Oxford Election: Moving Forward Or Living In The Past ?
Last Minute Dirty Politics and Attacks Repeat In Small Town Election
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June 17th is Tuesday and that is election day for the Oxford Commissioners.
It's a pivotal day in Oxford history. It's a day when we can create a future of professionalism, fairness and positive change in our town. We can stop living in the mistakes of the past and move forward.
It reminds me of the first time we had a meeting in 2025 with our new Town Manager. It was like a huge cloud had been lifted. The meeting was professional and congenial. Citizens were treated with respect and explanations and answers from the town manager were clear and on point.
The job is not done. We still have toxic forces who wish to control our town. They want their candidate, the establishment candidate, re-elected. They want to go back to the old Oxford of preferential treatment for a favored few, hidden information, and arbitrary decisions made in the dark. They want to pretend that many of the residents of this town don't exist and that they don't serve all of us. And they won't stop without smearing Donovan with mud. It's not the first time they have done that to someone. People hate losing absolute power.
Personally, I am also being attacked for my opinions. This seems to be a pattern in our Oxford elections recently. Last year the establishment made numerous public verbal attacks on Josh Coder and some physical attacks and threats against his supporters. We reported on some of these problems:
Dirty Politics In A Small Town - The Easton Gazette
Oxford Candidates Remind Supporters Of Laws And Ethics While Campaigning - The Easton Gazette
Now as election day comes near, things are ramping up. Attacks are coming from people outside of Oxford as well. It's to be expected when one tells the truth and goes against the political powers that be. This will not deter us from the truth or from sharing our endorsement. We stand by our opinions and our reporting.
After looking at many different bits of information, doing a lot of research, and drawing conclusions from what has happened for the past three years, the Easton Gazette is endorsing Dave Donovan. This endorsement is not a paid endorsement, nor do we expect any special consideration from it.
I saw something on social media today that really disgusted me. It was a post shared by a local businessperson that showed me how much some people in Oxford actually hate other citizens based on how long they have lived here. Sad but true. It's not the first time I've heard it, but it seems to be more prevalent now. People I know who have lived here for four or five years told me that they don't feel welcomed in Oxford. Even worse, they are not encouraged to get involved in the town. They hear these comments like, "What do you know about living in our town?" or "How dare you comment on issues, you've only been here for a while."
Sometimes new residents go to volunteer and are given the cold shoulder.
This attitude extends even further. There are people who believe that a person cannot be elected to town office unless they have lived her for a requisite amount of time. The charter says a year. One of our candidates, Dave Donovan, has lived in Oxford area with his wife for four years total, three in the town.
But, according to some, that's not long enough for Dave Donovan to run for Commissioner. To these people, a man who comes to town, buys a home here and then offers a new outlook on things, isn't acceptable regardless of the ideas he has. The old guard, the Oxford establishment, the ruling class won't have it. And they are quite nasty about it. In a rant on FACEBOOK, one writer says, "It’s difficult to believe that in our small town a person could be so isolated and without any history, that the first time he meets many, if not most of Oxford, he’s already asking for our vote." Translated? "Mind your own business boy, you haven't lived here long enough."
Then they bring up the fact that Dave Donovan was a lawyer and as a lawyer, maintained attorney/client privilege in some high-profile cases. This was pointed out on social media by former commissioner and unsuccessful Talbot County council candidate Jimmy Jaramillo. This was very interesting, considering that Jaramillo was one of three Commissioners, along with Costigan, who forced the former Chief of Police Pat Maxwell into early retirement and into signing a non-disclosure agreement in order not to lose his health insurance. I've since been told there is a possible upcoming civil cause of action against the Town of Oxford by the former chief.
