The Issues - A Vision for Talbot County

Protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Q&A: Priorities

  • Top priorities include education, public safety (programs to supplement police and volunteer fire fighters) and improvements to county infrastructure (specifically: roadway investments, upgrades to sanitation facilities, and expanded broadband/information technology services) to prepare to mitigate the effects of climate change. I will always work to invest in projects of key public interest.

  • During the Council's next term, one of the largest tasks we will face is building the Comprehensive Plan that will govern developmental planning for the next six years. I will strive to bring a new perspective to the council's work; preparing for the effects of rising sea levels and modernizing county services, all while protecting the rural character of Talbot.

  • Most importantly, we must restore a fidelity to the Comprehensive Plan. The planning commission is the driving force for making all decisions related to land use. Additionally, we must protect large, contiguous open areas. Blessed with 600 miles of shoreline, it is essential that we protect the rural character of our county, make investments that encourage healthy ecosystem services, enable smart growth & plan developments that will grow our county's economic opportunity while protecting the two-mile greenbelts around our municipalities.

  • Economic development goes hand-in-hand with attracting a talented workforce -- and we know already that people are attracted to the quiet luxury of Talbot's shores. Improving retention is the next step & we can do it with a focus on our citizen's quality of life in an area with clean waterways, with school, healthcare, and public safety officials making better wages in good working conditions.

  • With protections keeping renters in homes sunsetting, demand skyrocketing and short supply - Talbot faces an affordable housing crisis. 30% of Homeowners and 52% of renters are considered “housing cost burdened” in Talbot County. That means they pay more than 30% of their monthly income, just to keep a roof over their family’s head. Yet less than 1% of Talbot’s rental properties are vacant. We must do better.

    As your next county councilwoman, I will focus on establishing required set asides on new developments to increase the supply of affordable housing, with local infrastructure supported by developers, and provide incentives for redevelopment of distressed properties.

Preserving the Quality of Life in Talbot County

  • Clean Water

    With 600 miles of beautiful, living shorelines, Talbot is home to abundant natural resources and a unique mosaic of tidal waters, streams, rivers and farms.

    We must protect critical areas from pollution to ensure fishable and swimmable waters, support bio-diversity and enable healthy eco-system services. This means committing adequate funding to provisions with objective criteria for monitoring the success of efforts to remove pollution from the water.

    By taking necessary steps to protect and restore water quality, Michele will help restore native plants and wildlife and support meeting goals established by the Chesapeake Bay Blueprint.

  • Healthy Economy & Resilient Community

    Our county’s history is woven with traditions of fishing, crabbing, birding, hunting, wildlife viewing, photography and tourism. Michele supports efforts to ensure smart, inward development that will preserve sprawling green fields and contribute to natural resources that sustain these vital industries.

    We must protect our coastal wetlands so they can protect us: from damaging storms, rising sea levels, and flooding. Michele supports creating a system to identify areas that are in danger on the shore so that data can be collected and actions may be taken to meet the growing needs.

This includes implementing the ‘Cleaner, Greener Talbot’ Plan (also known as the Green Infrastructure Plan) which identified high priority focus areas for land conservation efforts and growth management. It also proposed initial projects Michele supports: a waterfront park in the southern part of Talbot that improves access to the water, building up barrier islands at places like Black Water Point and Claiborne Jetty & Beach, and supporting the construction of a living shoreline along Harris Creek that includes a marsh migration corridor, meadow habitat and stormwater overflow components.

Fully Funding & Supporting Education

  • Michele Dappert and Jamil, a candidate for Talbot County School Board, at the Multicultural Festival.

    Support Educational Priorities

    In Talbot County, critical educational programs have historically been in danger of being defunded. When Michele was at Easton High, she presented in front of the school board in favor of fully funding the Laptop 1:1 initiative. There’s no question that Talbot County can and must do better. Priorities for educational funding must include competitive pay for staff, support for social-emotional learning, and updates to technology.

    Demographic shifts must also be taken into account by the county when allocating budget, specifically to expand the services and increase the salaries of support staff. With 24% of students enrolled in TCPS identified as Hispanic/Latino, there is also an increased need for English Language Learning teachers, and a more diverse staff overall that better represents the student body.

    Additionally, as a councilwoman, Michele would work to fully fund the Blueprint from the Kirwan commission, where the new formula has drawn much needed attention to the deficits in the current level of funding.

  • Encourage Parental Involvement & Trust Our Teachers.

    Schools with more resources are shown to have more time to devote to parental involvement. Studies have shown that when parents are involved, kids do better. As a county councilwoman, Michele would support ensuring that Parent/Family Engagement programs are fully funded and implemented according to school board recommendations.

    Michele also would look to support educators making decisions around curriculum. As the experts in the field, devoted to learning and supporting their students, they must be trusted to make these educational decisions that best fit their classroom.

    Finally, we must support teacher’s ability to collectively bargain. Educators bargain for more than just wage increases and salary scales. They could bargain on issues related to class size limits, increased teacher preparation, mental health restorative practices and school-related health and safety issues. Finally, it’s important to remember that educator’s working conditions are also student learning environments; when they are allowed to address deficits, everyone benefits.

Expanding Broadband Access.

 

Talbot County Council has unanimously supported awarding $1.75 million in American Recovery Plan funding to make the expansion of broadband more affordable. This is after partnering with Easton Utilities and the fact we were awarded $13 million in USDA Rural Connect funds to provide broadband to areas of the county unserved or underserved with internet connectivity.

Additional funding has come from the State of Maryland, and with the additional ARPA funding that eliminates the customer's capital charge - a matter of fairness since more recent rounds of funding have not required customers to share that cost — we can bring access to high-speed broadband to every address in Talbot County.

Talbot County has a history of leading the way within the state of Maryland with making technological investments. Michele lives this problem, working remotely from an underserved, poor connection. This is not a luxury. It is a utility that enables tele-health, telework, and remote education. We must make the investment today in our rural, broadband infrastructure.