult places. When I settled here full-time, I expected to find a county council focused on roads, public safety, schools, and water. Instead, I kept seeing energy spent on national culture war battles that have nothing to do with what our neighbors actually need. That’s what pushed me to run.
I served my final three Foreign Service assignments as Minister Counselor in Venezuela, Canada, and Mexico. In May 2018, I went toe-to-toe with President Nicolás Maduro — Venezuela’s authoritarian leader — to demand the release of a wrongfully detained American held in an intelligence service prison. Maduro expelled me on 48 hours’ notice. “Maduro kicked me out,” I can say now, “but the American we were fighting for walked out of that intelligence prison. That’s the outcome that mattered.” I returned to St. Michaels — my official residence of record since 2015 — where I have voted, paid taxes, and engaged in local civic life ever since. I subsequently directed all political operations at two of the most consequential U.S. diplomatic missions in the world — Canada and Mexico — and served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in Ottawa, leading the Embassy and its seven consulates across the country.
Rooted in St. Michaels
Across 16 assignments and 32 years, St. Michaels was the one constant — the place I came back to between posts, the place that felt like home even when I was living on the other side of the world. When Maduro expelled me for refusing to back down over a wrongfully imprisoned American, there was no question where I was going. This community has been my anchor. Since returning full-time, I have served on the Police Accountability Board representing St. Michaels and on the county’s Bicycling and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
Governance Over Ideology
I am direct about what I see as the council’s proper role. A county council’s job is roads, public safety, water and sewer, zoning, and schools. Full stop. My entire career was built on getting things done in environments where the people across the table had very different views from mine — sometimes radically different. You don’t get to walk away from those conversations. You find the common ground and you solve the problem.
On the question of working with a Republican-majority council, I don’t hesitate. I’m not running to fight — I’m running to govern. The real issues facing Talbot County don’t have a Democratic or Republican answer. They have a practical answer. I’ve spent my career proving that you can find workable solutions with people who see the world very differently from you — that’s not a theory for me, it’s a track record.
My Top Priorities
Public Safety. The 2024 “penny tax” charter amendment — approved by Talbot County voters by roughly 400 votes — is an unfinished commitment. That vote was close, but it was clear: our neighbors said they want to fund public safety properly. My job is to make sure every dollar goes exactly where voters were told it would go — to our sheriff’s deputies, our paramedics, our 911 operators, and our school resource officers. You don’t honor a hard-won mandate by letting it sit in a budget line.
Infrastructure. I’ve managed capital programs for the U.S. government in places where the stakes were high and the margin for error was low. What I see in Talbot County is aging water and sewer infrastructure that needs serious, sustained attention — not deferred decisions. Get this wrong and you damage the Chesapeake Bay, constrain responsible growth, and hand the bill to future generations. We have the knowledge to plan this well. The question is whether we have the discipline to do it.
Workforce Housing. The teacher who educates your child, the paramedic who responds to your emergency, the nurse who works at Memorial — more and more of them can’t afford to live in the community they serve. That’s not sustainable, and it’s not the Talbot County people want to pass on to the next generation. Workforce housing isn’t a progressive talking point — it’s an economic and community necessity.
Schools and Fiscal Responsibility. Talbot County ranks near the bottom of Maryland in per-pupil spending while maintaining one of the lowest tax rates in the state. Those two facts belong in the same conversation. I’m not going to pretend fiscal constraints don’t exist — they do, and I take them seriously. But a county that doesn’t invest adequately in its children is borrowing against its own future. I want to look hard at how we allocate every dollar and make sure the budget reflects our actual priorities.
Experience That Translates
People sometimes assume that international experience doesn’t apply to local government. I’d push back on that hard. When I ran the Embassy in Caracas, I led a team of 450 people — about the same size as the Talbot County workforce. I coordinated 12 agencies and sections, comparable to the county’s 16 departments. And we provided consular, emergency, and other services to a community of roughly 50,000 Americans in Venezuela — a larger constituency than Talbot County’s 38,000 residents. That is not a different job. That is the same job in a harder environment.
When Maduro expelled me, I left behind a resilient, road-ready mission. We maintained full continuity of operations. The team didn’t miss a beat. That’s what good management looks like under pressure — the institution is stronger than any one person, and it keeps functioning when tested. That’s the standard I’d bring to Talbot County.
I graduated from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and hold a graduate degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). I am one of four Democrats seeking the party’s nomination ahead of the June 23 primary. The general election is scheduled for November 3.
Brian Naranjo
Democratic Candidate, Talbot County Council – St. Michaels
Your leadership background, professionalism, and pragmatic tone would probably translate well to county government. The platform you outline is solid, but it skips the central issue: the local economy and widening wealth disparity.