Donovan put the following statement on his website: Dave Donovan Candidate for Commissioner - Donovan4Oxford
On Sunday, while most of us were celebrating Father's Day, a couple of our fellow citizens who are opposing my campaign for Town Commisson engaged in a coordinated smear campaign to spread via email scurrilous and false stories about me concerning my time at the Washington Redskins 15+ years ago. These emails were circulated without copying me or making any attempt to give me a chance to respond. It is all pretty superficial stuff, done at the last minute, with the obvious intent.
At this point, there is little I can do to respond in any meaningful way, given the vagueness of what they are asserting and the ambiguity about who they have sent it to.
I guess I just want you all to know this stuff is out there and my willingness to address any questions anyone has about any of it.
The bottom line is that the innuendo in these emails is entirely false.
I think there is no doubt that these individuals and their allies have intentionally waited to circulate these claims 48 hours before the election, in an obvious attempt to prevent any meaningful response.
One wonders why in this town holding on to a Commission seat would be so important to them to engage in such dishonest tactics. For that I have no answer.
I hope Tom Costigan has no involvement in any of this.
Certainly it appears that Tom's supporters have nothing affirmative to say in support of their candidate and instead have decided to attempt to smear me.
It is ironic that after all the attacks on others for unfairly attacking the Town in the last year or two, these people would use the very tactics for which they have pilloried others.
Up to this moment the campaign has been based on the issues. I guess someone is worried they can't win on the merits.
This is a sad day for anyone who thought we were past the ugliness of the past several years. Please reach out to me if you have any questions about any of these dishonest claims.
This group participating in these statements totally disregards the fact that this man, who could easily just let things go on in town as they are, decided to step up and try to repair the corrupt status quo. And he decided if he was going to run for Commissioner, he was going to get out and talk to as many people as possible to get their input and ideas. He even talked to people who weren't going to vote for him.
That's more than Costigan did for three years after he asked for MY VOTE. Sadly, I gave it to him and he won by two votes.
Turning away new people with new ideas from running? That's how towns stagnate and corruption seeps into a town.
In my opinion, it is worse to live here for a long time and actively decide that you only represent a small group of people, the ones who live near you or who invite you to their fancy cocktail parties. No matter how many special, selective groups one "volunteers" with, once a person is elected Commissioner, they are supposed to be Commissioner to all, not just those of the volunteer groups and non-profits they prefer, frequent, and vote to give money to.
Tom Costigan actively ignores people of the town he doesn't agree with or like. No other Commissioner acts that way. I've had many substantial conversations with Norm Bell and Katrina Greer, even when we disagree. Not Tom. I've tried. He just gets red faced, looks down, snaps back at me, or looks away when I address him. He talks about continuity. The continuity of poor leadership and transparency for three more years is a distressing possibility.
Costigan made promises he didn't keep. He voted to force a police chief into retirement and then force that chief to sign an NDA in order to get health care coverage. He voted to allow an outgoing controversial town manager to do the job search, interview, and selection of her replacement rather than using a professional search firm. Luckily, the man hired in that process was discovered as a child molester and was let go. He also voted to allow the retiring town manager to hire office staff that were not competent, thus saddling Oxford with a floundering town office. He also participated in slow walking a referendum for special elections to fill vacancies on the commission and then voted to appoint the landslide loser of a recent election, Susan Delean Botkin, to the spot, one week before the winner was seated. He signed off on an incomplete million-dollar Strand Project without getting professional verification from engineers that it was done. That project is still being rectified, but the second and third part of that project can no longer be done because the deadline is in August.
And, in case you don't remember, phases two and three were the most important phases when it came to flooding.
Luckily the town was able to rectify the town manager hiring by using a search firm which cost the town $26,000, not $100,000 as Costigan "misspoke " in the candidates' forum. We got Holly Wahl, a truly qualified and professional town manager.
Costigan has a lot more than just negative baggage. He seems to have a vengeful attitude about being challenged in an election.
