SALISBURY, Md. - Leaders at the local, state and regional level gathered at the Wicomico Civic Center for the annual Legislative Breakfast. The event is a chance for stakeholders to express their concerns about issues impacting the county and Eastern Shore.
Breakfast was served at 8:30 a.m. and the public started to arrive at 9 a.m. The Wicomico County Board of Education, County Council and other organizations were in attendance.
Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano says the breakfast is one of the biggest events of the year.
“When we do go to Annapolis, we are going as a unified front,” she says. “I think our delegation is really grateful for this time, because they do get to hear from the stakeholders themselves. That was really important to me. I think in the past it was just the executive and maybe the council meeting, and I think it's really good for them to hear from the stakeholders themselves.”
The agenda contained a piece of legislation regarding alcohol. The legislation on liquor would not authorize beer and wine license holders to sell bottles of liquor. It would allow ready-to-drink cocktails to be sold if it's below an alcohol level of 12% however.
“We have the last remaining dispensary in the state for when it comes to liquor,” Giordano says. “There's a couple of bills that we want to put forward, to help out our small businesses, our beer and wine stores.”
Wicomico County Council President John T. Cannon shared remarks addressing the continued violation upon local zoning regulations, support for local volunteer fire companies, and more. He says the event was very beneficial.
“The Eastern Shore delegation understands that the local jurisdictions want to keep their local autonomy,” he says. “At the same time, there's issues of concerns that can come up where we certainly would need funding from the state of Maryland. It would be very helpful if they recognized that, so they could advocate for it when they go to Annapolis in this next session.”
No laws or legislation were passed at the event. The next county council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 20.
