The Bay Net continues the tradition we started in the primary of endorsing candidates in the November 4th General Election. Early voting begins October 23rd for seven days.

Your vote is your voice. When we vote, we are actually telling elected officials and lawmakers how we feel about education, public safety, Social Security, health care, and other important issues. One voice, one vote really does count! There is power in numbers and when we vote and get our family and friends to vote, we can truly make a difference. If you don’t vote for what you believe in, others will and you may not like the outcome.

Voting changes communities! Do you ever wonder why one neighborhood gets passed over for the things it needs, while another seems to get it all? One big reason is voting. When we vote, we can get results that we can actually see. Vote to effect change. Voting is our chance to make a difference in our own lives and within the world.

Every election is important but somehow this one seems especially urgent in St. Mary’s County. The majority of the Board of County Commissioners will change. A long-time popular delegate is retiring. We will have a new governor. The base is threatened by actions on Capitol Hill and at the Pentagon.

Yet the election doesn’t appear to be generating much interest, portending a low turnout. We hope that doesn’t turn out to be true. There are not only many opportunities to vote before the polls close on November 4th, but there are also many opportunities to find out about the candidates.

For this election The Bay Net has taken a giant step of conducting a series of video interviews with the candidates. These interviews will be appearing on our Elections page and You Tube Channel. We encourage you to watch them and become an informed voter.

This is especially not the year for a voter to go into the polls and pull levers for candidates with all R’s or D’s. Many local offices are not ideological but demand persons with the ability to think on one’s feet and make informed and sensible judgments, and yes, decisions heavily weighing on taxpayers’ checkbooks.

A good example of an election in St. Mary’s County that shouts out for looking at the candidates and not the party are the races for Judge of the Orphans Court. That office currently has two Democrats and one Republican who by all counts have worked well together. There is not one iota of concern or complaints about how these three people are doing their jobs.

Now more than ever

There are three crucial contests in St. Mary’s County that we would like to call special attention to because of their importance to our economic future. We are supporting Larry Hogan (R) for governor and the return of Steny Hoyer (D) to Congress and John Bohanan (D) to the House of Delegates District 29B.

The administration of Martin O’Malley hasn’t played very well in St. Mary’s County. The most recent dagger was the veto by the governor of the wind turbine bill. That veto could seriously impact the base’s survival. To pick a marginally economic activity over one of the largest in the state (Pax River) for what appears to be catering to environmental groups for a presidential bid is the worst kind of politics.

Anthony Brown has many fine qualities and his service to his country is particularly laudable. Brown spent five years on active duty after college, flying helicopters with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division in Europe. He remained in the Army Reserves and in 2004, while serving his second term in the House of Delegates, he received orders for mobilization to Iraq. He deployed to Baghdad with the 353rd Civil Affairs Command on September 11, 2004, and served a 10-month tour of duty working with military and civilian officials to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of the war-torn country.  Brown’s distinguished service in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom earned him the Bronze Star, the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces.

We, however, see very little difference between O’Malley’s right hand man and the last eight years of governance and that’s the problem with electing Anthony Brown as governor.

The issue that will propel Hogan into the governor’s chair is the economy and jobs. Maryland has failed miserably in that regard, largely because of its tax policies that put us at a competitive disadvantage with other states. Hogan has the qualifications and experience and is by far the best candidate to get us out of the mess the state is in.

Steny Hoyer has been a leader in making sure that the Patuxent River Naval Air and Webster Field not only survive but prosper. If not for Hoyer we would not have Webster Field and we also would not have NAVAIR at Pax River.  He is a highly regarded leader who deserves another term and an opportunity to continue his successes on behalf of St. Mary’s County.

Delegate John Bohanan in his full-time job is Hoyer’s point man when it comes to Pax River. Hoyer’s successes can be equally shared by Bohanan.

In Annapolis Bohanan leads a powerful subcommittee that controls half of the state budget. In his position he has worked hard to successfully bring the University of Maryland to the Southern Maryland Higher Education Center and the UAV activities to the county airport.

Chris Chaffee and Deb Rey, Hoyer’s and Bohanan’s opponents respectively, have run energetic, well intentioned campaigns, but they clearly do not have the experience that the two incumbents have.

County Commissioner races

St. Mary’s County voters are blessed in having a choice from eight very credible candidates in the four contested races. Our choices are by no means a negative reflection on those we didn’t pick.

Unfortunately two of the best candidates are running against each other: Merl Evans (D) and Tom Jarboe (R) for the First Commissioner District seat. Our choice is Merl Evans. His experience as a small businessman, planning commissioner and member of the sheriff’s citizen’s advisory committee all are on-point for the needs of the county over the next four years.

Tom Jarboe is equally impressive in his accomplishments as a businessman. Because of Tom’s experience and accomplishments it was a very difficult decision to determine who would be the best candidate.

The Second Commissioner District race has Mike Hewitt (R) and Bob Schaller (D) in a tough battle of two men deeply ingrained in the fabric of the community. While Hewitt’s small business experience and membership on several important boards are impressive, including the St. Mary’s County Board of Education, we feel Schaller’s firm grasp of what the county needs to advance economically make him a better choice this year. Schaller brings to the table not only the academic credentials but also the work experience as head of the county’s economic development effort. He has worked closely with the Navy Alliance and understands the importance of the Navy and diversification as parts of that future economic development effort. For those reason we support Bob Schaller.