So, people say, then tell us about Dave Donovan. I have known Dave for approximately a year now. I know his work history as a lawyer and in the corporate world. Dave spent 20 years as an associate, and then partner, with WilmerHale, a large international firm in DC. He then became lead in-house counsel for the Washington Redskins NFL franchise, for which he had done legal work for several years. HE spent six years with the Redskins, including several years as both General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer.
In 2011, He returned to WilmerHale as a partner, where he continued to represent the team and its owner as well as a number of domestic and international corporations in arbitrations, internal investigations, and litigation. He retired at the end of 2018. He and his wife Rose, who is an accomplished writer, settled in Oxford after falling in love with the town.
More important, I know Dave has great ideas to make the town more transparent, responsive and professional. Plus, he is a person who will listen to all citizens, not just the ones he likes or agrees with. Is he perfect? No. Does he have all the "institutional knowledge"? No. But that is a good thing as Oxford gets unstuck from the past and moves into the next three years. Twelve years of "institutional knowledge" is what go us to a point where we can't fund infrastructure or flooding protection.
The same writer who chided Dave for not living here long enough claims he will be a puppet for Commissioner Katrina Greer. That's a ridiculous claim. One thing I have learned about Donovan is that he thinks for himself, considers all viewpoints, and then will make a decision that is best for the citizens, businesses and organizations in town. Most important, he isn't owned or beholden to anyone except for the citizens of this town.
Dave will share his ideas in a professional, respectful manner. Consider the question at the forum regarding conducting a forensic audit for the town. Instead of jumping on the forensic audit bandwagon, one that I have been on myself, Dave stated that the town needs to move forward, not backward. Oxford's administration needs to continue to build trust with citizens and if, in doing their job find irregularities, investigate those irregularities.
Donovan believes in balancing business and tourism with the quality of life of citizens in town and bringing younger families to live here, which would take some creative thinking from the town. He will support businesses in solving the parking problems in town and work to revitalize the Oxford Business Association.
Donovan visited Bob Burgner and Ron Walker's walking session on the Oxford Strand Saturday June 14th to further investigate the failures of that project, how they can be remedied and "how we can make the Strand something we can be proud of."
Donovan thinks we need to get our financial house in order by putting money into the capital fund for emergencies as Town Manager Holly Wahl has recommended. It's something that has been neglected for the past twelve years. He also thinks that we need to determine how to use our savings account going forward in order to get the best return on the town's money. One of our main issues is flooding, and if we don't correct that, no one will be able to live here. Fixing neglected infrastructure is also high on his agenda.
Donovan is still studying the need for a third police officer as well, stating that we should analyze actual needs and find a solution since the money for a third officer may not be available. This is not a new idea and many of us have expressed the same.
The most important thing I know about Dave is that he wants to be able to answer questions at town meetings in order to make those meetings more interactive and conducive to lowering the temperature and working together. He doesn't look at inquisitive citizens as the enemy but as people who have a right to answers.
There is a group in town (and some outside of town) who are conducting a smear campaign against Dave Donovan mainly because he doesn't meet their residency longevity standards or because he states what he thinks and doesn't follow their trite mantra of "continuity." They want to maintain the old guard power base in town, calling it "continuity." Here's the secret. Many of us don't want the kind of continuity Costigan promises. It's a continuity of secrecy, favoritism, and dysfunction.
For those reasons and more, we are endorsing Dave Donovan. Oxford needs to move forward and not be chained to a history of poor management and indifference to the citizens.
A SIDE NOTE: My husband has lived here his entire life and he doesn't hate people just because they haven't lived here that long or don't come from here. I've been here since the 70's and feel the same. The ones who are treating others that way could just as easily get that treatment from us. But they won't. Many of them come from elsewhere. Hypocrites. Yes, we are looking at you!
Additional Information:
Fact Checking Costigan At The Oxford Candidates Forum - The Easton Gazette
Costigan's Broken Promises And Hypocrisy - The Easton Gazette
Don't forget to vote on Tuesday, June 17 at the Oxford Town Office. Be sure to bring identification.
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