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Club Meetings: 6:30pm - 8:00pm Click below for map: SBY Art Space 212 West Main Street Suite 101 Salisbury, Maryland Contact Information: Mailing Address: P.O. Box 1486 Salisbury, Maryland 21804 [email protected] |
Statement of ValuesDemocrats in Wicomico County, like their party nationwide, have evolved into a coalition of different groups, with the overarching values of social and economic justice tying them together. Among our important issues: environmental health safety protections and the recognition of human-altering climate change; income inequality that has gotten progressively worse over the past five decades, immigration reform consistent with our heritage as a nation of immigrants; access to adequate health care for everyone; equal rights for all regardless of race, gender, religion or sexual orientation; and protection from enemies at home and abroad.
We are a party that advocates for greater regulation of gun purchases to make our communities safer. We support raising the minimum wage to provide a livable wage for working Americans and strengthening Wall Street regulations. We believe a significant investment in education is critical to our future as a path to better jobs. We’re a party of tolerance and inclusiveness. We’re a party of truth and science. We’re a party of personal integrity. We believe that government can positively influence our quality of life. We’re a party that advocates on behalf of all Americans, not just a chosen group. We’re loyal to our nation above our party. And we accept that all of us are imperfect, so compromise is inevitable and desirable. Core Beliefs
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A Democratic Vision for Wicomico County
A Democratic Vision for Wicomico County
A Smart, Safe, Active and Green Community (continued from "HOME" page.)
Critical Issues
LOCAL
Economic
The City of Salisbury is the workhorse of the Shore. The City and County elected officials must
work collaboratively to provide the services necessary for the community to thrive.
It is paramount that we invest in public education, with universal pre-K through tuition
assistance for community college students. We must raise our dreadful 2022 84.8% high school
graduation rate, a modest improvement from 2021’s 83%. Skill sets attract businesses.
Wicomico can’t compete with low labor cost industries (in Mississippi, Alabama, Vietnam,
China); we need a labor pool with the skills (higher education, two-year, four-year and graduate,
and the trades) to compete for 21st century companies. Businesses are looking for locations
where the talent resides. Correspondingly, we should pursue a state top 10 per pupil spending
rank. Education is only a genuine priority if the citizens agree to make it a funding priority.
Perdue Farms and Tidal Health say the quality of public schools is uppermost when interviewing
potential high paying applicants. Many of those new hires choose to commute from Worcester
because of the better reputation of that county’s public schools.
Let’s recognize our strengths: local industries such as agribusiness (Perdue), healthcare (Tidal
Health), higher education (Salisbury University and Wor-Wic Community College), ship
building, electronics/microwave, life sciences and wireless communication.
We need more Black- and Brown-owned businesses. Community leaders need to call an
economic summit to discuss how to expand the number of minority businesses.
It’s vital we make the necessary investments to keep and expand the Salisbury Airport and
related aeronautical businesses. Don’t take our airport for granted.
We should expand the athletic facilities available to bring in national tournaments in baseball,
softball, lacrosse, pickleball and other sports. This represents a significant impact on our ability
to attract tourist dollars.
We need to increase revenue to the County so that we can provide the services and infrastructure
vital to a thriving community. Toward accomplishing that goal: hire a grants administrator,
better utilize the County Rainy Day Fund and examine the Revenue Cap and explore possible
changes. Our multi-million dollar Disparity Grant from the State is constantly at risk if we don’t
demonstrate a willingness to pay our own way—the revenue cap sends an unmistakable signal to
the rest of the State that we don’t want to pay our fair share of our local expenses.
Our community mind-set should be to pursue full employment at livable wages.
Affordable housing for all goes hand-in-hand with a livable wage.
It’s essential that we invest in a metro-core wastewater/sewer system, expanding existing
municipal systems to service the thousands of homes with Salisbury and County zip codes with
well and septic systems that are rapidly becoming outdated, polluting our ground water and
waterways.
It’s mandatory that we support county-wide broadband Internet access.
We should continue to support poultry and agribusiness that is environmentally conscientious
and ecologically sustainable.
We support the implementation of Maryland offshore wind.
We support heritage tourism and investments in historic preservation efforts.
We support land conservation and the ability of farmers to pass down their land to the next
generation.
We must fully fund and implement a marketing plan to attract businesses and tourists.
We support the growth of the Maryland Folk Festival.
We should increase and enhance recreational opportunities, including more walking and biking
paths. We should celebrate arts and artists through government sponsored marketing and events.
We should increase cultural activities, in downtown Salisbury as well as other county towns.
