The platform
Priorities for District 6
Every candidate says they will protect neighborhoods, spend responsibly, and listen to residents. Here is what I will actually do, and what I have already done.
Priority 1
A Responsive Voice for District 6
Too often, the voices of residents are ignored in favor of powerful special interests. Decisions about our neighborhoods, our streets, and our quality of life get made in rooms residents were never invited into, on terms residents were never asked about. That is not representation.
As County Council member, I will bring your voice back into that room, before the vote, not after. The people who live in District 6 should decide what happens in District 6.
Being responsive is not a slogan. It means you can reach the office and get an answer. It means holding regular public office hours in District 6 neighborhoods rather than only at the county building, and it means bringing residents into a question while it is still open.
Priority 2
Reform Plan 2040 and Stop Unapproved Development
As a former Planning Commissioner, I know how planning is supposed to work. Plan 2040 was handed down top-down without meaningful resident input, and it opens the door to upzoning our single-family neighborhoods.
I will introduce legislation to reform Plan 2040 and require real resident engagement before zoning decisions are made, not after. Infrastructure comes before new development. Residents come before developers.
I am not guessing at how this works. I have administered it. The most important decisions in planning happen upstream, in staff reports and draft language, long before a public hearing. Reform means moving the public into that stage, where their input can still change the outcome.
Priority 3
End Developer Money in County Politics
This spring I testified in favor of Bill 23-26, the bill to restrict developer contributions to County officials. I am the only candidate on the November ballot who did.
I will reintroduce Bill 23-26 as one of my first acts on Council. A rule that binds every County official permanently is worth more than any voluntary gesture a single candidate can make for a single campaign.
I am also not seeking party endorsements. I am seeking resident endorsements, in your words, in your voice, about why. A campaign finance program governs what a campaign accepts. It does not govern what a candidate owes.
Priority 4
Protect the Chesapeake Bay, Our Waterways, and Our Open Spaces
As President of the Irvine Conservancy in California, I led the coalition that permanently preserved 733 acres of open space at Quail Hill against a wealthy developer’s attempted expansion. The Bay is our shared inheritance. It is not a partisan issue. I will fight for real waterway protection, protect our shoreline, and reject performative environmental theatrics that waste taxpayer dollars while delivering nothing.
Public water access is a public right, but it must be planned with the communities that will live with the consequences, not from behind a desk. We have seen what happens when access points are imposed without considering parking, traffic, noise, and infrastructure impacts on surrounding neighborhoods. I will ensure that expanding water access is done right — with residents at the table, not after the decision is already made.
Priority 5
Say No to Data Center Overdevelopment Without Resident Consent
Anne Arundel County is being courted by out-of-state data center developers that consume massive amounts of water, strain our power grid, and often come with generous tax incentives paid for by County residents. Residents have not asked for them. Residents were not consulted.
I will oppose approving any large-scale data center project without a full environmental impact study, an honest accounting of the tax subsidies being offered, and meaningful resident input before decisions are made.
Our water, our grid, and our neighborhoods are not for sale.
In George’s words
“The people who live in District 6 should decide what happens in District 6.”
I am not seeking endorsements from political parties. I am seeking them from the people who live here.
Priority 6
Housing That Works for the People Who Live Here
Housing affordability is real, but the answer is not to upzone every single-family neighborhood and hope trickle-down works.
Over the next decade, as many of our longtime residents move to smaller homes and assisted living, a substantial number of family houses will become available across Anne Arundel County. Planning around that reality, rather than reflexively adding density, gives us a real path to expand housing choice while keeping families and seniors in the stable neighborhoods they built their lives in.
Priority 7
Property Tax Relief for Families, Seniors, and Working People
Under my opponent’s eight years as Mayor of Annapolis, city property taxes rose 51 percent, the city budget rose 93 percent, city staff grew 83 percent while population grew only 2.67 percent, and some fees rose 500 percent.
Seniors on fixed incomes are being crushed. Working families are stretched. I will demand right-sized government, transparent budgeting, and honest justification for every increase.
The standard I will apply is simple. Justify the increase, or do not ask for it.
Priority 8
Support Small Businesses and Local Jobs
Small businesses are the heart of District 6. They pay wages, sponsor Little League teams, and give our neighborhoods their character. Too often they have been stretched by rising costs, complicated regulations, and a County government that assumes it knows better.
I will listen to small business owners about what County government could do differently, permit and inspection turnaround, fair procurement rules, reasonable regulatory relief, and I will act on what I hear.
Priority 9
Neighborhood Schools and Support for Educators
Every child in District 6 deserves a high-quality neighborhood school with the resources and staff they need to succeed. I respect the work our teachers do. Every single day, they take on more than their job description asks of them.
What teachers say they want most is fewer top-down mandates and more resources for classrooms. I will listen to teachers, to parents, and to students, because the voices closest to what actually happens in our schools are the ones we should trust.
Priority 10
Full Support for Law Enforcement and Safe Streets in Every Neighborhood
Public safety is a resident right. Every family in District 6 deserves to feel safe walking their streets, sending their kids to school, and enjoying their neighborhoods.
Under my opponent’s eight years as Mayor, Annapolis had 172 shots-fired incidents, 119 shootings, and 34 murders. That is the equivalent of one shooting incident every ten days. I will fully support our law enforcement officers and make sure they have the resources they need.
I will also champion creating a County Inspector General so waste and misconduct can be caught. And I will fight for safe streets, safe sidewalks, and infrastructure our neighborhoods can rely on. Roads that get paved. Sidewalks that finish.
District 6 has been ignored long enough
Residents deserve a Council member who shows up, tells the truth, and answers to them. I am asking for your vote on November 3.