Democrat commissioner candidate Judy Pedersen, left, provides her answer to a question posed by the Calvert County Farm Bureau Monday night at the Calvert County Fairgrounds. Candidates Antoine White, a Democrat, and Patti Stueckler, a Republican, listen to the response. Pedersen, White and Stueckler are all at-large candidates in the commissioners’ race.
Democrat commissioner candidate Judy Pedersen, left, provides her answer to a question posed by the Calvert County Farm Bureau Monday night at the Calvert County Fairgrounds. Candidates Antoine White, a Democrat, and Patti Stueckler, a Republican, listen to the response. Pedersen, White and Stueckler are all at-large candidates in the commissioners’ race.
The shrillness of recent county commissioners’ meetings gave way to down-on-the-farm hospitality Monday evening as the local Farm Bureau chapter hosted a candidates forum at the Calvert County Fairgrounds.
All five incumbent Calvert commissioners plus 10 of their 12 challengers participated in the forum. For some of the first-time candidates it was a chance to reveal their connections to the agriculture community.
“I was born in Calvert and raised on a farm,” Antoine White, a Democrat seeking an at-large seat on the board, said.
Other at-large candidates touting similar experiences included Republicans Jason Scaggs and Barbara Warner.
“We have to become the county of ‘yes,’” Scaggs said, pledging to “relax the regulations” that restrict uses of property.
“I want the farmer to tell me what they need,” Warner said.
Another at-large candidate, Republican Patti Stueckler, said she has lived in the county for nearly 40 years and grew up in southern Prince George’s County in the shadow of Miller Farms.
“Let farmers do more with their land,” Stueckler said.
Second district candidate Kenneth Lee, a Republican, told Farm Bureau members he moved to Calvert County from Baltimore city 26 years ago “to get away from the rat race.”
Of farming, Lee said, “It’s a viable business,” adding it was a far better alternative than “high-density building.”
First district candidate Patrick Flaherty, a Republican, said farming presents “real economic opportunity” for the county and he is opposed to any rezoning of farmland.
“I’m not here to tell people what to do with their property,” district three candidate Michael Bennett, a Democrat, said.
Kelley McConkey, a former county commissioner and Republican running in the third election district, said, “We need to cut the red tape” and permit “more usages” on preserved land.
“Preservation is important to me,” Ethan Cox, a Democrat running in the first district, said, when asked if he supported expending state money, possibly in the form of a tax credit, for the renovation of barns.
Another Democrat, at-large candidate Judy Pedersen, agreed with the idea of preserving barns for their contribution to the area’s history.
“Tell their story to build value,” she said.
In their closing comments, the five incumbents affirmed their support for farmers.
Third district Commissioner Catherine M. Grasso (R) called agriculture “the backbone of this community.”
“I will work every day for the citizens,” second district Commissioner Mark C. Cox Sr. (R) declared.
“Calvert is at a crossroads,” first district Commissioner Mike Hart (R) said. “Quality of life is important.”
“You have to listen to everybody,” at-large Commissioner Earl F. “Buddy” Hance (R) said. “Quality of life costs.”
“My eyes were opened a lot,” at-large Commissioner Todd Ireland (R) said of his stint on the board. He indicated the current board has been involved in a different kind of growing season, working to improve public safety, putting more money into local education and maintaining Calvert’s AAA bond rating.
