Talbot County Council

Council Can Vote Tuesday on ‘Talbot Boys’ Removal

August 10, 2020 by John Griep 8 Comments

The county council can vote Tuesday night on the latest effort to remove the “Talbot Boys” from the courthouse green.

Resolution 290, introduced by two of the five council members, calls for the removal of the statue of a young flag bearer carrying the battle flag of the rebel Army of Northern Virginia. As introduced, the resolution would allow the base, containing the names of Talbot County men who fought against the United States, to remain.

An amended resolution has been introduced by Councilman Pete Lesher and Council President Corey Pack, who introduced the initial resolution. The amended resolution calls for the removal of the entire monument and removes language that would have banned depictions of soldiers.

Lesher also plans to introduce two amendments during Tuesday night’s meeting, according to the agenda.

One would change language concerning the statue’s relocation to have the monument safely stored in the care of the county “until a place for its ultimate relocation can be identified and prepared.”

The second would establish a restricted county fund to receive any private contributions toward the cost of removing the monument.

During a July 28 public hearing on the resolution, the overwhelming majority of those calling into the meeting of the Talbot County Council urged members to completely remove the monument.

The council also was given a petition with 30-plus pages of signatures of people calling for the Talbot Boys to be removed from the courthouse green. A video entitled “I am Talbot County” also was submitted into the record.

“Statues are not how history is taught. It’s not about erasing history, but about what history to glorify,” one caller said. “What we do not support is a monument glorifying the Confederacy.”

Another caller cited a community survey in which 63% of respondents said racism is an issue in Talbot County.

“The Confederacy should not be glorified and that’s what the Talbot Boys statue does,” another caller said.

“This isn’t the first time the removal of the monument has been discussed. I hope it will be the last,” he said. “The question now is what side of history do you want to be a part of.”

“To commemorate is to celebrate” and the statue symbolizes racism and slavery, another caller said.

David Montgomery disagreed.

“The monument is to soldiers of Talbot County, not to slavery, not to the Confederacy,” he said.

Montgomery argued that it was highly unlikely that Talbot’s soldiers were fighting to preserve slavery.

Paul Callahan argued that Talbot’s rebels were fighting against Lincoln’s unconstitutional actions during the war against the secessionists.

“During the Civil War, what was done in Maryland was unconstitutional, unlawful, and brutal,” Callahan said, citing martial law, the suspension of habeas corpus, and the arrests of thousands of Marylanders suspected of Southern sympathies.

But Benjamin Rubenstein noted that Talbot’s rebel soldiers fought for the Confederate States of America.

“Even if they didn’t own slaves, they fought to protect slavery,” he said. “There’s no place for racism and white supremacy” on the public square.

Larrier Walker agreed that the fact that someone fought in a war could not be separated from “what they fought for.”

“Where in Germany are there statues or memorials to Hitler or the Nazis?” he asked. “There are none. To African-Americans and others, the Talbot Boys are just like Hitler and the Nazis.”

Henry Herr, who circulated the petition for the statue’s removal, noted the seceding states went to war against the U.S. in order to preserve slavery.

“The vast majority of historians have proven it time and time again,” he said.

“This symbol is a scourge of Talbot County,” Herr said. “Stand up for the minorities in your community who have been begging you to take it down.”

One caller said he was related to 10% of the names on the Talbot Boys monument.

He noted that the monument has 84 names, but many times that number from Talbot County fought for the United States.

The “time has come to remove” the monument and show that “Talbot County does not hold racism as a central tenet,” he said.

Others noted that the courthouse green was the site of the county’s slave auctions, where the KKK met in the 1880s, and where thousands gathered — just a few years after the Talbot Boys monument was erected — in an attempt to lynch a black man accused of sexually assaulting a white girl.

Keith Watts said the statue stands on hallowed ground — the site where thousands of Talbot’s slaves were brought to auction, where families were torn apart, “sold on the very spot that that statue stands.”

“Those people have no voice now. They need to be heard down through the ages,” Watts said. “The weight of history is on you tonight. The eyes of the nation and world are on you tonight. If Mississippi can do this, Talbot County can do this.”