Some employers hiring those coming from urban centers bemoan the lack of regular downtown
entertainment.
At Salisbury University, strolling around campus one discovers botanical gems around every
corner. Downtown should pursue a similar experience.
Education
The highest priority is raising the high school graduate rate from the unacceptable 84.8% to 90%.
This effort is not the sole responsibility of the public school administration, but rather success is
dependent on active involvement and concurrent accountability by the business community
including the Chamber of Commerce, Greater Salisbury Committee and leading employers
including Perdue Farm and Tidal Health.
We have to recognize the plight of many students who don’t go home to a parent(s). More
parental involvement is not the panacea to better classroom performance that many advocate.
Student engagement plans must account for those students with less than optimal adult
supervision at home.
It’s mandatory that we invest in a considerable expansion of the Career and Technology
Education (CTE) program, implementing the program in middle schools and making capital
expenditures in a stand-alone facility. The county has a considerable shortage of electricians,
plumbers and welders, jobs that pay meaningful wages that support a middle class lifestyle.
We should provide meaningful financial grants to Wicomico residents pursuing associate
degrees or enrolled in continuing education and workforce development courses as a path to
skilled jobs. Students are required to be in good academic standing. Our long-term goal is free
tuition for Wicomico county residents.
Let’s embrace and make the necessary financial commitment to a regionally recognized high
quality public pre K-12 education system, complimented by outstanding two- and four-year
colleges--vital to attracting businesses and entrepreneurs. Numerous surveys find businesses rate
the quality of a community’s public education system as their top priority when considering
locating there. The depth and quality of a talented, highly skilled labor pool also rank high.
We should teach a representative history of the United States, both our victories and successes,
and our blind spots and defeats, including the role that slavery has played as well as history of the peoples living here prior to European colonization
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Teach tolerance for a diversity of ideas with a foundation in facts, evidence and truth.
We must make sure every child has a chance to succeed, especially impoverished children.
We should pay teachers competitive salaries, and support their autonomy in the classroom,
crucial to teacher retention.
Community
Let’s recognize the discipline challenges in our schools and develop a transparent plan that
responds to those challenges and has buy-in from administrators, teachers, students and
parents/families.
Environment-Living in a Green Community
We need to balance development with preservation/creation of natural habitats even within the
City of Salisbury. One way to do this is by encouraging homeowners and landlords to replace
environmentally wasteful and costly lawns with pollinator gardens and plantings of native
species of trees and shrubs. We should utilize the expertise of the Wicomico Environmental
Trust (WET), Lower Shore Land Trust, Salisbury University, Salisbury Zoo, Ward Museum and
Wicomico County Extension Service to educate individuals about the benefits of bio-diverse
gardens and the need to keep the use of pesticides and herbicides to a minimum. (An annual
event would be great.) Plantings of native trees and shrubs can also beautify streets downtown
and help modify extreme temperatures during summer. We should ensure plantings by City,
County and, as much as possible, business/industry are of native species. This includes along
roads and highways.
We must claim a right to a clean and healthy Wicomico River. Our most prominent natural
resource has and continues to have a profound economic, environmental and recreational impact
on all of us and its health must be prioritized. We should support the efforts of WET and its
Creekwatchers program that the Wicomico River should be a healthy and vibrant visual vector in
the City: fishing, swimming, paddle boats, water skiing and other water sports and activities
should be visible throughout the year.
The two rivers at the east and west boundaries of our county are natural treasurers. We should
support organizations like the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, the Lower Shore Land Trust and
the Nature Conservancy in their efforts to protect these rivers. That includes encouraging and
supporting strict zoning regulations to minimize the impact of development on these important
resources.
We should increase the number of festivals celebrating our environment and the richness of the
natural resources that envelope us. Examples include fish spawning off of Isabella Ave., SU’s
Invasive Species Fishing Tournament, bridge parties in downtown Salisbury (restaurants and
caterers provide food and drink in an outdoor setting), migratory bird day events and guided bird
watching, such as walks by the Ward Museum.
We must support off-shore wind projects.
We have to improve capacity for local governments to plan for and respond to sea level rise.
Frequent flood events are inevitable leading to lowering of property values.
Let’s pursue both conservation and restoration opportunities to protect natural resources, coastal habitat, private property and commerce. Wicomico must get past the “thinking about it” stage before we encounter the “too late” stage. Along these lines, we must encourage/support common sense zoning regulations which discourage development in environmentally sensitive areas and ensure that those regulations are adhered to.
