The race for Wicomico County Council's District 5 seat is officially underway. In a recent event held in his hometown of Parsonsburg, Joe White declared his candidacy on the Republican ticket. Emphasizing a platform focused on fiscal discipline, education, and preserving the county's rural character, White stated his intention to bring business-minded oversight to local government. Watch his announcement in the video above, and read the full press coverage linked below for more details on his platform.
Joe White Announces Candidacy for Wicomico County Council in District 5
Show Transcript
Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
Um, thanks for being here. I I know you
all know me as Joe White, but uh I want
to at least officially announce who I
am. Uh, I appreciate you coming out with
the cold weather and uh, you know, we're
here in my hometown and this is this is
where I was born and raised and I I
asked you to come here today. I'm I'm
officially announcing that I'm running
for Wakcomo County Council District 5.
[applause]
Thank you.
Uh I'm I'm sure a few of you are a
little bit, you know, what a question of
how I'm dressed. You're used to seeing
me uh maybe in some shorts year round
and a polo shirt. Uh you know, we're
here at the firehouse. It always makes
me think of my uncle Steve who was kind
of dressed the same way. He always
looked like he was either going to work
or getting ready to play a pickup
basketball game. But every once in a
while, even though he maybe didn't want
to, he he dressed for the occasion. And
uh and I think that that's really
important and I'm ready to do that.
Wakamaku County is facing many
challenges in the coming years and a lot
of those include the fiscal health of
the county, preservation of farms and
natural resources, jobs, education,
high taxes that we we have now, and our
overall quality of life. And although in
the past I've never aspired to be in
political office, in light of these
challenges, I now feel a sense of duty
to serve my community as a county
councilman. I initially became involved
in county government because of my
dissatisfaction of youth sports. I was a
volunteer in the county and I went to my
county councilman Joe Holloway and I and
I echoed my displeasure. He challenged
me to become involved and I'm glad that
he did and I appreciate that that you
did.
Some say that serving the county council
is a part-time job, but it does take
full engagement and I if elected I am
ready to make that commitment for to be
fully engagement for the full engagement
commitment to ensure that Wakcomo County
has a bright future. I represent the
values that make our little corner of
Maryland such a great place to live and
raise our children.
County County government may be
necessary, but it is a poor steward of
our tax dollars and almost always
operates inefficiently.
For instance, our property tax cap rate
has come under attack from several
elected officials that currently
represent us. They believe that our
problems are solved by throwing more
money at issues and they will increase
taxes accordingly. This is a poor
solution.
While most of us have tightened our
belts, the county government continues
to grow and spend, increasing taxes and
expenditures by more than 10% the last
several years. While relying on state
disparity grants to make up the
budgetary shortfalls and although these
grants may be good in the short term,
they cannot be sustained forever,
particularly because the state of
Maryland is under such financial crisis
of its own. As such, Wycom County is
going to have to live within its means,
and it has to do that without burdening
the taxpayers.
I'll deliver conservative leadership and
transparency and rely on my extensive
business experience to ensure that our
tax dollars are spent judiciously just
like I would spend my own money.
I will vigorously protect land rights
and include that include the right to
farm. I'll keep government overreach at
bay and maintain a balance of
government. I I want to ensure that the
government is here to work for the
people and the people are not here to
satisfy their government.
As a proud graduate of Y High, I was
unfortunate to receive a excellent
public education. But I am concerned
that our current generation of students
are not being given the necessary tools
to succeed in the mid 21st century. To
ensure that our kids can thrive in a
competitive world, we not only only must
improve the quality of primary
education, but we must also encourage
our young people to take advantage of
the vocational and college education
opportunities we have here in our own
backyard. Well-paying jobs must be
created to maintain or at a minimum to
keep the to to keep local talent here
and to train them here and have them
contri contribute to the local economy
throughout their lifetime.
The challenges ahead must be tackled
headon and thoughtfully with engagement
of the affected communities. Hasty
decisions made without conducting the
appropriate due diligence with the
public will only lead to more waste.
You may be aware that Parsonsburg is at
the top of the list for the on the new
sanitary district.
And although this is an ambitious
project that will take many millions of
dollars and decades to complete, I do
not feel we are currently represented in
this process. My education and working
background in environmental science will
enable me to understand the many facets
on this issue and I will make certain
that the taxpayers are given a seat at
the table before any consequential
decisions are made.
Take a look at this marvelous building.
