Front of mind for residents of Easton are several major issues. Two among them are the stalled University of Maryland regional medical center project and related physician shortage issues and out of control growth and development that threatens our quality of life. Al is far and away the best candidate for Easton’s Town Council President in the September 12th election.
In his statement in the Talbot Spy August 7th, Al says “it’s imperative for the health and welfare of the citizens of the Mid-Shore that a new Regional Medical Center begin construction in 2024.” He promises to be a vocal advocate for our health care needs.
Before moving to Maryland, I had a lot of experience with municipalities dealing with large medical systems to make sure local needs are met. I worked for four years for the Massachusetts certificate of the need program, involved with overseeing the acquisition and upgrading of community hospitals by their affiliate Boston academic medical centers. Town public officials routinely spoke out in no uncertain terms on behalf of the needs of their communities.
It is baffling to me why the only public voice we hear is from the PR department of the University of Maryland’s Shore Regional Health. This needs to change and will change if Al Silverstein is elected.
With regard to limited growth, Al will take concrete action. He promises to propose legislation for the adoption of an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO). APFO is well known and used by communities to link the existence of adequate local facilities to approval of individual projects.
To hear about these plans and ask Al about any concerns you may have, please come to a meet and greet for Al on Thursday August 17th at 4 Dogs Brewing Co. and Pub from 6-8s. There will be free hors o’oeuvres.
Holly Wright
Easton
Michael Rotch says
Multiple surveys of Easton residents (National Association of Realtors and Comprehensive Plan Update) have shown that a lack of affordable housing is the top concern of Easton residents. Out of control growth is a concern identified in these surveys but does not reach the affordable housing crisis. Right now, the average listing price for a home is around $500K due to a lack of supply among other factors. How does Mr. Silverstein propose to create attainable housing more for our police officers, teachers, and nurses?
Reed Fawell 3 says
Jay Convan’s suggestions might help get the town there-
see- https://talbotspy.org/a-failure-of-imagination-what-we-learned-from-lakeside-by-jay-corvan/
Holly Wright says
The need for affordable housing has been an important chronic problem in Easton and elsewhere.
However, the survey taken by the Talbot Spy and Avalon Foundation in March of this year found that among residents Affordable Housing ranked 5th behind Environmental Concerns and Easton Growth, Public Safety, Drug Abuse and Community Health, and Traffic and Walkability in that order.
https://talbotspy.org/avalon-spy-survey-results-from-growth-to-dog-parks-challenge-easton/
With all due respect, why am I not surprised that a National Association of Realtors survey found that increased supply of real estate, i.e. development, is needed.
To my simple mind, affordability of housing has always been about who is going to foot the bill for the difference between some standard of affordability and the market price.
But this is an important issue for Easton and I know Mr. Silverstein has a response to your question.
My suggestion is that it be brought up for all candidates to answer at the August 29th debate among Candidates for President of the Town Council.
Holly Wright says
For your information, our Eastern Shore values include for people to be honest and direct about who they are and what they represent. It’s bad form around here, Mr. Rotch, to meddle in a local election without letting people know you’re the CFO of LLoyd Jones, a housing development investment company. This is the sort of thing that continues to earn developers a bad name.
Bishop Joel Marcus Johnson says
Al Silverstein is so on target. It’s a sad truth that only 46% of our TCPS education and support staff live here. For accuracy’ sake, I am unable to separate if this figure denotes those who live here, or who have stated they cannot afford to live here. Regardless, it’s an alarming statistic – that such a figure cannot participate in the polis of the same community in which they are educating its people, our people. And, it says loads of our consideration for these different communities – of our residents, and of the gifted, charitable aliens educating our residents.