Over the next several days, when considering who to vote for, please consider voting for me, Phil Jackson. I am passionate, excited, and uniquely able to give back to this community my family calls home. I am the furthest thing from a politician, and yet I have a life’s worth of practical experience and knowledge to bring to the council to advance and preserve our way of life in Talbot County. I am excited to be your voice on our County Council.
In talking to hundreds of community members throughout this journey, there are several key themes as it relates to our County Council race that reinforce why I am the strongest candidate:
Civility must be restored in government. Our neighbors want representation that works well together. I have extensive experience professionally and personally building consensus and community. I pride myself on being approachable and transparent with my decision making process.
Key issues impacting residents must be the FOCUS of our next council, and a council of individuals with practical knowledge in these issues is important. Our community is angry about neglect for our environment, the inability to find a physician, and the lack of information that often exists around important issues. My experiences with wastewater treatment at the Preserve at Wye Mills, building digital governments, and delivering modern healthcare services to the Eastern Shore position me uniquely among the candidates with skills that will have an immediate impact on our council, and your day to day life.
A willingness to think outside the box is critical to addressing headwinds we face. Whether the inability for teachers and first responders to find affordable homes in the communities they serve, coastal flooding and erosion impacting us today, or our ability to fund the needs of the community, our leadership needs to think differently to address these challenges. The status quo of local government is no longer good enough. As a business and community leader, I have demonstrated an ability to address complex issues over and over again with grit and persistence. Data informs every position I take, and those positions are clearly communicated.
Our council is elected to be a voice for our county residents, not themselves. Our community feels left out and uninformed. In numerous cases, I have been applauded for simply showing up at the door of our neighbors with a willingness to have a conversation. I am deeply committed to using all of the resources at our disposal to create a more accessible and transparent local government that our community can more effectively engage with.
In my career, I’ve been fortunate to incorporate service, working in mission oriented spaces enabling healthcare, law enforcement and government with technology to enable better healthcare outcomes, achieve mission success and reach citizens with world-class technology. This commitment to service leadership started at a young age, growing up in the Methodist church. I had notable, life-changing experiences in Appalachia with the Appalachia Service Project, in West Virginia with Habitat for Humanity and international missions trips. My life’s experiences have shaped my deep belief that we are all responsible for leaning in and helping the community around us. It is my time to lean in, in Talbot County.
When I was approached in early 2022 to run for Talbot County Council, I was apprehensive. I am not a politician. I am a proud father of four busy children and I am a dedicated service-oriented employee. What I’ve learned through this journey is that it’s time for a new perspective in Talbot County, and I am uniquely able to provide that. The past few months meeting numerous community members, talking with you about your vision for our county and what matters most to your family has been one of the most rewarding experiences. I’m thankful for the opportunity to participate in this race and look forward to serving you on our next council.
Phil Jackson
Candidate, Talbot County Council
Wye Mills
Mickey Terrone says
By a combination of previous community involvement, collegial attitude, high technology skill level, strong appreciation for public education, dedication to conservative and controlled county growth, Phil Jackson is an ideal candidate for County Council leadership. He is determined to do the right things for the right reasons. Along with his wife, Emily, a candidate for reelection to the School Board, their commitment to public service is solid. Phil’s cumulative, directly applicable know-how and tech skills will provide the County Council with excellent perspectives for crucial decision making that will have a very positive impact on our future.
Eva M. Smorzaniuk MD says
Its refreshing to hear rational and pragmatic language rather than partisan rhetoric. I believe your professional and life experiences, and especially your expertise in dealing with a failing waste treatment system, will uniquely qualify you for this job. You’ve got my vote!
Eric Ploeg says
Although I haven’t read each candidates’ campaign literature in detail, one issue that I’ve only noticed Mr. Montgomery addressing directly is the growing tax burden in Talbot County, especially for those of us responsible for both Easton AND Talbot County taxes. It’s great that all the candidates promise to support public safety and education. However, like the Lakeview development which seems to have been ignored until late,the rising tax burden mustn’t be overlooked now. As we all know, taxes never decrease, government program budgets generally expect annual increases, so spending grows. So, I hope the winning candidates please pay attention and budget responsibly now before its too late.