I was very fortunate in 1996 as a member
of the cadetses here to be on the very
first committee that was designed for to
to get started to have a new building
for the Parsonsburg Fire Department.
We don't have a county or town
government here in Parsonsburg. So, this
took the folks here, the engagement here
to reach out to put this building in
place. You can look at the Hall of Fame
out in the in the hall, the the list of
donors in the hall, the bricks out
front, and you can really get a sense
for what people can accomplish without
government.
Our local volunteer fire departments do
have an aging membership, and it would
be regrettable to allow their vast
knowledge and experience to be lost. Now
is the time to engage a new generation
of firefighters and ENTs so that we can
benefit from the skills and expertise
for those who have long dedicated
themselves to protecting our
communities. As one who comes from a
private sector and successfully built
several small businesses employing
hundreds is my intention not to not my
intention tonight to launch a political
career, but my only objective is to
harness my experience to improve our
overall quality of life. ensure
prosperity and preserve the values of
our rural character of our of our area.
I'll dedicate these principles to my
campaign.
I I humbly ask for your support for the
Republican primary election to be held
on June 23rd and the general election on
November 3rd. Together, we can preserve
our historic past and look forward to a
promising future. Thank you for coming
tonight. [applause]
I I'd like I'd like to thank every every
one of you for being here, but uh also
Councilman Joe Holloway of the fifth
district's here, and I'd like to give
him a minute to say a few words.
>> It's funny how um how time flies. It
doesn't seem like it was 19 years ago
since I was standing in front of a group
of people asking for their support for
my first run. Um most of you know me. My
name is Joe Holly. [clears throat] been
on the county council district 5. I've
held the position for 19 years. Um
I'm on my last year and I've enjoyed
almost every minute of it. But
so I thought about retiring, you know,
last term, but I felt I'd be letting the
people of our county down if I quit. saw
some [clears throat] until I saw someone
who was able capable of standing up for
the citizens in every situation put
forth by the political process.
The job of a councilman is not just two
meetings a month as we've been accused
of.
It's caring about what happens in our
county 24 hours a day. It's 365 days a
year.
You have to be strong enough to stand up
for those with a special interest. Those
who feel your hard-earned tax dollars
are just there for like monopoly money
to be used for whatever reasons they
want you have to invest your time
researching the issues.
Dave, how many time how much time do we
spend reading?
>> I uh well, we guess that 20 hours a
week, but yeah, it's good amount.
listening to the pros and cons proposed
legislations and waiting the needs of
your constituents who have faith that
you'll look out for the best interest.
What I really want to say here, the best
part of this job is when you can help
somebody. When somebody comes to you
with a problem,
and you can't always help them, believe
me, but when you somebody comes to you
with a problem and you can help them
solve that problem.
Um, I'm happy to say that I believe Joe
White is a person to replace me on the
council
and to carry the torch forward. I've
known Joe Joe for a good while. I know
his parents
and know his grand well knew his
grandparents, know his granddad and the
great grandparents. [clears throat]
He remember his great greatgrandfather.
I'm telling you how old I am now.
Anyway, he's a good person, hardworking
with good business sense and good people
skills. Joe has the integrity and
dedication to do a great job
representing the city of uh the citizens
of Wakcomo County. Joe's proven his
dedication making this county a place
we're proud to call home.
If you know him, you'll agree that he's
a person for the job. If you don't know
him, tune in to Pack 14's open agenda
and you can watch Joe in action. See how
his knowledge see how knowledgeable he
is on the county issues and how
dedicated he is to shining the light on
county problems and how he works to
write the wrongs. Now,
not everybody that's on pack 14
is probably people that Joe agrees with
and some of the other people on there,
but he treats them all with respect.
It it's not it's not a got you thing
with Joe. Yeah. So, and and as far as
the other folks on there, too, Joe's a
good person and I'm proud to say proud
to call I would be proud to call him my
county councilman. I strongly support
Joe and his run for the office and hope
that you will support him also.
[applause]
So if everybody in this room goes out
there and tells everybody they know for
Joe, we can get it done. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
>> I think everyone in this room has my
cell phone number. Uh if you meet
someone out there who's who's got
questions about the issues, share my
number. Uh this is like I said, I'm I'm
going to be a conservative and
transparent leader. So that starts with
with with getting myself out there. So
So please reach out to me and I'll uh
I'll I'll be there if you call. So thank
you all. [applause]
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