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September 26, 2025

Centreville Spy

Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Centreville

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Federalsburg’s Lawrence DiRe Named Chestertown’s new Town Manager

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Federalsburg Town Manager, Lawrence DiRe, has been selected as the new town manager for Chestertown, according to Mayor David Foster. The decision was made through a unanimous vote by the town council, and DiRe is expected to assume his new role by the end of June.DiRe will succeed Bill Ingersoll, a town manager who dedicated four decades of service to shaping the community we cherish today.

Online research reveals DiRe’s impressive background, which includes previous positions such as Town Manager for Cape Charles, Virginia, Director of Civic Engagement and Research at the non-profit organization Open Local Illinois, consultant to the University of Maryland, and College and Career Advisor/Volunteer for the Delmarva Education Foundation. He holds a BA degree in History from St. John’s University and an MA and ABD degree from Loyola University Chicago.

On his LinkedIn page, DiRe describes himself as a senior-level public service professional with expertise in various areas, including civic engagement, conflict analysis and resolution, mediation, town and gown relations, social entrepreneurship, local government transparency, land use planning and zoning, property rights, governing board codes of ethics, budgeting and finance, FOIA, and RLUIPA.

Additionally, DiRe is an active member of organizations such as the Maryland Municipal League (MML), the American Planning Association and its state chapter, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), and Strong Towns. He currently serves a three-year appointment to the Maryland Green-Blue Infrastructure Advisory Commission and has previously held the role of co-chair of the Cybersecurity subcommittee of the MML Hometown Emergency Preparedness Ad Hoc Committee from 2020 to 2021.

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Mid-Shore Monthly: Counties looking for Blueprint Answers with MACo’s Michael Sanderson

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Editor’s Note: Every month, the Spy Newspapers teams up with our public affairs partner, WHCP Community Radio in Cambridge, to produce a monthly podcast on the some of the real public policy challenges facing the Mid-Shore counties of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen’s Anne’s and Talbot.

In the wake of recent elections and the ongoing implementation of Maryland’s Education Blueprint, concerns and anxieties have emerged regarding the financial implications for county governments.

The ambitious 10-year program, with an estimated cost of around $8-9 billion, aims to provide substantial funding for education in the state. However, the burden of financing the blueprint has raised questions about the ability of counties to meet the financial requirements.

In light of the impact the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will have on Mid-Shore county governments, we invited Michael Sanderson, executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties, to participate in a interview to discuss the sometimes confusing and potentially destabilizing budgetary requirements they must meet to fulfill the Blueprint’s aspirations.

The Spy’s Jim Dissette, Dave Wheelan, and WHCP’s Kevin Diaz, talked to Michael by Zoom last Friday.

This podcast video is approximately 19 minutes in length.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Consumer Guide Criticized for Saying ‘Avoid’ Chesapeake Oysters

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The Chesapeake Bay’s oyster population is still a long way from what it once was, but lately it’s shown signs of a rebound. Maryland and Virginia watermen harvested more of the bivalves in the most recent season than they had in more than three decades.

So why is Seafood Watch, a widely consulted guide to sustainable seafood, recommending that people avoid eating wild-caught oysters from the Bay?

The Monterey Bay Aquarium, which produces Seafood Watch, isn’t saying. A spokesperson for the California aquarium declined a request for an interview to answer questions about its draft report, which includes a recommendation to shun oysters from Maryland or Virginia.

“At this time, we are not able to comment on the draft assessment as the report may change based on feedback we receive in the public comment period,” the spokesperson said by email.

The aquarium was taking feedback through May 22. Since making its draft report public in April, it has received an earful from watermen, fishery managers, scientists and even other conservationists. Critics contend it erroneously portrays the Bay’s oyster population as overfished and poorly managed, a characterization they say even in draft form is hurting the region’s seafood industry.

“They have no idea what they’re doing,” said Robert T. Brown Sr., president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, “… and they’re interfering with people’s livelihoods.”

Since 1999, the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program every few years has been offering what it says are science-based recommendations on which fish and seafood across the United States are sustainable “best choices” or “good alternatives” — and which should be avoided because of the risk of that species’ depletion or of harm to the marine ecosystem. It distributes about 2.5 million printable online guides every year aimed at influencing the purchasing decisions of nonprofit organizations, businesses and consumers.

