Employment Guide for Calvert Citizens
The Social Justice Committee has spent a good deal of time gathering information on resources for Calvert residents who are seeking employment and/or economic assistance. Please click here to view the presentation with details.
Police Accountability Task Force
Please click here for LWVCC Police Accountability Task Force information. More recent information can be found here.
Study of The Effects of Climate Change in Calvert County
This report examines how climate change is affecting our County and our neighbors. To this end, we have gathered information from scientific sources (Maryland Department of Health, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and UMD’s Chesapeake Biological Laboratory) and local news and environmental organization sources. We have incorporated the experiences of Calvert residents such as farmers, watermen, business owners, and others in order to offer a variety of perspectives on this important subject.
This study serves as a follow up to a League forum held previously on the phenomenon of and effects of rising sea level on Calvert County.
The final report and fact sheet are now available.
Study of Prince Frederick Master Plan and the Calvert County LWV
The League of Women Voters of Calvert County would like to thank the many League members who contributed to the research and writing of "The Prince Frederick Town Center Master Plan Planning Process Study".
The tasks were many and varied: reading public documents, attending hearings and other public meetings, interviewing representatives of various civic and governmental organizations, distributing materials, analyzing data collected from documents, surveys and interviews, and, finally, writing and preparing the study for distribution to our League members and interested public.
Study Group members maintained an admirable combination of dedication, discretion, and a good sense of humor. Twelve League members worked on the project, which was ably led by Tricia Powell, serving as Chair.
The following additional Study Group members (listed in alphabetical order) contributed their time and effort to make this project work: Sharron Bickel, Sue Bilek, Maureen Hoffman, JC Hooker, Karen Horton, Duwane Rager, Randi Vogt, Lila West, Gladys White and Len Zuza.
The committee would especially like to express gratitude for the efforts of two members who gave their time, considerable knowledge and goodwill to the project before their untimely deaths: Malcolm Funn and Michael Moore. These men helped set the standard for accuracy, patience and consistency as the project developed. We sincerely hope the final product lives up to the standards they helped set.
We would also like to thank the staff of Planning and Zoning for consistently responding to the Study Group's questions about the process and for making relevant documents and public meetings available to citizens via the Calvert County website.
We are very of those representatives of both private and public organizations who were willing to share their insights through interviews for this study.
The final report can be found here.
The Greening of Calvert County
In 2007, the League voted to conduct a one-year study of Calvert County Government’s carbon
footprint in 3 different areas: energy usage, transportation and recycling. The study was not
intended to be exhaustive but to be used as a beginning dialogue to address a relatively new (at
the time) policy area where science and knowledge were still evolving. The League wanted to
present not only what actions had already been taken by their government to move our
community toward a more sustainable future but also what actions could and should be taken in
the near-term.
The Board of County Commissioners supported the study and allowed their employees to give
of their time during the fact-finding portion of the study. The League committee members for
the study were Dawn Balinski, Chair, Christa Conant, Annette Funn, Bob and Fran Poling and
Kathleen Riley, the then President of the Calvert LWV. After 1.5 years of conducting research,
interviewing staff in 15 different county and school board departments, writing and re-writing
drafts, the study was sent to the BOCC in November 2008 with a formal presentation made at a
BOCC meeting in December.
The findings in the report detailed the county’s past actions toward sustainability:
*Preservation of farm and forest land
*Implementation of the Town Center concept coupled with steps to curtail growth and limit
sprawl
*Plan to build loop roads to reduce traffic congestion and engine-idling times
*Incorporation of mixed use zoning, sidewalks and bike lanes into some Town Center
Master Plans
*Replacement of older light fixtures in county buildings, resulting in an estimated 40%
energy savings
*Upgrade of HVAC equipment
*Energy audit of all school buildings conducted by the school system with establishment
of guidelines for employees and students on energy use reductions
*Purchase of some flex fuel vehicles, downsizing of some large plow trucks and an idling
reduction program in the Sheriff’s office
*Implementation of a countywide recycling program in 7 convenience centers
The League’s report recommended in considerable depth a list of action items to be taken in
each of the key areas of study. A summary of some of the near-term and long-term goals are
below:
*Development of a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the reliance upon fossil
fuels
*The implementation of a county government-wide energy audit to set a baseline for
future energy use comparisons
*Creation of a Citizens Green Team to encourage cooperation and communication
among government, businesses and homeowners on how to improve the county’s
carbon footprint
*Training of county employees in green building code development and life-cycle cost
analysis with consideration of long-term energy usage
*Establishment of a set of incentives to developers, businesses and homeowners for
meeting green building standards and incorporating alternative energy
*Creation of a Diesel Emission Reduction plan to retrofit as many school buses as is
economically feasible with pollution control devices
*Appointment of a Transportation Technologies Liaison to review federal and state
government initiatives regarding hybrid or alternative fuel vehicles
The most visible of the county’s actions has been the formation of the Citizens Green Team
which has been active in the county for the past 9 years. Through the annual Green Expo event
that they host and the publication of the premier environmental reference booklet titled From My
Backyard to Our Bay, the group’s mission has been to educate the general public and local
businesses on ways to make Calvert more sustainable for future generations to come.
We feel that the discussion engendered by the League’s study brought key issues to light on
what government’s responsibilities are vis-à-vis sustainable practices – especially considering
the prevalence at the time of ‘climate change skepticism’. The report highlighted the fact that
conservation of natural resources, especially as regards energy usage, almost always resulted
in cost savings – making it an even more important government responsibility given the
recessionary times.
The final report can be found here.