What are my priorities?

• Ensuring that the county government effectively and efficiently provides essential public services and facilities to serve and protect public health, safety, and the general welfare.
• Crafting an annual county budget that differentiates between “essential” versus “non-essential” expenditures, and controls spending in a rational manner.
• Finding solutions to the problems that have deteriorated the quality of life for people living in the Lexington Park area.

What steps should the county government take to encourage economic development and job growth?

• I support incentivizing redevelopment in such areas as Lexington Park, where economic development and job growth is most needed.
• The best means of helping all business enterprises is by making the regulatory processes, such as permitting, as fair, reasonable, and timely as possible.

How do you expect to lower taxes without reducing spending?

• Economic growth is the preferred means of increasing tax revenue, not by increasing tax rates.
• The means of controlling and reducing taxes is by limiting the rate of increase in spending.
• Lowering the Homestead Tax Credit cap from 3% to 1.5% will reduce the rate of increase in property tax assessments and the rate of increase in property tax revenue without reducing services.
• When a large undedicated fund balance exists, I am in favor of adopting the Constant Yield Property Tax Rate to reduce property tax revenue.

What would be your key infrastructure projects?

• The completion of FDR Boulevard.
• Opening of the YMCA in Great Mills as soon as possible with additional YMCAs as determined by that organization.
• The “space needs” of county departments and agencies must be validated by a professional and public assessment process, including the proposed new headquarters for the sheriff.
• Before the further expansion of MetCom’s water and sewer infrastructure, focus should be on the renovation of the outdated system.

What is your position on emergency services?

I question whether a good faith effort has been made to reconstitute the volunteer personnel in the rescue squads in lieu of the costly transition to county employees.

What is your position on health services?

• Except during a public health emergency, the county health department should not provide health services that are otherwise available from private sector sources.
• The Maryland Health Care Commission is responsible for the adequacy of health care services in the county.
• The actions of the county health department during the COVID heath emergency need to be comprehensively reviewed for lessons learned in the future.

What is your position on combating crime?

• A disproportionate amount of crime is committed by gangs and repeat offenders. I will urge the sheriff’s office and the state’s attorney to focus on the suppression of gangs in the context of organized crime.
• I will support the funding of public agencies and private sector organizations to counter recidivism through offenders’ pre-release and community-based corrections programs.
• I will support enhanced physical security in the Building Code standards, e.g., Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).
• The concept of district-based community policing and its associated costs requires empirical evidence of its efficacy to reduce crime rather than simply improving public relations.

What steps would you take to increase the availability of affordable housing in the County?

I will support the programs and activities of the St. Mary’s County Housing Authority to address the issues of affordable housing.