Based on its last assessment in 2018, Seafood Watch currently rates oysters from Maryland and Virginia a good choice, despite some concerns, for those who care about sustainable seafood.

The new draft assessment downgrades those recommendations, citing “high concern” for the abundance of oysters in both states and deeming their public fisheries management ineffective. It even finds fault with the methodology Maryland has used in assessing the abundance of its wild oyster stock and whether it’s being overharvested.

Officials with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources say no one from the aquarium contacted them in developing the new assessment, and they were stunned to learn of the “avoid” recommendation.

“There’s missing information, there’s outdated information. They have misinterpreted information, and they have failed to live up to their own standards of using the best science and collaborating,” said Kristen Fidler, assistant DNR secretary for aquatic resources.

Agency officials defended the state’s oyster management, which they say is based on a science-driven stock assessment that has been reviewed favorably by a panel of outside scientists.

Mike Wilberg, a fisheries scientist with the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science who led the development of DNR’s stock assessment, said he thought the Seafood Watch drafters applied an overly broad and uneven brush when rating the sustainability of oyster stocks along the East Coast. He said they failed to appreciate the complexities of the Bay’s oyster population and how it varies from one place to another.

“Some of the things we were criticized for [by Seafood Watch] are things we were praised for in the expert review of our stock assessment,” he noted.

“I applaud their efforts to get consumers to make conscious decisions [about sustainability],” Wilberg added. “Unfortunately, with all this stuff, the devil is in the details.”

Roger Mann and Mark Luckenbach, a pair of veteran oyster biologists with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, likewise contend that the Seafood Watch ratings of their state’s fishery are “based on old data and are entirely inappropriate.” The data cited by the report’s drafters in deeming oyster abundance “a high concern” was more than a decade old, they pointed out.

JC Hudgins, president of the Virginia Waterman’s Association, said that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and members of the seafood industry “do a lot to keep the Eastern oyster a sustainable species,” even as the state’s harvest from public fishery areas in the 2022–23 season topped 300,000 bushels for the first time in 35 years.

Since 2018, when Seafood Watch rated Virginia oysters a good choice, the fishery has steadily improved every year, Hudgins said. Last year, he noted, reef surveys found oyster densities at levels not seen since before diseases struck in the late 1980s and triggered a catastrophic decline in population and habitat.

Brown, head of the Maryland watermen’s group, said he believed the Maryland oyster recommendation was also based on outdated information. In the six-month 2022–23 season that ended March 30, watermen harvested more than 600,000 bushels, the most since 1986–87.

In the recently ended season, Brown said, “a lot of people were still catching their limits [early] at the end of the season. That’s telling you we had plenty of oysters there.” He also noted that since the first stock assessment in 2019 that found widespread overharvesting, the state has reduced daily catch limits. “We’ve got a good management plan,” he said.

Even conservationists, who have at times voiced their own criticisms of oyster management in the Bay, have qualms about the draft Seafood Watch recommendation.

Allison Colden, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Maryland director and a fisheries biologist, said she thinks the aquarium may be jumping the gun because a fresh update of the state’s oyster population is due to be completed and released within a matter of weeks. She noted that conditions for oyster reproduction and survival have been on the upswing lately, with very low mortality rates from the once-devastating diseases MSX and Dermo.

Even so, Colden said, the Seafood Watch assessment “does highlight some of the lingering concerns CBF has had and still has with the fishery.” Though only a few areas are still experiencing overfishing, one of those is Tangier Sound, where the majority of Maryland oysters are harvested.

And while oyster reproduction has been good to excellent the last few years, Colden said, caution is warranted because the fishery has undergone boom and bust cycles in the past.

Colden said she was in wholehearted agreement with another Seafood Watch recommendation — a blanket endorsement of farmed oysters as a “best” choice for consumers concerned about the sustainability of the reef-building bivalves.

“We have long recommended that consumers choose farmed oysters from the Chesapeake Bay,” she said, “because that eliminates any possibility of concerns about sustainability or about oyster recovery.”

But even there, Maryland officials say, the Seafood Watch guides don’t make it clear enough that their “avoid” recommendation doesn’t apply to the state’s farmed oysters.