Talbot OKs Fines for COVID-19 Violations

July 29, 2020 by John Griep 1 Comment

This video is about 21 minutes long.

Individuals and businesses violating COVID-19 restrictions in Talbot County may face additional civil fines up to $1,000 per violation.

The Talbot County Council voted 4-1 Tuesday night to adopt an emergency resolution that sets civil fines for violations of the governor’s executive orders on COVID-19.

The discussion Tuesday night and at a previous meeting focused on concerns about businesses, particularly a few restaurants with bar areas, that have not been requiring customers to comply with Gov. Hogan’s orders.

In an executive order allowing certain businesses and facilities to open with 50% indoor capacity, restaurants are only allowed to serve customers who are seated.

While the governor’s executive orders allow for businesses and individuals to be charged with a misdemeanor offense and face a fine up a year in jail and/or a $5,000 fine, Talbot officials wanted the ability to impose civil, rather than criminal, penalties.

The civil fines may be imposed on businesses that violate the governor’s directives on how to safely open for the public, as well as individuals who fail to follow the order requiring facial coverings.

“These measures take effect immediately,” Council President Corey Pack said in a statement. “We are working to keep everyone as safe as possible and are continuing to closely follow the governor’s Maryland Strong Roadmap to Recovery.”

The draft of the emergency resolution is below:

Emergency Resolution – COVID Enforcement - as approved on 7-28-20

The resolution refers to two orders issued by Gov. Larry Hogan.

Order 20-04-15-01 requires face coverings on public transportation and in retail and food service establishments. The order also requires stores to sanitize carts and baskets and designate at least 6-foot spacing between customers waiting in line.

Masks-and-Physical-Distancing-4.15.20

Order 20-06-10-01 largely allows various businesses and facilities to open up at 50% capacity indoors and allowed restaurants to serve food and drinks indoors to customers seated at tables, but not at bar/counter areas.

Gatherings-NINTH-AMENDED-June-10

Dr. Fredia Wadley, the county’s health officer, also had recommended that the council consider limiting the number of people allowed at both indoor and outdoor gatherings, and empowering the county liquor board to suspend the liquor license of violators.

As health officer, Wadley has the authority from the state health secretary to suspend the food service license of any establishment that is operating in an unsafe manner.

The council plans to discuss restrictions on outdoor gatherings during its Aug. 11 meeting.

“When you are talking about a virus like COVID-19, there is no safe number,” Wadley told the council. “It’s where do you want to set the number?”

During Tuesday night’s meeting, Wadley also outlined the recent COVID-19 trends in Talbot County and the state.

“In Talbot County, we had the first good day for a long time and I never thought I’d say six new cases is a good day, but it’s better than 10 which is what we’ve been having,” she said.

The county’s 7-day average for new daily cases had hit a peak of 10 on July 20 and 21 before dropping back to the single digits.

From the county’s first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 16 through July 10, the 7-day average had not gone higher than three.

Talbot Council Talks Floyd, ‘Talbot Boys;’ Lesher Calls for Removal of Confederate Monument

June 13, 2020 by John Griep

The “Talbot Boys” monument should be removed from the county courthouse grounds, Talbot County Councilman Pete Lesher said Tuesday night.

Lesher is the first county councilman to call for the removal of the monument to the county’s Confederate soldiers (including some who moved to Talbot after the war) since a renewed effort began after the death of George Floyd.

Council President Corey Pack later asked council members to adopt a resolution to prohibit all statues depicting persons, signs of symbols of military actions on the courthouse grounds. He said the resolution would not prohibit monuments listing the names of Talbot County veterans of war.

The Talbot Boys monument has a statue of a young color bearer holding the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia atop a base listing the names of the Confederate soldiers. If Pack’s resolution was approved and applied to existing monuments, the statue would be removed but the base would remain.

The council discussion comes as the nation grapples with police brutality against people of color and amid demonstrations calling for racial justice and equality after the death of George Floyd while pinned down by Minneapolis police officers.

A peaceful protest last Saturday in downtown Easton attended by hundreds included calls for the monument’s removal.

