On Tuesday night the Talbot County Council leveled a powerful one-two punch aimed at shutting down completely, once and for all, the voices of citizens demanding action to restore government integrity and to protect Talbot County from Lakeside’s assaults.
Sixty days after the election, citizens’ demands to “Reset Lakeside” were gathering new steam—and fast! A veritable flood of emails and phone calls to Council Members. Yard signs out again. Forty prominent citizens in the Bradley Room together, speaking ever-so-politely with one voice! [Video at 1:19:50.] A successful Reset Lakeside Rally last Saturday on the Courthouse lawn….and two more announced (Feb 4th, Feb 11th), with new young blood in charge! Citizens making demands publicly, via powerful on-line videos (!) and messages read aloud at Council meetings! The people’s demand to Reset Lakeside—and especially the need to take a public vote on it—was building power.
From the developer’s viewpoint, no doubt it was time to drive a stake in the heart of Reset Lakeside. Now, before it succeeds.
The first punch: Mr. Lesher attempted to kill dead any hope that Talbot County will ever recover from improper approvals given the Billion-Dollar Lakeside project in 2020, approvals based on illegally issued MDE permits. With the effect of fiat, Mr. Lesher announced that, notwithstanding his support of the idea throughout the election, he would not even introduce the “Reset Lakeside” resolution (a position then echoed by Ms. Mielke) because, based advice from the County Attorney, “other interested outside parties,” and someone he spoke with at MDE, he “now understood” Reset Lakeside would not work.
Now, the second, killer blow: With the clear intent of chilling anyone’s engagement with TIP or association with Dan Watson—potentially destroying “Reset Lakeside” on the spot like the popping of a balloon–Ms. Haythe followed immediately by leveling an accusation at me personally, an accusation powerful because it sounds not just serious, but more than a little creepy.
(This was not the libel asserted by Councilman Divilio in August–that I had “admitted to fraud in open court,” a falsehood that, if believed, also could have undercut TIP and its ability to raise funds.)
Ms. Haythe’s accusation [Video at 1:31] was this: “I was in fact harassed, and bullied by Dan Watson, to the effect that I had to seek an attorney and send a cease and desist before the election, as well as contacting Sheriff Gamble because I was feeling threatened and a fear for my life….he was calling me late at night, texting and emailing.” Sounds bad, like someone who went over the edge, out of control. Not only is TIP thereby neutered, who would now want to associate him- or herself with TIP or it’s cause…or it’s leader either?
NOTE: in fact, I did not engage in anything remotely resembling bullying behavior with Ms. Haythe or anyone else as I advocated for TIP and for restoration of integrity in Talbot County, and her announcement was the first I ever heard of a “cease and desist.”
That this charge was intended for the purpose of immediately chilling anyone’s willingness to listen to TIP or associate with Watson was explicit: “I want to put this out to the Reset Committee and anyone that is working with him as a partner of this group just to give you truth…” She ended by citing her ordination as a minister and her unwillingness “to compromise the word of God.”
Mopping up:
The reaction of the County Council to this personalized attack from the Dias was interesting. No reaction at all. No comment from anyone about the propriety of that remarkable take-down, nary a head turned. (This coming just 30 minutes after the Council President’s forceful interruption of Mr. Smullen in Public Comment to say “You. Do. Not. Use. Council’s names when presenting public comment…do not use our names.”) Indeed, the neutering of TIP by Ms. Haythe seems to have served the broader objectives of the County Council very well.
Mr. Callahan then said this, among his comments: “This Reset thing, as Mr. Lesher said, and that resolution, is not going to happen, it’s not going to happen…Mr. Lesher, you did a good job, you did a really good job. I know that was tough, I know that during the election it was tough, and you promised, ok? But promises…it takes people like yourself sometimes to take a couple steps back and re-look at this. And I commend you for that.”
[Video of candidates’ responses to the question of whether or not they support “Reset Lakeside” during the election campaign is available here.]
Speaking to Mr. Smullen, who had read messages from citizens (some scathing—video at 56:45) during Public Comment, Mr. Callahan said this: “We don’t want you to go away; we want to work with you. But we got to do it respectfully. And we don’t need these really bad emails on how bad we are. ‘Cause we all were elected, and we’re doing a job here, for you guys, we want to work for you guys…you got to work with us, and we got to work with you. But being disrespectful, and doing these demonstrations, that’s not helping your cause at all, it really isn’t. We all know it. The whole of Talbot County knows it….I want to commend Council, and I think we need to move on…and I’ve got a lawyer up here who’s spent many, many, many hours on this, so we need to move on….” [Listen to full comment, beginning at 1:32:32.]
What happens now?
So where are we? With Mr. Lesher’s unilateral decision that “it’s over” without a vote, and Ms. Haythe’s perhaps successful assassination attempt on TIP as an effective engine of reform—it and it’s now-disreputable founder to be shunned by any upright citizen—perhaps that is indeed the end.
Or not.
If the “Reset Lakeside” legislation is actually opposed by three—or even more—Council members, then what is the harm in introducing it as so many citizens continue to demand, whereupon three, or four, or five Council members can vote it down? The end.
In TIP’s opinion, the problem with the “Reset Lakeside” legislation for the supporters of Lakeside is not that the legislation does not work, as Mr. Lesher came recently to understand (with the help of the County Office of Law and “other outside interested parties”) but that the legislation DOES WORK. If adopted, TIP believes the result will inevitably be the pausing of Lakeside while it is brought back for a proper review, just as always intended.
Lakeside is a Billion-Dollar deal. No one knows at present who is really behind it, whose money is involved today, what financial interests are in play. All has been arranged to be completely opaque. Suffice it to say that there are powerful forces that do not want Reset Lakeside legislation adopted.
So, a second question is this: With guidance from others, Mr. Lesher says the adoption of “Reset Lakeside” would have no effect. So even if it were brought to a vote, and just for argument’s sake, let’s say, adopted, there would be no impact on Lakeside, right? Nor would that act impede Mr. Lesher and Ms. Mielke from continuing “other efforts” to “keep an eye on this development,” as Ms. Mielke remarked). So, where’s the problem—pass it and see what happens.
The two-fisted blows to Reset Lakeside leveled on Tuesday night–one high, one low–may together produce the knockout Lakeside’s developer seeks. Or maybe citizens climb up off the canvas and go at it again. Mr. Callahan seemed certain that “those demonstrations are not helping your cause…” video clips and citizens messages notwithstanding.
We’ll just have to see.
Dan Watson,
Talbot Integrity Project
An unedited video of Saturday’s rally is available here, time not permitting abridgment yet.
Paul Rybon says
Now that Mr. Dorsey’s effort to encourage some integrity from the newly elected Talbot County Council has failed so dramatically, maybe it’s time that TIP resorts to the only proven action that Councils listen to: liability. Keeping that in mind, it might be interesting to explore how the failed Wye Mills treatment plant became the taxpayers’ responsibility. And how is it that the non-complying Trappe treatment plant has escaped the same fate? Does the polluted runoff make people sick? What does it take? And who are these ‘other interests’ that seemingly have an unusually strong effect on the council members.curious people would like to know.