“We have a successful and growing oyster industry, both wild and aquaculture,” Fidler said. The “avoid” recommendation “could be incredibly damaging to the industry and really a major and unnecessary setback, especially with all the progress we’ve made.”

by Tim Wheeler

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Moore Issues First Vetoes, Lets Cannabis Search Bill and Others Become Law without His Signature

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Gov. Wes Moore (D) on Friday issued the first vetoes of his young administration and also allowed 10 bills to become law without his signature — including a measure that addresses traffic stops when the odor of cannabis is present and fines for smoking marijuana in public.

“This is the last action” by the governor on bills passed during the recent General Assembly session, according to a spokesperson for Moore, Carter Elliott IV.

Only one of the governor’s three vetoes actually sends a piece of legislation back to the drawing board; the other two were versions of bills he had previously signed, meaning “it is not necessary for me to sign” the companion legislation, Moore said in veto messages to legislative leaders.

The cannabis bill, sponsored by Del. Charlotte Crutchfield (D-Montgomery), prohibits a law enforcement officer from stopping and searching a vehicle or motorist solely on the basis of cannabis odor and also places restrictions on searches. The bill also addresses fines for possession of marijuana.

This was the legislation that was being voted on on the House floor during the final minutes of the General Assembly session, which Speaker Adrienne A. Jones (D-Baltimore County) pushed through even though several Republicans sought to delay the process by explaining their vote. Jones’ unwillingness to let them speak led to an unprecedented outburst on the House floor by Del. Nicholaus R. Kipke (R-Anne Arundel), a former House minority leader. Several Republicans walked off the floor at that point, and Jones gaveled the 90-day session to a close.

The cannabis bill will take effect on July 1 — the same day a regulated recreational cannabis marketplace opens in Maryland.

The other bills that will become law without Moore’s signature are:

  • HB 131, sponsored by Del. David Moon (D-Montgomery), which repeals the crime of unnatural or perverted sexual practice, and SB 54, the companion bill from Sen. Clarence K. Lam (D-Howard);
  • HB 239, from Del. Jeffrie E. Long Jr. (D-Prince George’s), which establishes an Accessory Dwelling Unit Policy Task Force in the state, and SB 382, the companion bill from Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City);
  • HB 371, from Del. Dalya Attar (D-Baltimore City), that sets new thresholds for indemnity mortgage transactions that are exempt from the state recordation tax;
  • HB 701, from Kipke, which sets pay scales for the Maryland Community Health Resources Commission and lays out guidelines for setting pay scales in the Offices of the Comptroller, Treasurer, and Attorney General;
  • SB 545, from Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Prince George’s), addressing the hours when towed vehicles can be recovered;
  • SB 610, from Washington, which establishes requirements for virtual education programs;
  • SB 691, from Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Montgomery), which applies the state’s sales and use tax to home amenity rentals

Moore’s office did not immediately explain why he chose to let the bills become law without his signature.

Moore vetoed House Bill 472 and Senate Bill 217. The identical bills proposed changes to how the Maryland Transportation Administration awards commuter bus contracts.

Under state law, the agency has a number of options in the bidding process. Currently, MTA uses an invitation for bid process. Lawmakers wanted to move to a sealed bid process.

The legislature passed the bills over the objection of the MTA. The agency expressed concerns that the proposed mandate would result in decreased competition. In a letter of opposition, the agency said less competition would add as much as 15% to the cost of the commuter bus contracts, or about $42 million over a five-year period.

The estimate did not include potential increases caused by inflation.

Moore, in his veto message, said such a change would be time consuming and potentially more expensive and set an unwanted precedent.

“As we work in partnership with the legislature at the task of rebuilding state government, one of my administration’s key goals has been to make the procurement process more efficient, transparent, and fair,” Moore wrote. “In particular, my administration is working to ensure that small business owners and minority- and women-owned businesses have equitable opportunities to compete for and receive procurement awards.”

Moore issued an executive order in January requiring state agencies to report on the progress in meeting goals for hiring minority- and women-owned businesses.

Moore has already signed versions of the two other bills he vetoed Friday.

One, SB 144, from Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), would have required the state to set energy savings performance targets for subsidized low-income housing. But Moore already signed the companion bill, HB 169, sponsored by Del. Lorig Charkoudian (D-Montgomery).

Similarly, Moore on Friday vetoed HB 557, a bill from the Carroll County House delegation setting bond limits for county government, but he had already signed its cross-file from the Senate delegation.

By Josh Kurtz and Bryan P. Sears

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Pulling It All Together: Mid-Shore Health Improvement Coalition

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For centuries the Mid-Shore has always succeeded in whatever endeavor it seeks when it decides to work together, and that strategy is now being applied to the growing challenge of regional health for its residents.

