Why You Should Choose Me to be St. Mary's Commissioner President



By Jack Russell

Candidate for Democratic Party Nomination

I returned home to Piney Point in 1965 with a degree in government from the University of Maryland in College Park. I knew I wanted to live in St. Mary’s County and make my living as an independent businessman. I have always anticipated running for local office.

By 1980 I had built and operated a thriving seafood processing and distributing company and also built the first skipjack to join the Chesapeake’s premier commercial sailing fleet in 50 years.

Since 1986 I have taught more than 50,000 students aboard my skipjack. The lessons are not only about ecology and history. The lessons are about what it is to pull together as a team and successfully reach our destination.

In 1980 the governor of Maryland appointed me to the Potomac River Fisheries Commission. The commission blends the interests of two states – Virginia and Maryland – to make workable regulations for the Potomac River. I learned during the 12 years I served on that commission how government should work. I learned the importance of including the full community in governmental decision-making.

During those 12 years I had to retool my businesses and move beyond a declining seafood industry into education. I went from being a businessman and waterman to becoming a teacher.

For 20 years I have taught students in St. Mary’s County and throughout the region about what has disappeared in just my lifetime, not just the resources of the Chesapeake Bay but also about the cultures and communities that are now lost. I teach students about what else we could lose as a community if we don’t start to act differently.

I founded the nonprofit the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab in 2000 to carry my skipjack and oyster house into another generation. A growing membership of committed individuals will see that this happens.

By 2005 the continuing loss of a sense of community throughout St. Mary’s County convinced me to run for the presidency of the board of county commissioners.

I am 63 years old. My wife and I have two daughters who are approaching adulthood. Unless we all start acting differently they will not be able to return after college to make their livings in St. Mary’s County. They may never be able to afford to buy a home here and their children may never be able to eat seafood caught from the Chesapeake Bay. We have the skills today to change this. We need the will and the resolve to see that it is changed.

More and more policies and regulations are not the solution. We know how to address many of our community’s problems. We have been studying the complex issues of growth since I began retooling my businesses. We know we must direct growth away from the countryside. We know we must give farmers the ability to reap the value of their land without turning to sprawl development. We know we must find new ways to pay for the schools and roads our growing population needs. We know ways to reduce the cost of new housing.

What we need are leaders with the people skills to engage a wide range of citizens in committing to these solutions. We need leaders who are not afraid to make tough decisions. We need leaders who are not looking to use their positions to gain higher office or increase their personal stature.

My experiences in governing, teaching and retooling businesses in a changing economy have provided me with unique understandings of what it is to lose a community. As a result, I have gained many of the skills needed to re-build a community.

During the past year I have campaigned for the job of commission president I have visited neighborhoods from Ridge to Golden Beach, from the 7^th District to Lexington Park. I have spoken with thousands of citizens. I am not alone in wanting to see St. Mary’s County pull together as a team to save all that we hold dear about this community. The message is the same: Put Community First in county decision-making.

I have taken that message to heart.

I believe as St. Mary’s County Commissioner President I can return to our community its sense of identity. I can bring together the divergent interests that are today pulling our communities apart and unite us in putting our community first.