Spend time outside St. Michaels. Go to the parts of the county where people are struggling. Visit food pantries. Talk to families trying to get by and seniors who are isolated because their kids can’t find work here. Housing is a problem. So are artificial barriers to jobs, trades. services, and any path to upward mobility. Tourism and second-home economics are not enough to support working families.
Zoning areas, codes, and plans need complete rewrites, free from the back room dominance of special interest groups. There is almost no space for small business, trades, or light manufacturing across most of Talbot. Villages are permanently frozen in place. Major roads sit empty when they should support real economic activity. Policies like excessive conservation zoning, growth limits, and burdensome design rules have created a divide between those who benefit from scarcity and those shut out of opportunity.
The next council has a chance to reset that. Quit relying on town governments to govern our local economy. Instead, designate many significant new county areas for village, commercial, and industrial zoning. Allow mixed uses. Throw out the Gateway overlay district. Reform subdivision rules that block rental housing. Encourage businesses to start along major roadways. Without that, Talbot continues to stagnate.
Mary, thank you for a thoughtful and substantive response — and for reading the letter carefully enough to push back on it. You’re right that I didn’t address economic opportunity directly, and that’s a gap worth closing.
I’ll be honest about where I come down. I’m not a “freeze it in place” candidate, and I’m not an “approve anything with a pulse” candidate either. What I am is a process candidate — and I mean that seriously, not as a dodge.
Here’s why process matters to me: Talbot County’s land use controversies — Lakeside being the most glaring example — didn’t happen because the county lacked opinions about growth. They happened because the rules weren’t followed, the planning wasn’t done, and decisions got made in ways that shut out both the public and the professional staff whose job it is to get this right. The result wasn’t good for anyone — not for people who wanted growth, not for people who wanted to protect the Bay, and certainly not for the taxpayers left holding the infrastructure bill.
The 2026 Comprehensive Plan update is the right moment to get serious about exactly what you’re describing. I’d support using that process to deliberately open up zoning for small business, trades, light manufacturing, and mixed-use development in areas where infrastructure can support it. Not by gutting environmental protections or conservation zoning wholesale, but by doing the hard work of identifying where those uses actually make sense and building a transparent framework that creates predictable rules of the game for developers, residents, and employers alike.
On workforce housing specifically: I think inclusionary zoning, streamlined permitting for workforce units, and mixed-income requirements on larger projects are all worth serious consideration. But again — those tools only work if the underlying planning framework is credible and the process has public trust. Right now it doesn’t, and that has to be fixed first.
One more thing: I’d gently push back on the implication that St. Michaels is somehow disqualifying. Talbot County has been welcoming people to these shores since colonial times — that’s neither a quirk nor an anomaly in our story, it’s intrinsic to the story. The people who came here a generation ago, or a decade ago, or last year aren’t lesser members of this community. They’re paying taxes, raising families, serving on boards, and showing up — just like everyone else. Politics, like diplomacy, is a contact sport — and I’ve played it that way my whole professional life and intend to do the same here. I’ve spent real time getting to know this county — its people, its villages, its back roads, and the very different communities that make it what it is. St. Michaels is part of Talbot County, not apart from it. I’m running to serve all of it.
Brian Naranjo
Democratic Candidate, Talbot County Council
St. Michaels
Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I agree with your approach to process and think your points on economic opportunity and zoning would really enhance your platform. From what I’ve read, I believe you would excel in county leadership. Good luck to you.
Thank you for stepping up to run for office. Your vast experience and solutions driven mindset would certainly be very valuable assets for Talbot County. Best of luck.
You’re so right about workforce housing, especially for Talbot Schools, over 40% of staff (academic and support) reside outside Talbot. As well, from my experience as president emeritus of the Eastern Shore Area Health Education Center (ESAHEC), I am aware that an inordinate percentage of workers come from neighboring counties, medical staff and support. And then, there’s the clinician shortage – which is to say the docs we have are excellent, we simply haven’t enough of them. Try finding a PCP in Talbot who isn’t all booked up! I wish you well in your campaign, and in these issues. Peace be with you, Bishop Joel
Bishop Joel — thank you. The 40% figure on school staff is striking and important. When the people who teach our children and care for our neighbors can’t afford to live among us, we’ve got a structural problem, not just a housing problem. I look forward to continuing this conversation. — Brian
Thank you for your thoughtful letter and your focus on process and community input.
I conducted a grassroots community survey regarding the county-owned property (former site of the Talbot County Health Dept) that has now been vacant for almost two years. The goal was to better understand how residents would like to see that property used and to contribute constructive input to future planning discussions. Hundreds of Talbot County and Easton residents participated.
Given your emphasis on transparent and inclusive decision-making, I thought the survey results might be useful context as you consider this issue. You can review them here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQdzgRysA9Bp9Zf7ksqIO_zXoK5N6JseCv-VUcjzHKtHtHnxIpu_gvSrlOrW91_fMFnLly3ohXeq4cO/pub
I’d welcome any thoughts you may have.