During a public call-in comment period at its Tuesday night meeting, the Talbot County Council heard from several county residents urging them to remove the statue.

During the public comment period, Emily Thompson said she had emailed the council members about the statue’s removal.

“There will be a future Talbot County Council that will take this down,” she said Tuesday night. “You have an opportunity now to take action and listen to black voices. Are you going to wait and let your successors do the work you should have done years ago?

“All across the state and across the United States, we have seen true leaders,” Thompson said. “Show you don’t sympathize with rebels against the United States and white supremacists.”

“This isn’t history,” Benjamin Rubenstein of Trappe said in a call. “This is an opportunity for the county to act and take a stand. This is an opportunity for Talbot County to be a part of the solution.”

“I’m extremely outraged and disappointed” that a “symbol of slavery, white supremacy and racism” remains standing in Easton and Talbot County, Ari Rubenstein said.

“What side of history are you going to be on?” he asked. “We’re going to eradicate symbols of oppression. You need to be on the right side of history.”

Pack, who voted against a request to remove the monument in 2015 and 2016, said he had shared a written statement with his fellow council members before the meeting. Each council member spoke about the issue — some more directly than others — during council comments.

Pack, in his statement, said he was going to ask the county council to put a question on the November ballot asking Talbot voters whether the statue should be removed.

But to do so would have required action by the Maryland General Assembly, which completed its 2020 legislative session in a shortened session in March.

Pack, instead, offered his proposed resolution and also called for:

• a report outlining the county’s diversity training over the past two years and additional steps the county could take in the future;

• the drafting of a diversity statement to be included in the county employee handbook;

• putting a question on the ballot to amend the county’s charter to limit council members to two consecutive terms (a member could run for election again after sitting out a term);

• the council to send a letter to federal lawmakers supporting the Justice in Policing Act of 2020.

Current council members Laura Price and Chuck Callahan had voted with Pack against the monument’s removal in 2015 and 2016, after the NAACP officially requested the monument be removed following the murder of nine black parishioners at a Charlotte, N.C., church by a white supremacist.

The issue arose again in 2017 after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., during which a counter-protester was killed and numerous others injured by a white supremacist who drove into a crowd.

Talbot Council, Congressmen Join Opposition to Coast Guard Closure

April 16, 2020 by John Griep

The county council voted unanimously Tuesday evening to send a letter opposing the proposed closure of the U.S. Coast Guard station in Oxford. Maryland’s two U.S. senators and First District Congressman Andy Harris also are opposing the closure.

The letters from the county council and the congressmen were among 102 comments received by the Coast Guard, with many of those writing in opposition to the closure of the Oxford station.

The station is among five being considered for closure, according to a notice in the Federal Register seeking comment. The notice was published in mid-February, but only recently came to the public’s attention, just days before a midnight Tuesday deadline for comments.

A 2017 GAO report said the Coast Guard, in 2013, had identified 18 stations that could be permanently closed without negatively affecting the agency’s 2-hour response standard for search and rescue missions. In its Federal Register notice, the Coast Guard said it was planning to close five stations.

According to the report, the FY2015 operating cost for the Oxford station was a little more than $1 million. Crews there responded to 117 search and rescue missions between 2010 and 2016, about 17 annually. Of those 117 missions, eight were during winter months.

The Talbot County Council, in its submitted comment, said, “Station Oxford is necessary to provide security of the public health and safety and emergency assistance.”

The council, in a letter signed by Council President Corey Pack, wrote, in part:

“.. (T)he closing of Station Oxford would be detrimental to the safety of boaters on the Eastern Shore. Station Oxford plays a pivotal role in the safety of boaters along the waterways from northern Tilghman Island to the Little Choptank River on the eastern side of the Chesapeake Bay, and also over to Chesapeake Beach and south to Calvert Cliffs on the western side.

“Station Oxford provides timely response to any emergency on the water and plays a critical role in educating the public on boater safety. If Station Oxford is closed, the next closest station to most of the areas Station Oxford serves is Station Annapolis. This is a major concern.

