As much as I admire Dan Watson and the increasingly large group of Talbot County residents who want to thwart the pro-development thrust of the current county council by electing individuals who want to preserve a pristine part of Maryland, I question the focus on one issue, to the exclusion of other important matters facing the county.
Please excuse my 54-word lead sentence.
More concisely, the candidates endorsed by the Talbot Integrity Project (TIP) do have other priorities that need to be evaluated along with their views of land use. I counsel caution; Single-issue criteria tend to distort a more holistic perspective.
I do understand that our country is replete with interest groups advocating a particular policy stance and supporting candidates sympathetic to their perspective. These groups, however, seem less rigid in demanding absolute fealty and more aware of political opinions that might diminish the favored candidate’s credibility and effectiveness. In other words, fellow acolytes may carry viewpoints injurious to an interest group’s objective. The message then becomes muddled; voters are distracted, if not disenchanted.
TIP undertook a process unknown previously in the county, excepting the anti-tax campaign many years ago that successfully enacted the tax cap on the property tax. The result, while applauded by many in Talbot County, has impeded the delivery of necessary public services. I digress.
Do I agree that the current county council, excluding Pete Lesher, is oblivious to the comprehensive plan? Do I agree that the decision to proceed with Lakeside in Trappe is foolhardy and hurtful to the Choptank River and a sense of proportion in Talbot County.
Please record two unequivocal yeses for me.
But I am concerned that some of these candidates, and one in particular, might also advocate for changes in public school curriculums,or other divisive social positions that would bury the county in a constant whirl of controversy. County council members should focus on the budget, not on what’s taught, what’s not.
I am aware that I am deliberately avoiding calling out that particular Republican candidate, already the subject of criticism in readers’ comments.
Why my reluctance to mention this person’s name? I believe he is entitled to his opinions. They are diametrically opposed to mine. I prefer to forsake personal attacks. He and I have disagreed agreeably in the past. He is highly intelligent. He articulates his positions clearly and convincingly (to some).
Admittedly, I do not feel equally restrained in my criticism of current county council members. After all, they are public figures. Their actions warrant review and criticism, if necessary.
Voters must view the total picture of a candidate and his/her views on a slew of policy issues. To do otherwise is irresponsible.
Those elected based upon one overriding issue often are rigid and doctrinaire. They consider compromise anathema. They impede the political process. Teamwork is a foreign concept. This is true on both sides of the aisle. And collaboration is increasingly rare in our currently divisive public arena.
The public spotlight on the Talbot County Council has never been so intense. That’s beneficial. Democracy is working. Increasingly more people are engaged. The community is stronger. County members are feeling the discomfort imposed by public accountability.
TIP, organized by Watson, a citizen extraordinaire, exemplifies democracy at its best. Talbot County citizens are participating in the election process in a transparent manner. They are not accepting the status quo. They are seeking change in a respectable and responsible way.
Beware, however, of single-issue selection criteria. Understand that issues, such as the Lakeside development, do require singular focus and opposition. Also, as we all know, national battleground policies like abortion and gun control justifiably call for laser-like, if not fierce discussion, in Washington, DC and state capitals.
Columnist Howard Freedlander retired in 2011 as Deputy State Treasurer of the State of Maryland. Previously, he was the executive officer of the Maryland National Guard. He also served as community editor for Chesapeake Publishing, lastly at the Queen Anne’s Record-Observer. In retirement, Howard serves on the boards of several non-profits on the Eastern Shore, Annapolis and Philadelphia.
Dan Watson says
Dear Howard– Two points.
I think most everyone agrees that, in the final analysis, it would be foolish to become a single issue voter when we live in a many-issue world. But having staked out our agenda–protecting Talbot’s rural character envisioned in our Comp Plan–the five of us on TIP’s interview panel (two Rs, two Ds and an unaffiliated) thought we owed it to provide voters of each party with an honest assessment of all candidates by that standard.
Second, it’s the Primary. It is TIP’s view that voters should put on the final ballot as many candidates as possible who support sensible, well-paced development that will not despoil Talbot County in the manner of Lakeside, approved improperly by Mr. Callahan and others. When informed, Talbot’s voters are plenty smart enough to pick the best on the November ballot, applying all the varied criteria they think appropriate.
DW
David Lloyd says
Let’s not forget that the specific issue re development is not the only reason to reject the majority of current members of the Council. Their failure to comply with the laws regarding how decisions on this issue are to be made by the Council meant they felt no need to put the public’s interests above their own.
Michael Davis says
In the best of all possible worlds, it would be wonderful if no one was a single-issue voter. The world is so complex that an informed voter needs to pay attention to more than one thing. But single issue voters have been extraordinarily successful. Most Americans want reasonable gun control and want women to have a choice in reproduction. Single issue voters have blocked the will of those voters who support good causes.
I think the Lakeside development in Trapp justifies a single issue vote. It was bait-and-switch on the wastewater treatment plan, the impact on infrastructure is unfunded, it helps with no local problems of affordable housing, it will pollute the Choptank, and is at odds with rational land use planning. No one supporting it deserves a vote.
Jay Corvan says
Agree completely with this learned perspective. It’s important to understand that the system of public planning and input is not working well and even getting better County council representation doesn’t solve the problem Of open public input and due process that accountable and conversant with our electorate. We need to redesign the planning approach.
I have requested a few times that TIP get more involved in visioning through a direct community design process. This ideas has not gotten any traction. It seems all the oxygen is being completely deleted by Trappe’s present debacle.
One thing that a failed process like the lakeside project can teach is that the process of development through application is very flawed, that developers have very little to guide them in growth quality and quantity and that plans for this area must be made outside of city and county. We need to redesign our requirements for developers to deliver better developments that look more like who we are. This has been accomplished in many other areas that have historic character to protect. We should follow this lead. Hire really talented planners , not just a comp plan that has shown it’s not up tonthdvtaskmofbpryecrung much.
We should also be thinking regionally and adjusting our growth policy to coordinate with other counties ,towns , and cities so that we don’t relive a bad community participation example and we don’t play the developers game of whack a mole : Limit developer in one town and they pop up Elsewhere. Plus spending resources in every jurisdiction is s waste of resources. Why not spend it once in a region and allow cities to use it and adopt their own versions. Tjisctrmplate approach has worked well in other areas and lays down the structure for developers to understand what’s asked of them Up front.
I believe Our county growth problems are regional economic problems and I believe it will take a teamwork approach to create a structure to deal with beneficial economic development , natural resource protection , and protection of our lovely and special historical landscapes.
It’s all worth planning for, As they say if you don’t have a plan for life , it has a plan for you. So get busy Talbot County! Trappe is a bad chapter but it doesn’t have to be the end of the book.