Under the seasoned leadership Nicole Morris, a public health nurse with some 20 years of experience, the Mid Shore Health Improvement Coalition is bringing together over 150 individuals from more than 50 organizations, in a mission to address the health needs of Maryland’s Mid-Shore region.

The coalition, represented by health officers from Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, and Talbot counties, focuses on critical issues such as diabetes, cancer, tobacco use, healthcare provider shortages, and transportation.

In response to the alarming statistic that one in three adults in this region is affected by pre-diabetes, the coalition has prioritized awareness-raising and lifestyle changes. An innovative online risk test helps individuals identify their risk, while medical providers have processes to screen and refer potential pre-diabetic patients to the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

This program, requiring a year-long commitment, supports individuals in making sustainable lifestyle changes, with the potential to prevent diabetes by up to 60%.

The Spy asked Nicole to stop by the Spy studio a few weeks ago to tell us more.

This video is approximately 5 minutes in length. For more information about the Mid Shore Health Improvement Coalition please go here.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

The Trials and Tribulations of Cambridge’s Historic School

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On February 13 of this year, the Planning Commission presented to the Cambridge City Council proposed Ordinance No. 1212, which would amend the Unified Development Code to delete certain language that prevented a developer from turning the Mill Street School building into rental apartments. According to the commission, these amendments were “necessary to protect and promote the public health, safety, and welfare.” This appeared benign enough on the page, but the proposition managed to create a minor uproar in the Historic District.

The Issue

“You’ve got a school sitting in a residential district that’s supposed to be single-family, detached houses,” said Rick Klepfer of Choptank Avenue recently. “That’s a problem.”

After the school closed for good in the late 1990s, the city decided it should be used for a different purpose, and the property was approved for multi-family development with the provisions in the city’s 2003 Zoning Ordinance using the Planned Unit Development criteria. Then several applications were submitted to the Planning Commission, one of which was heard by the City Council in September 2013. The proposal received a conditional approval, but the final plan was never completed.

In December 2014, Cambridge adopted the Unified Development Code, and the area around Mill Street was designated a Neighborhood Conservation 3 Zone, which allowed single-family homes. But the school was still there, so the decision was made to create a special overlay district just for that property.

“I don’t think anyone was particularly in favor of the overlay zone putting in there,” explained Klepfer, “but it was approved anyway, and we said, ‘Okay, this is fine.’ There was a document put out by [City Planner] Pat Escher describing what the limitations of it were. What they developed was a way that you could convert the school to apartments, but at some point they had to become condominiums.”

History of the School Building

There were at least two more development submissions for the property between 2019 and 2021, but they did not reach a successful conclusion. During one of those later attempts, the city asked the Historic Preservation Commission for an architectural review to determine the significance of the schoolhouse. On May 28, 2019, HPC Chairperson George Vojtech began by reading a document relating the property’s history.

In 1902, Dorchester County’s public high school for boys burned down, and a new building was constructed by J. Benjamin Brown, a prolific local architect and former mayor. It was called Cambridge Academy and served as an elementary school that was attended by prominent individuals, including future Maryland governors. The building was sold in 1974 and became the private Golden Shore Christian Academy until the late 1990s.

After relating the history, Vojtech read into the record a June 17 letter from architectural historian Paul B. Touart, who had authored the property’s Maryland Historical Trust inventory form in 2010. In his letter, Touart stated that the school building was “a contributing resource to the historic nature of Mill Street and the larger district.” He defined a contributing site as one that “embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or that represents the work of a master, or that possesses high artistic value.”

Thus, the HPC unanimously voted in favor of a determination that the school and property were historically significant. Then, a succession of neighborhood residents announced their agreement with the vote. But, as Klepfer put it recently, even a building on the National Historic Register can be demolished.

“I think basically most of the neighbors at this point would be happy if they tore the school down and put five or so decent houses there,” he admitted.

Enter Bret Davis

The head of Davis Strategic Development LLC in Salisbury presented his application for eight dwelling units in the school building and four duplexes behind it to the Planning Commission on August 2, 2022. HPC reviewed the renovation plan in October and reported favorably. A Planning and Zoning Staff Report was drafted on the following February 7, after which the Planning Commission listened to a number of remaining concerns, including a letter of outright opposition from the Cambridge Association of Neighborhoods.