“Station Annapolis is 32 nautical miles from Oxford, 25 nautical miles from St. Michaels, 45 nautical miles from Solomons, 80 nautical miles from Crisfield, and 48 nautical miles from Cambridge. In addition to the distance, Station Annapolis requires the responding crew to travel across the entire Chesapeake Bay, which can be treacherous at times and require slower boat speeds, resulting in an increased response time.

“A response time of greater than an hour is concerning. It is even more concerning when you consider that hypothermia can set in within 45 minutes. Talbot County has more licensed watermen than any other jurisdiction in Maryland, many of whom work in one fishery or another nearly year round, and the loss of a nearby USCG station in Oxford will mean that their lives will be in greater peril.

“The Eastern Shore is also known for waterfowl hunting during the winter months. Hunters routinely take out large groups on guided boat hunts during the winter. If a guided tour experienced an emergency on the water, the response time would be crucial to the group’s survival. Relying on a boat from Annapolis, in poor winter weather, could easily result in tragedy.”

Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, and Rep. Andy Harris, a Republican, also urged the Coast Guard to take the Oxford station off the chopping block.

They wrote, in part:

“Station Oxford is the only U.S. Coast Guard site in the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a region that consists of nine counties and makes up more than a third of the total land area of the State. We fear that the loss of the facility in Oxford would drastically increase emergency response times with the effect of undermining the region’s safety and security.

“The Eastern Shore is a vast geographic region that includes the waterways of the Chesapeake Bay, Choptank River, and Little Choptank River. Economically, the area and its waterways form one of the most critical seafood harvesting grounds in the state. In its large geographic jurisdiction are the active Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant as well as the Cove Point Liquefied Natural Gas export facility, two key national security assets. Moreover, these waters are part of the Intracoastal Waterway that vessels use for transit along the length of the East Coast of the continental United States. Thousands of watermen work and travel along the waterways, even in cold water and inclement weather. The individuals who work in this and other industries on the water will at times require assistance in a time of emergency.

“Station Oxford is all the more essential for meeting the unique security and safety needs of the Eastern Shore given that it is the only U.S. Coast Guard facility in this extensive region. Manned by approximately 20 U.S. Coast Guard personnel, Station Oxford provides critical emergency response in a timely manner that is not likely to be maintained if it were to close. Indeed, many of the public safety agencies in the area simply do not have the boats and other resources necessary for responding to emergencies on the waterways. There is no alternative facility that can meet the needs of the Eastern Shore. …

“Two other government agencies share the site with the U.S. Coast Guard: (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Coastal Ocean Service’s (NCCOS) Cooperative Oxford Laboratory and (2) Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This cohabitation of three agencies on one site has created longstanding partnerships while also allowing for greater utilization of the unique resources of the U.S. Coast Guard by state and local entities. Yet while both NOAA and DNR also provide important functions, they cannot be a substitute for Station Oxford, whose public servants stand ready to respond to emergencies 24/7 all year round. Their commitment to serving the needs of the Eastern Shore was only underscored when, during the 35-day federal government shutdown of 2018-2019, the men and women of Station Oxford continued to work even as they went unpaid and the NOAA and DNR facilities were vacant.”

The other stations being considered for closure and consolidation with neighboring stations are Fishers Island, N.Y., Salem, N.J., Shark River, N.J., and Roosevelt Inlet, Lewes, Del.

Cheers! Talbot OKs Sales of Mixed Drinks at Distilleries

February 26, 2020 by John Griep

The county council approved a new liquor license class Tuesday night allowing distilleries to offer mixed drinks containing liquor the business has produced.

Talbot’s new Distillery On-Premises License (Class K) stems from a state law passed last year allowing local liquor boards to establish and issue such licenses. The state law restricts annual sales in mixed drinks to 7,750 gallons of liquor produced by the distillery.

Members of the Talbot County Council debated two amendments that would have restricted the amount of liquor served to each guest to either six or eight ounces, the equivalent of four to five drinks of 80 proof liquor. A council majority rejected both before approving the bill as drafted.

Bill 1442, creating the new liquor license, was approved 4-1, with Councilwoman Laura Price casting the dissenting vote.

Before passage of the mixed drinks legislation, Maryland distilleries had been allowed to offer up to four half-ounce tastings of their product to patrons.

