jd-thrid_for_10-1a » Page 8 of 12

Speech to the 4th and 5th District Democratic Club, March 2009.

Good Evening. I appreciate the chance that the club has given me to speak.

I first want to introduce myself. I am Johnnie DeGiorgi and I currently live in Nanjemoy. I am also running for District 2 County Commissioner. I want to give you a little more of my background. I am the real guy next store. While I am not a Charles County native my visits to the county started when I was very young with summertime visits to Camp Merrick and birthday visits to Popes Creek. I was born in the District of Columbia. I was placed foster care at 6 months. I was in many homes until I was 6. At 6 I was placed in the family that I stayed with the rest of my life. I have been a cement finisher, police officer, woodworker and driving instructor at various times during my life. I worked until retirement in support services at the Naval Research Laboratory and EODTECHDIV. I retired from government service in 2003.

My top topics for the future of Charles County are:

•Heath Care for all county residents.
Right now there is the real matter of the Nanjemoy Health Services Clinic closing. This will leave 750 people including myself without medical services. Many of these are on Medicaid, Medicare or un-insured. Many do not have the ability to pay or have transportation to go to other clinics. We need to keep this clinic open. We need to continue to find ways to provide basic services to all regions in the county.

•I am against the proposed Research Facility on Liverpool Point Road in Nanjemoy. It brings nothing to the county. It brings research in firearms, terrorist response training and research in wmd to an isolated rural area. There are not the support facilities that military bases that do similar work have. It should be at, or next to, a military installation. When you read the proposal it is a TRAINING facility not a research facility. No one has explained the need for an airfield. This is not good for the community.

•The Charles County Connector extension is not needed. We already have roads connecting east and west in this area of the county. A better use of the funds would be upgrades to existing roads (shoulder additions, correcting blind intersections and such).

•The Capital Clubhouse is a money loser. We never should have bailed out the private owners and the County needs to sell this white elephant.

•The Baseball Stadium needs to continue to be financially successful. I was not for this facility. I am happy to see that it has made more than expected in its first year. We need to but the extra money to good use. Maybe keeping Nanjemoy clinic open.

•The 301 Bypass is needed and needed NOW. I am amazed at the development just north of the county line. This will severely limit what can be done for the bypass. If you look south of Waldorf, the congestion is horrible. The longer we wait the worse it will get.

•We need to extend Van-Go, not reduce services. This is the only transportation for some. We need to make it attractive to more who are not limited to Van-Go only. We need to look at adding routes and changing the fares charged.

•The Charles County Sheriff’s department must be supported. I would fully support the Sheriff’s department. As an ex-police officer I look forward to working with the sheriff’s department. I also feel that Animal Control should be under the Sheriff’s Office rather than EMS.

•The next high school should be built in the Newburg area. We also need to look at the expense of the planned schools. Do we really need all of the extras proposed for the new schools? Now is the time we need to be responsible with money.

•We need to take water supply into consideration when new developments are proposed. We should not be placing ourselves in a position where we must pay for outside water. We definitely should not be charging residents with well water to pay for the over-building of the region.

•The county needs to seriously look at alternative work schedules for county employees. This includes 4 day work weeks, compressed work schedules and flex-time. We need to have offices open when residents, including those who commute, can visit. This may include having one day a week when offices stay open late. I am not opposed to union efforts.

•Affordable and workplace housing. We need affordable housing in the county. This is not only a need in Nanjemoy but in the entire county. We need affordable housing built in a timely manner. The building permit process needs to be stream-lined. It should not take months to get the necessary permits for additions.

I have a website (www.votedegiorgi.com) and will be adding information in the upcoming months. I would like you all to visit and send me your comments. My email is: degiorgi_for_commisisoner@yahoo.com