As a fierce opponent of the “Lakeside” development, I cannot in good faith support the RESET movement or any organization that is working to elect David Montgomery and Lynn Mielke to the Talbot County Council.
Both were deeply involved in the effort to preserve Talbot County’s disgraced and now dislocated Confederate monument. Montgomery was the leader of the “Preserve Talbot History” organization and Mielke was its vocal advocate. Both were fully dedicated to protecting a statue that sat on our courthouse lawn as a tribute to the old Confederacy and as a blatant gesture of intimidation to Black families in search of justice.
Their involvement in that issue alone should disqualify them from governing a county in which nearly 25 percent of its residents belong to a racial or ethnic minority. However, there is more. Here is Montgomery, well-known for his anti-LGBTQ jeremiads, implying a connection between a child’s sexual orientation and his or her propensity for murder:
“Do I think that the massive propaganda machine legitimizing the desire to change sex is harmful, and that it added to the impulses that made this boy and girl into killers? Indeed, I do.”
Meanwhile, Mielke recently stated that “there is an element that is trying to run this country on sunshine and windmills, and it ain’t going to work…it doesn’t work at night…it doesn’t work on cloudy days…it doesn’t work in the morning.” Mielke went on to call for a council-appointed “Education Accountability” task force that would EXAMINE THE BOOKS that are being assigned by teachers to their students. This is nothing less than a thinly-disguised way of bringing the notorious, far-right “Moms for Liberty” movement into our county.
David Montgomery and Lynn Mielke wouldn’t represent a reset so much as a relapse for Talbot County. We should not accept this false choice between candidates who will blithely do the bidding of any land developer waiving a check, and those who may be right on this one issue but whose views on everything else would take Talbot County in a very troublesome direction.
We deserve so much better. I would recommend that we vote to re-elect Pete Lesher and elect Michele Dappert, Keasha Haythe, Scott Kane and Philip Jackson to join him. Each would work in good faith to establish the appropriate balance between land preservation and other priorities that define vibrant, forward-thinking communities. Let’s do the reset without the relapse.
Len N. Foxwell
Talbot County
Jim Franke says
Agree. Support for candidates on your favorite single issue when they are MADATS (Make America Great Again Traitors) is another threat to democracy.
Jim Franke says
Agree. Support for candidates on your favorite single issue when they are MAGATS (Make America Great Again Traitors) is another threat to democracy.
Suzanne Todd says
Thank you so much, Len. My thoughts exactly. There’s so much more at stake besides Lakeside. Please consider more than one issue when you vote.
Kirke Harper says
TIP’s endorsements were made by a bi-partisan panel of eleven, and we endorsed every candidate listed by Mr. Foxwell—as well as Mielke and Montgomery. As anyone should know who had read about “Reset Lakeside” and TIP’s endorsements, our panel expressly vetted these candidates on a single issue: land use. It is not to say there are no other issues, or other issues are not important…and people have varied views on those matters.
But TIP’s promise to the Community was to vet on that issue alone and report out which candidates, as a high priority, have a commitment to the Talbot County Comprehensive Plan, sound and sustainable land use polices, and hitting the “reset button” on Lakeside. We recommend voting for Pete Lesher, and whichever four of these other candidates you prefer, based on whatever criteria you wish to apply: Dappert, Haythe, Jackson, Kane, Mielke, and Montgomery.
By the way, TIP is a 501c4 organization dedicated to the mission of protecting the rural character of Talbot County. At election time it supports and advocates for candidates who support our mission, but that is incidental to TIP’s broader, on-going endeavor.
Candidate Assessment Panel Members
The Talbot Integrity Project (TIP)
Dirck Bartlett R
Kirke Harper D
Brian Wroten says
Fully agree with this recommendation Mr. Foxwell. The rhetoric coming from even the more “moderately” positioned republicans such as Mielke is still abhorrent and unvotable. I will be voting Dem all the way!
Totch Hartge says
I support Reset, but definitely did not vote for Mielke or Montgomery, agreeing with your reasons. The Reset committee was bipartisan by design and focused on one giant threat in the county. I did not like seeing these two make their list but understood.
Never having voted single issue or a party line in my life, I did this time, including for the wonderful Keisha Haythe. Please vote.
Tom Hughes says
Following this line of reasoning, should those who believe the statue should have remained not vote for Mr. Lesher, and vote for Mr. Callahan? Either way, single issue voting will not result in the most qualified persons being elected to the council.
Richard Marks says
Len,
Suggest you take a closer look at Lynn Mielke’s position and comments regarding “Education Accountability”. Lynn is in favor of accountability across the board particularly in regards to the budget, but never spoke about ‘examining books’ for content. Her position and suggestion of an EAB is consistent with the new Blueprint plan.
A vote for Lynn is not just a vote for Lakeside Reset. It’s a vote for a solid citizen who would fairly and intelligently represent the citizens of Talbot County.
Richard