Price argued Tuesday for restrictions on the amount of alcohol served, noting most people would be impaired after consuming the equivalent of four or five drinks within a short period of time.

Price had offered two amendments at the Feb. 11 council meeting and introduced one, which would have limited the total volume sold per customer to six ounces total split among mixed drinks and half-ounce tastings. That amendment was voted down 4-1 on Tuesday night, with only Price in support.

Price’s second amendment, which would have limited the total volume to eight ounces — two ounces for tastings and six ounces for mixed drinks — was introduced Feb. 11 by Council Vice President Chuck Callahan and Councilman Frank Divilio. After a brief discussion Tuesday night about withdrawing the amendment, Callahan agreed with Price’s request to have it go to a vote. It was defeated 3-2, with Callahan, Divilio and Councilman Pete Lesher voting against the amendment and Price and Council President Corey Pack in favor.

Other council members noted that there had been no opposition to the bill as drafted. All those testifying Tuesday night spoke in favor of the bill, with many connected in some way to Lyon Distilling Company in St. Michaels, the only distillery in Talbot County.

Jaime Windon, Lyon’s CEO and founder and president of the Maryland Distillers Guild, said she helped craft the state legislation and urged passage of the bill as drafted, arguing that volumetric restrictions are arbitrary and unnecessary.

“It’s illegal for me to over-serve people,” Windon said. “We have absolutely no incentive to over-serve anyone who walks in our doors.”

“Our job is to showcase what we do, to highlight our brand, and to be responsible,” she said. “I need this legislation in its entirety to give me the flexibility to do what we do best, produce and serve and sell alcohol with a flawless record.”

Jessi Windon, Lyon’s sales manager, said the business had grown since its inception and created more than a dozen full-time jobs and numerous partnerships across Talbot County.

All Lyon Distilling employees are trained and certified, she said.

“We are looking to progress our business as our colleagues are doing the same across the state,” Jessi Windon said. “The federal government has entrusted us by licensing us to produce alcohol for the past seven years. We are merely asking that our county permits us to responsibly serve that alcohol to our customers.”

Kevin Atticks, executive director of the Maryland Distillers Guild, said other jurisdictions had incorporated the state law without additional local restrictions.

“The state law basically granted local jurisdictions, the liquor boards specifically, the authority to create this license, create a fee and then grant it,” Atticks said. “Talbot is different in that you do have the ability to draft your own alcohol code, which is unique to the state of Maryland.”

Councilman Lesher noted that he had not heard any opposition to the bill in written or spoken testimony.

“We are a tourism economy. This is something that will enhance that and I’m not unprepared to support this as part of being a business-friendly council here,” he said.

Councilman Divilio agreed, noting no phone calls or emails against the bill and citing Lyon’s “great track record.”

Council Vice President Callahan, participating by phone, said Windon had “put her reputation on the line.

“This person is here to do the right thing, set a standard,” he said.

But Price and Council President Pack argued the council had to look at the issue more broadly.

“This is not a reflection on Ms. Windon and Lyon Distilling,” Price said. “We have to consider the future.”

Price said the concept of tastings means that patrons will not be at the distillery for an extended period of time.

“Someone’s probably going to be in there less than an hour, ballpark, it’s a tasting,” she said. “I’m pretty sure that most people, when they’re done with that (drinks containing 6-8 ounces of liquor) … if you breathalyzed them or whatever, that they might be over the legal limit.”

Numerous websites with charts offering drinking guidelines suggest likely Blood Alcohol Concentrations per drink at certain weights for men and women. Those charts reflect standard “drinks” — 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of table wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80 proof liquor — and a general guideline that the body can get rid of one drink per hour.

However, numerous other factors affect BAC, including the proof of the alcohol being consumed, whether the person is eating, and the time period during which the drinking occurs.

Impairment begins after just one drink and driving skills may be affected as well, according to the charts. After four or five drinks in an hour, nearly all men and women, regardless of weight, would be legally intoxicated with BACs of 0.08 or higher, with some women triple and some men double that legal limit.

Public safety advocates urge that a person should not drive even after just one drink.

Sections

More