Phil Jackson says
Mr. Montgomery addresses inflation and rising costs in his recent op-ed but falls short in connecting how his experience can actually translate to solutions, other than to say he is an expert. The fact: inflation is outpacing our annual tax increase and revenues will be outpaced by expenses. We need to think of creative ways to increase our revenues: here are a few ideas – moving to digital only services for application of permits (building, etc). Increase permit cost and increase efficiency in obtaining and accessing permits; leverage process optimization and look for opportunities to create shared services amongst county components (ex. IT in schools and county government); maintain the strong fiscally conservative posture that has allowed Talbot County to establish a healthy financial reserve; hire grants experts that works across government agencies to identify and apply for grant money (categorical and block) – there are significant opportunities to raise monies through federal and private grants for education, infrastructure and public safety but it takes dedication and focus to do so; private-public partnerships to fund programs like transportation for our aging community in Talbot County. The fact is, if we want to continue to enjoy low property taxes, we need to welcome innovation around how we use those tax dollars.
Judy Wixted says
You just proved why we need your innovative vision.
Michael Pullen says
Phil Jackson is a candidate with the right stuff, volunteering to serve Talbot County for the right reasons. Public service is demanding, it requires a lot of time, a lot of homework, a lot of meetings, digging into details and bringing a whole array of talent and skills to the table. It requires collaboration and consensus, a well-defined sense of community, a willingness to listen and learn and a commitment to keep the public interest as the measure to figure out what’s best.
Example is the best way to lead. Phil Jackson volunteered to tackle a long-standing problem facing his community, the failing sewage treatment facility at Wye Mills. It took a couple years, it wasn’t easy. Working with the County, MDE, and community homeowners he got it done, protecting the environment and solving a difficult problem that had plagued the community for years.
He did it by building consensus, exploring solutions, communicating and building relationships. Importantly, community residents agreed to bear the costs, so the problem was solved at no expense to County taxpayers. These results speak for themselves.
This is just the community-minded spirit we need on the County Council. Phil Jackson has shown his willingness to step up, step forward and to do the difficult work that needs to be done to make things better for the community.
He’s got my support and I hope yours too. He’s got the right stuff.
Brian Wroten says
Phil is a great listener who is truly dedicated to public service and transparency!
Chris Knotts says
I’ve witnessed Phil in his personal and professional life. His thoughtful, pragmatic approach to problem solving, and his ability to “connect the dots” and communicate clearly will be a valuable asset to Talbot County. It’s time for some fresh ideas, and Phil will bring them. Phil Jackson has this Independent’s vote!
Eric Beaufait says
What is the position of the candidates on airport expansion? They say they are not expanding but moving the runway. This seems like they are trying to pull a fast one since if you make it longer and not take out the exiting portion wouldn’t that be considered expanding? There is too much air traffic and jets are getting to big leading to more air pollution and noise pollution in our small town. They cut down all the trees on Commerce Dr. which was once a ideal way of having a commercial zone with nice landscaping which worked well in the community but now looks like a warehouse zone. 🤮 The old Black & Decker building could be used for so much more than simply tearing it down to expand a runway for the .01% of people who fly large jets in our community.
Haven’t seen this topic brought up by any of the candidates so what are your thoughts?
Thanks
Phil Jackson says
Eric, thanks for the question. With 100% transparency, the topic of the airport is one that I’m not highly proficient in.
There are a few things I’m aware of: In terms of funding, the federal government provided $5.5M for the Easton Airport expansion project with grant monies in 2019; $1.5M came in 2021 from the State. This money was majorily used to acquire the Black and Decker plant. My understanding is that efforts surrounding the airport are in flight (pardon the pun) to address a change in standards by the FAA dating back to the early 2000s. The largest impact to Easton Airport was the need to increase the runway safety area by 1,000 feet on both sides of the runway. As a temporary solution, the runway use was restricted to 4,775ft. The final approval for this project was issued in 2018, and studied numerous areas including air quality, biological resources, coastal zone management, farmland, hazardous materials, historical/cultural/architectural/archeological resources, noise, socioeconomics/environmental justice/children’s environmental health, water resources, wetlands and construction impacts. What I’d be interested to get more detail on was the justification that we needed to accommodate aircraft/aircraft use that required greater than 4,775ft. My understanding is that the longer runway will allow flights to depart with full tanks of gas (vs. partially filled), among other benefits (including meeting compliance). Hopefully this helps a bit. More research for me to do, for sure.