More neighborhood parks and recreation areas also are important modifiers of extreme temperatures, particularly summer heat. Pocket parks downtown would also be good for this.
Public Health and Safety
Back the Blue. Law enforcement officers and first responders are on the front lines protecting us
from those who don’t value or respect life.
At the same time, we should demand active police accountability boards rooted in transparency
at both the Salisbury City and County Sheriff law enforcement agencies.
The county has nine law enforcement agencies. Can some of them be combined to achieve
greater efficiency and effectiveness?
We must fully fund our county fire departments. The era of volunteer fire departments seems to
be over—the credentials required to be a fire fighter today are too costly for volunteers.
We must monitor the departments of Social Services and Juvenile Services to ensure they are not
failing parents and then failing their children. We must support our senior citizens.
We have an aging population and the percentage of folks reaching the age where they need more assistance (whether to stay in their own homes or in some type of senior housing) will be growing in coming years.
We should provide substantially more mental health resources. Mental health evaluations should
not be the province of the police. They are not trained specifically in that discipline.
We should study high crime neighborhoods and explore strategies to reduce crime and prevent
discriminatory law enforcement tactics.
We should make local investment in early childhood education now to produce a reduction in
crime later, as numerous national studies prove.
We should increase access to healthcare services for all residents.
Let’s explore the possibility of crisscrossing rails to trails pedestrian/bicycle paths running from
Delmar to Fruitland and Delmar to Mardela.
We should fully realize the recreational potential of Pirate’s Wharf, Pemberton Park, Bivalve
Harbor and Colbourne Mill (adjacent to the Parker Athletic complex) in ways that do not hamper
their importance at preserving bio-diverse habitats.
Always support the Salisbury Zoo.
Go to a Shorebirds game. We should encourage more efforts to support our local team!
We should increase the number of after school and summer programs for youth.
We should increase the number of community centers targeting youth.
We should increase internship programs for our youth and the number of summer jobs.
Underserved Communities
We should increase access to healthcare services, developing an integrated plan among all City
and County services to deal with mental health issues.
Let’s prioritize eliminating poverty by developing investment in early childhood education
(universal Pre-K) and developing a pathway to economic independence. A comprehensive
County/City/business plan is necessary to address poverty (14% in county according to 2020
U.S. Census) and homelessness.
It’s vital that we support the City’s affordable housing plan and expand on it.
We should work with government, non-profits, charities, schools and businesses to create a
youth development plan.
We must recognize that a caring, compassionate, neighborly community is only as morally
strong as its commitment to the most disadvantaged among us.
A National Democratic Philosophy
Above all else, we must support Democracy.
Democrats in Wicomico County, like their party nationwide, have evolved into a coalition of
different groups, with the overarching values of social and economic justice tying them together.
Among our important issues: access to adequate health care for everyone; environmental health
and safety protections and the recognition of human-altering climate change; income inequality
that has gotten progressively worse over the past five decades; immigration reform consistent
with our heritage as a nation of immigrants; equal rights for all regardless of age, race, gender,
religion or sexual orientation; and protection from enemies at home and abroad.
We are a party that advocates for greater regulation of gun purchases to make our communities safer.
We support raising the minimum wage to provide a livable wage for working Americans and
strengthening Wall Street regulations.
We believe a significant investment in education is critical to our future as a path to better jobs.
We’re a party of tolerance and inclusiveness.
We’re a party of truth and science.
We’re a party of personal integrity. We believe that government can positively influence our quality of
life.
We’re a party that advocates on behalf of all Americans, not just a chosen group.
We’re loyal to our nation above our party. And we accept that all of us are imperfect, so compromise is
inevitable and desirable.
Priority goals:
Codify a woman’s right to choose an abortion.
Pass comprehensive immigration legislation; providing a viable workforce for the agribusiness
sector and a path to citizenship for DACA Dreamers.
Make gun safety a priority by supporting universal background checks for gun purchases and
limiting the sale of military style assault rifles. Raise the legal age to purchase a firearm to 21.
Support environmental laws and regulations that protect our natural resources, especially the
Chesapeake Bay, and address our changing climate.
Oppose natural gas and other pipelines that are prone to leaks, and oppose offshore oil drilling.
Expand the Affordable Care Act while pursuing single payer Medicare for all.
Develop a progressive tax plan that benefits low and middle class and reduces the wealth gap.
Enact campaign finance reform that supports public financing and limits special interest
influence.
Increase the number of registered voters and make it easier to vote; combating efforts to depress
eligibility of voters and voting itself.
Incentivize electric vehicle purchases.
