Local Progressive Leaders Move the Lower Shore into the Future

Jared Schablein • April 3, 2019

Over the past few years, there have been many positive changes on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland. A shining example of this change is what has been accomplished in the city of Salisbury over the past few years. What was once a stagnant community has gone through a rebirth and is now a thriving city with a new look and plenty of growth. Under its current leadership Salisbury has become Maryland’s fastest growing city and has attracted enough business to boast the seventh fastest growing job market in the entire country. This growth has brought plenty of jobs, economic growth, and opportunity to a region that has desperately needed it for decades.

These major improvements are thanks largely to the leadership of Mayor Jacob Day. In the short time that he has served on both the city council and as the Mayor of Salisbury, he has been able to lead Salisbury into the future with a bold vision and strong progressive ideas. Under Mayor Day’s leadership Salisbury became the first small city in the America to implement the Housing First program. When implemented in other cities around the US, this program reduced chronic homelessness by 80 percent to 90 percent in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. In Salisbury we have seen similar results on the reduction of the chronically homeless and providing an opportunity for people to get back on their feet. Mayor Day also understands the importance of investing in the future and under his leadership the city has added youth programs like summer youth employment, created sports teams like Salisbury Rhinos football, and opened venues to bring the community together like the Truitt Street Community Center. These initiatives have provided the youth community in Salisbury and across the Lower Shore the opportunity to connect with the community, have something productive to do, and learn skills needed to be successful in life. Finally, Mayor Day has also implemented projects to restore and growth city like his efforts to revitalize downtown and beautification projects such as the construction of the new Riverwalk Amphitheater, the addition of a fountain in the Wicomico River, the Riverwalk completion, downtown parking garage graphics, and the Main Street streetscape. This gives Salisbury a modern feel and has been extremely effective in bringing businesses back to the area and attracting new people to make Salisbury and the Lower Shore their permanent home.

The even better news for the Lower Eastern Shore is that this bold new progressive leadership doesn’t stop at the mayor's office. We can also see it with newly-elected Councilman Josh Hastings of Wicomico District 4. Councilman Hastings is an Eastern Shore native with experience in getting things done for the community both in the public and private sector. Since joining the council this past election, the freshman Council member has been instrumental in the creation of a new park at Pirate’s Wharf. The Wharf is a major site of Eastern Shore history and once the park is complete will help boost tourism in Wicomico County. Councilman Hastings has also been a leading speaker on fully funding education in Wicomico by supporting Dr. Hanlin’s Imagine 2022 program that plans on increasing graduation rates, including a 3% increase in teacher pay, and implementing universal Pre-K for all. This effort—in combination with his efforts to expand the Salisbury Airport and to create better working with the municipalities across the county—will help create a better future for both Wicomico County and its residents.

In the period of just a few short years it is amazing to have witnessed the biggest modernization process of the Lower Eastern Shore in my lifetime and to see the major strides we have made as a region. Though we have come a long way, we have a lot of work still ahead of us. However, after reviewing the progress that has been made and the plans moving forward by the leadership of Mayor Jacob Day and Councilman Josh Hastings, it is clear that here on the Lower Eastern Shore we should strive to elect more progressive leaders to lead us moving forward. Only when we have more leaders that have a vision and a belief in the capabilities of our region can we begin to tackle the big problems the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland faces, such as the opioid epidemic, sea level rise, the need for more good paying jobs/ new industries, and many more.

The writer, Jared Schablein, is a Wicomico County resident who serves as Chair of the Lower Shore Progressive Caucus. He can be reached at l owershoreprogressivecaucus@gmail.com Twitter: @Wicomico_Jared

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