CAN, led by President Chuck McFadden, asked the City Council to reject Ordinance 1212 for several reasons. Among them was the fact that Davis had purchased the schoolhouse property with full knowledge of the requirement to establish a condominium regime but was insisting on the right to create rental apartments that would remain that way forever. According to CAN, Cambridge was in need of purchasable condo units that were not part of a waterfront development because they would “provide for entry level ownership opportunities, as well as affordable units for elderly citizens that may want to downsize from larger homes in the community.”

The Decision

At the March 13 City Council meeting, where the second reading of the proposed ordinance was held, many locals stood up to oppose it. Speaking as a resident of the West End Historic District and a CAN board member, Klepfer said that Davis wanted the ordinance to favor him while he had made no efforts with the community. Pete Doyle of Choptank Avenue stated that the Planning Commission had broken the agreements between the developers, residents, and city, and that the residents felt like they were kept in the dark during the process. Cheryl Hannan of Mill Street said Davis had no ties to the community and hadn’t carried out any commitment to the citizens.

Ultimately, the Council voted unanimously against the ordinance. However, according to City Planner Pat Escher, Davis still intends to develop the school building.

 

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.

Miscommunication Delays Approving Blueprint Education Reform Plans

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Approval of local plans for reforming Maryland’s public schools will be delayed until July because state education officials are taking additional time to assess them.

The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB), which met in person Thursday for the first time since December, could’ve begun approving some plans this month.

Board Chair Isiah “Ike” Leggett said the delay stems from “an unforced error” in communication, and that it is especially important to rectify any misunderstandings when dealing with a multi-billion-dollar plan to reform Maryland’s education structure.

“This is a major transformation. The Blueprint is not just simply dotting the I’s [and] crossing the T’s,” he said. “We are…making a huge change as it relates to education. We anticipate some challenges and disagreements.”

The miscommunication involves the process for assessing each Blueprint plan from the state’s 24 local school systems.

The state Department of Education continues to review school system documents based on “Criteria for Success” which emphasize early childhood education, recruiting and retaining high-quality and diverse teachers and leaders, ensuring that students are prepared for college and careers, and providing additional resources for students.

By state law, the department provides recommendations on the Blueprint plans and the accountability board grants final approval.

According to a timeline the department released Wednesday, plans would be reviewed between Wednesday and Monday and the department would submit recommendations to the accountability board by Tuesday.

If the state needs additional time to review plans — or plan revisions — beyond next week, review periods are scheduled for May 31-June 5 and June 21-June 26.

“MSDE’s Blueprint implementation team members have proactively engaged with AIB staff regularly and with great frequency since the AIB became operational to facilitate continued and appropriate collaboration…” according to a statement from the department. “The State Board [of Education] and MSDE remain committed to working with the AIB within the current statutory framework to deliver transformative educational outcomes for all of Maryland’s children and to help make Maryland the best place to live, learn, and succeed.”

Rachel Hise, executive director for the accountability board, said information has been shared. However, some Blueprint feedback has gone directly to local school systems (also referred to as local education agencies or LEAs), creating a “two-step process.”

“The hope was that the MSDE feedback and the AIB feedback would be given to the LEAs at the same time…so that there would be one revision process,” Hise said after the nearly two-hour meeting. “Now, there will be a two-step process and the potential that the AIB may ask LEAs to revise their plans again after they’ve revised them for MSDE. We’re trying to avoid that as much as possible.”

There also lies a small “quirk” in state law.

Blueprint plans can be reviewed but cannot be approved in the month of June, to avoid confusion about funding when a new fiscal year begins July 1.

“The month of June is like a no go in the statute,” Hise said.

The board isn’t scheduled to meet again until June 8.

Meanwhile, the board approved a $76,747 expenditure to hire Ad Adstra Inc. of Montgomery County to transcribe all of this year’s Blueprint plans into Spanish.

Hise said school districts reported that Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language behind English.

The goal will be to review future long-term contracts with Ad Adstra or other companies to transcribe future Blueprint plans and other documents into more languages, board members agreed.

Thursday marked the first meeting for Justin K. Robinson, whom Gov. Wes Moore (D) appointed to join the seven-member board.

Robinson currently serves as the only educator on the board. He teaches eighth grade math and helps mentor other teachers in Prince George’s County public schools.

By William J. Ford

The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.