Adding wings to more flights and heights in Wicomico County

As a Catonsville native who became a school teacher-turned-politician on the Eastern Shore, Wicomico County Executive Julie Giordano educates Nestor on how and why Salisbury is flying higher these days and the issues that matter in her growing community on the edge of the beach but still down on the farm.

Julie Giordano, Wicomico County Executive, discussed the county’s growth and initiatives. Key points included the establishment of a new airline, Breeze Airways, offering direct flights to Florida starting Oct. 1, and a $3.3 million grant from Governor Hogan for an aviation maintenance program at Salisbury Airport. Giordano emphasized the county’s focus on education, infrastructure improvements, and economic development. Challenges include improving broadband access, particularly in underserved areas, and managing state and federal regulations affecting renewable energy projects. Giordano highlighted her background in education and her dedication to enhancing local services and attracting businesses.

Confusion Over Local Counties and Community Efforts

• Nestor Aparicio expresses confusion between Worcester and Wicomico counties, mentioning landmarks like Warwick and Salisbury.
• The discussion highlights the tri-county area involving Worcester, Wicomico, and Somerset, and their contributions to Warwick Community College.
• Giordano explains that Wicomico contributes significantly due to its large student population at the college.
• Plans for future developments at Warwick Community College, including introducing sports programs, are discussed.

Personal Backgrounds and Educational Journeys

• Nestor Aparicio shares his experiences attending Dundalk Community College and his high school mascot, the Mighty Owls.
• Girodano recounts her journey from Salisbury to Catonsville, mentioning her teaching career and eventual entry into politics.
• Both discuss their educational backgrounds, with Speaker 1 starting in marketing and PR before shifting to education.
• The conversation touches on their favorite subjects to teach, with Speaker 1 particularly enjoying 10th grade English literature.

Local Business Highlights and Personal Experiences

• Nestor Aparicio talks about visiting Ugly Pie in Salisbury and its relocation to the east side of the city.
• Speaker 1 mentions the popularity of Ugly Pie’s creme brulee pie and its presence at local events like birthdays and Thanksgiving gatherings.
• Nestor Aparicio shares his recent experience at a Maryland Tourism Commission party, highlighting the availability of Ugly Pie products.
• Discussion includes the importance of supporting local businesses and the unique charm of downtown Salisbury.

Economic Development and Airport Expansion

• Speaker 1 emphasizes the significance of the upcoming Breeze Airline flights from Salisbury to MCO, Florida, starting in October.
• The expansion of the airport runway and the introduction of a new airline are highlighted as major achievements.
• An aviation maintenance program launched in collaboration with UMES (University of Maryland Eastern Shore) is discussed, aimed at addressing the shortage of aviation mechanics.
• The program offers a one-year certificate, allowing graduates to obtain their aviation maintenance technician license.

Challenges and Opportunities in Wicomico County

• Speaker 1 addresses the challenge of balancing state and federal policies regarding renewable energy projects, specifically solar farms.
• The need for specialized education services for students with various needs, such as autism, is discussed.
• Collaboration efforts with organizations like Kennedy Krieger and Shepherd Pratt to bring necessary resources to the county are mentioned.
• The importance of maintaining a balanced approach to growth and development while preserving the county’s unique characteristics is emphasized.

Broadband Access and Cell Service Issues

• Nestor Aparicio raises concerns about the lack of reliable cell service and broadband access in certain parts of the county.
• Speaker 1 explains ongoing efforts to improve connectivity, especially in underserved areas, through federal and state grants.
• Specific locations facing significant issues, such as Nanticoke Road, are identified, with plans to install new towers to address these gaps.
• The potential impact of improved connectivity on economic development and quality of life is discussed.

Political Landscape and Bipartisan Relationships

• Speaker 1 discusses the importance of maintaining bipartisan relationships at the state and federal levels, including working with Governor Wes Moore and Representatives Andy Harris and Dutch Ruppersberger.
• The role of Carl Anderson, a mutual acquaintance, in fostering connections and advocacy for rural counties is highlighted.
• The conversation touches on the challenges of navigating differing perspectives from state and federal governments.
• Emphasis is placed on finding common ground and collaborating effectively to achieve shared goals.

Future Plans and Reelection Ambitions

• Speaker 1 shares her plans to seek re-election in November, noting the current absence of opponents.
• Reflects on the initial motivation to run for office, driven by dissatisfaction with the previous administration and a desire to create meaningful changes.
• Highlights the importance of continuing efforts to enhance public safety, education, and infrastructure.
• Expresses confidence in the progress made thus far and the commitment to continued improvement.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Wicomico County, economic development, community college, Warwick Community College, sports initiative, aviation maintenance program, broadband access, renewable energy, education system, public safety, local businesses, airport expansion, federal grants, state legislation, bipartisan cooperation.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Julie Giordano

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 15 70,000 Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively in Ocean City, Maryland, not Wicomico County. All brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery. I have the pressure locks and the lucky sevens doublers. It is our 27th anniversary. We are out on the road celebrating my 27 favorite things to eat. And why comical come out a county executive, Julie Giordano, back on the program, Republican of the not this county, but when I, when I drive here on 50 and I get right around the chicken factory and and the stadium