The Third Commissioner District race features an interesting contrast between a county native and a relative newcomer: Tony Joe St. Clair (D) and John O’Connor (R).

Words cannot express our admiration for O’Connor for his service to his country. He is well spoken and obviously has a future in politics. He joined the Army and served as a Military Police Officer. He has participated in peacekeeping missions and combat operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom. During his tour in Iraq he was awarded the Purple Heart and received the Army Commendation Medal with Valor Device for participation in acts of heroism involving direct conflict with an armed enemy. He is a graduate of Kaplan University with a degree in Criminal Justice Administration, and a graduate of The Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelors’ in Management. John is still furthering his education at the Johns Hopkins University Police Executive Leadership Program where he is pursuing his Masters’ Degree in Executive Management.

But, it would be hard to find a person more deeply immersed in St. Mary’s County than Tony Joe St. Clair. He has been on the Planning Commission, Economic Development Commission, Metropolitan Commission and board of the Chamber of Commerce. He has been active in community organizations too numerous to mention. He and his wife have their own non-profit equine therapy group for handicapped persons. He is a fiscal conservative who is concerned about too many government regulations.

Knowledge of the community is one essential requisite to being a successful county commissioner. Tony Joe St. Clair has it and for that reason he is our pick in this race.

That brings us to the commissioner president race between Francis “Jack” Russell (D) and Randy Guy (R). Russell is finishing his second term and asking for a return for his third, and according to county code, his last.

The new board of county commissioners will have a new majority of at least three rookies. Guy brings leadership experience from his military service, but there is nothing like actually leading a diverse group of county commissioners. At times it is like herding cats.
With the inexperienced board it would be wise to return someone who knows how

things work and can keep things moving. Jackie Russell is our choice for commissioner president.

Todd Morgan (R) didn’t have any opposition.

State Senate

Republican Steve Waugh is making his second attempt to unseat four-term State Senator Roy Dyson for the District 29 seat that includes all of St. Mary’s County and the lower half of Calvert. While Waugh has an impressive military career and has done important work since his retirement, those accomplishments don’t trump Dyson’s record on behalf of the people of his district.

Dyson is a conservative Democrat who often votes like a Republican. Yet his tenure has put him in a position of being able to accomplish much for Southern Maryland. Waugh is a conservative Republican. There is very little difference between Dyson and Waugh on the issues.

There also is the issue of fairness to St. Mary’s County. If Dyson is returned to the legislature, St. Mary’s would have two delegates and a senator and Calvert will have two delegates and most likely a senator (with the probable return of Senate President Mike Miller). This seems more fair to both counties.

The Bay Net can see very little reason to make a change just for change sake.  We wholeheartedly endorse the re-election of Roy Dyson to the Maryland Senate.

House of Delegates District 29A

The retirement of political icon Johnny Wood leaves his position open for a battle between Republican Matt Morgan and Democrat Dan Slade. Morgan ran against Wood and lost four years ago while he was living in the Charles County portion of the district at the time. Now the district is wholly within St. Mary’s County and Morgan has since moved to the county.

While Morgan is well versed on partisan issues, he doesn’t seem as attuned to local issues as his opponent.

Slade is a county native and comes from a family of public servants. He shows an understanding of the issues that will affect the county in the future, such as transportation, jobs and the economy. He too is a fiscal conservative who will watch the state’s purse strings in Annapolis. As a lawyer is he better suited to doing the job of the legislature, which is to write laws.

For those reasons we support Dan Slade for House of delegate from District 29A.

House of Delegates District 29C

In the District 29C House of Delegates race, incumbent Republican Tony O’Donnell is vying for his fifth consecutive four-year term. He is challenged by Calvert County resident Len Zuza, a Democrat who has been a leader in a very successful oyster cultivation project.

O’Donnell is a seasoned legislator who showed leadership by meeting with opponents of the Cove Point LNG Exportation project. Although O’Donnell steadfastly maintained his support for the controversial project, he impressed the project opponents with his willingness to listen and answer all of their questions.

Although Zuza has government experience and a good reputation on environmental issues, Tony O’Donnell’s experience, we feel, makes him the preferred choice.

School Board

There are four candidates for two vacant seats in the non-partisan school board races. Voters will have to decide between John Alonzo Gaskin and Rita Weaver in the First District race and incumbent Brooke Matthews and Karin Bailey in the Third District race.

This is the first election since the school systems’ almost $8 million shortfall. The current school board made a serious error in changing the method of budgeting for health insurance costs and that error almost immediately blew up in their face. The decision was like playing Russian roulette with the budget and they lost.

While Matthews has been an active member of the board and a strong advocate for the school system, the buck stops at the school board and someone has to be held accountable. Bailey’s background as an auditor will serve the board well. They admittedly don’t know much about accounting and she could help in that regard. It is for those reasons that we are supporting Karin Bailey for the St. Mary’s County Board of Education District 3 seat.

Weaver has been a strong campaigner, but we fell that Gaskin’s long record of community involvement band activism trumps that. We enthusiastically endorse John Alonzo Gaskin for the District 3 school board seat

To present the voters of Southern Maryland the opportunity to make the most informed choice this election, we’ve conducted a series of interviews with all local candidates who would agree to sit with us.

These videos give you an opportunity to hear each candidate as they express their views and plans for the various issues in a one-on-one interview setting.
To view these interviews, please click /election-2014-interviews.html