The state constitution doesn?t officially designate Annapolis as the capital city, so Gov. Martin O?Malley proclaimed the Charles County town of LaPlata as the capital for the day Thursday. He hauled his entire Cabinet and much of his own staff to this southern Maryland municipality devastated by a F4 tornado five years ago.
“We no longer view the destruction as what defined this town,” said Mayor Gene Ambrogio,w sitting in the new Town Hall.
O?Malley got an earful from local officials, pleading for help on a new Patuxent River bridge, polluted swimming holes and school construction ? and hoping he lives up to his promise not to balance the state budget on the backs of the county.
Charles County Commission President Wayne Cooper asked the governor?s help with getting officials from the Department of the Environment to talk to them about how to build community college facilities on a site that includes some wetlands.
“Absolutely,” replied O?Malley, looking over at Environment Secretary Shari Wilson, who got the message.
Southern Maryland is the fastest-growing region of the state, with Calvert County No. 1 in percentage growth and Charles County No 2. Cooper said 3,500 people each year move into county, bounded to the north by the Patuxent River and to the south by the Potomac River. Inexplicably this summer, perhaps related to the drought, bacterial pollution has made recreational swimming unsafe, Cooper said.
St. Mary?s County has experienced high growth from the expansion of the Patuxent River Naval Base, with is due to expand more under the Base Realignment and Closure Act.
All the local officials pleaded for replacement of the two-lane bridge over the Patuxent that connects Solomons Island and Lexington Park. O?Malley said the bridge was part of the “$40 billion in unmet transportation needs” and was among “the investments we should be making.” But the flat gasoline tax was not bringing in enough money, he said.
O?Malley and crew ate a meal of crab salad in cucumber, bean and corn salad, tomato tart and other locally grown produce on the H.H. Walter Farm, which Carl Walther said had been in the family since 1916. The farm switched from tobacco, the cash crop for centuries, under the 2001 buyout, and now grows produce.
“You?re going to eat anyway, so buy locally,” O?Malley said.
Fastest growth:
No. 1 Calvert County
No. 2 Charles County
No. 3 St. Mary?s County
(Based on percentage)
