Hayden Hammett, 28, is one of three candidates for two available seats on the Leonardtown Town Council in the May 1 election. Hammett currently is a member of the town planning commission. He was born in Florida where his mother’s family was from. His father’s family is from St. Mary’s County since the mid 1600’s. He has lived almost his whole life in Leonardtown and attended Leonardtown elementary, middle and high schools from the second grade on. He graduated from Grove City College in PA. He just started as a commercial lender with Community Bank of Tri-County in town. The following interview by Dick Myers was edited for space considerations.

The Bay Net (TBN): Why do you want to transition from the planning commission to the town council?

Hammett: I think what I have spent the last several years doing has prepared me for that type of position. I think it is a good education at the same time. I spent four or five years working in land planning and in the last two years in banking and finance and that’s more what my degree was from school anyway. That seems to be the two things the town council really handles. When Dan Burris decided to file for mayor it left a seat open on the board and that was probably my main reason. I didn’t think anybody was doing a poor job but when there was an opportunity I thought I could lend my vision to the town.

TBN: The town’s growth has been steady but it hasn’t been spectacular. It does appear the town may be poised for the next step, getting out of the recession. Does your knowledge of planning issues translate into something that would be worthwhile for the town council?

Hammett: Absolutely. I think the town was poised well four or five years ago. We were kind of on the edge there of some major things happening in town. I will admit that a lot of older residents in town think the town has grown too much. The growth has been steady but it has been mostly sure and steady growth on the outskirts of town. We were on the edge four or five years ago. We are there again with some major developments in town, particularly the Tudor Hall Farm, which is going to change the town for the better but it is also going to be a pretty big project with a lot of complex phasing. It is a mixed use project so it will be the first time that we have seen some major commercial investment in the core part of town in a long time. Twenty years ago we had the Leonardtown Centre and after that the Shoppes of Breton Bay go in. That was the major commercial development that Leonardtown has seen over the past 20 years. It happened outside of town and annexed in. This will be something that will really augment the downtown area I believe.

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