Julie Giordano  00:40

i right in the heart of it. I see

Nestor Aparicio  00:43

Warwick. War wick, yeah, and it confuses me sometimes to which one is Worcester, which ones y como. It helps me to know that Salisbury is in Wicomico, and I know Chris fields in Worcester. So I’m thinking like ocean cities in

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Julie Giordano  00:56

Worcester. Right, right, ocean cities in Worcester and Chris fields in Somerset,

Nestor Aparicio  01:00

Somerset. I forgot about that, yeah, but

Julie Giordano  01:03

I know it’s all confusing down here. We’re like the Tri County area, about

Nestor Aparicio  01:07

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Maryland, or, I mean, I’ve been to all these places, but I but I see Warwick, and that’s a community college, right? So that is a combined county effort. Is that? Yes, budgeting wise, is it like sort of both of you that contributed, we

Julie Giordano  01:20

do, and actually Somerset is part of that as well, but actually we are one of the biggest contributors to it, because we have the most students. So it’s really based on students that come in, so we serve the most, so we give, obviously, the most funding.

Nestor Aparicio  01:31

Well, that’s just the thing I see when I drive down, you know, anybody drives Ocean City would see that, and I’m like, Okay, it’s two counties, but what is it? It’s a community college.

Julie Giordano  01:39

Yeah, it’s a community college, and they’re actually doing big things. So later on, in hopefully, like five to 10 years, you’re going to see a stadium, because we’re bringing sports to the work to Warwick Community College. So we’re one of the few community colleges that doesn’t have any sports. And so we’ll have the Warwick dolphin dolphins, the dolphins go fins, yeah, so I took a couple classes at Warwick, but yeah. So they’ll be the fins. And so we’re excited. They’re new presidents. Been here for about a year and a half, almost two years now, but she’s amazing and such a big advocate for sports. So yeah, so we will have Warwick sports soon. I thought about I went

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Nestor Aparicio  02:10

to Dundalk Community College. Yeah, that’s Community College of Baltimore County, Dundalk now, and whatever, we’re the lions. Oh, yeah, okay, but we were the mighty owls in high school in Dundalk. So you are. You grew up in

Julie Giordano  02:21

Salisbury, Catonsville. You’re a Baltimore I am a Baltimorean, yep, originally Kingsville high I did so I went to mount a sales, but I went to Catonsville middle. You were sailor? I was a sailor. Yeah, I was a comet for one year. And actually, then I went over to be a sailor off of

Nestor Aparicio  02:36

Bloomsburg or Bloomsbury, yeah, um, what brought you here? I mean,

Julie Giordano  02:39

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school, school. School. So I went to Salisbury, and then I ended up staying. I met, you know, the guy I was going to marry, and that didn’t really work out so, but I ended up staying anyway. Sort of fell in love with the place. You know, it’s a slower pace living. I love my family’s right in the heart of Catonsville. I can still go back, and if I want to, you know, sit in traffic on 695 I’ll go and do it to see them. But little

Nestor Aparicio  02:58

Julie moved off to Salisbury. I did, yeah, yeah. And it’s great. How long you’ve been down here?

Julie Giordano  03:01

Oh, gosh, 25 years. Okay, yeah, so it’s been quite a bit so, but you’re

Nestor Aparicio  03:06

in education, right? I was, yeah, your background, I mean, your politics now, but it came from a link in education.

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Julie Giordano  03:12

Yeah, it actually started as a marketing and PR degree, and then I sort of morphed that into education, and I went and got my teaching certification, and I did that for 17 years, and now I’m a awesome politician.

Nestor Aparicio  03:21

What kind of teacher were you English?

Julie Giordano  03:25

Yeah, so I taught seventh grade, eighth grade, and all the way through 11th so I was teaching American Lit when I was elected.

Nestor Aparicio  03:31

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All right, was your favorite class to teach?

Julie Giordano  03:35

I really liked 10th grade English. Like, I thought the curriculum was a great it was a lot of catcher. No, it was Lord of the Flies.

Nestor Aparicio  03:42

So 10th grade for me, we did Stein back and we did, like, Catcher in the Rye. Okay, think To Kill a Mockingbird. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, catch and ride. My favorite, it was 10th grade that I read it and did my piece. That’s why that I’m like, okay, yeah, all right, well, what’s going on in Wicomico county that I need to know about, other than I made a stop in my 27 favorite places yesterday. What was it? Well, the first thing I had the secretary of kindness on the program a few years ago in Salisbury, and she brought me pie from the ugly pie, yes, and this is when the ugly pie, I was doing a show at mogans. And the ugly pie was right downtown, across from, like the factory, where Purdue employees used to park there, and it’s a little bit of a cluster, kind of getting in and getting out, get my pie back then, and my cookies. And then they moved couple, three years ago, to the east side of Salisbury, and I just, you know, I don’t take the bypass road anymore. I come old school, okay? I come right through the tattoo parlors, the liquor store race to get the ice on the right side, the Arby’s. It always has the shakes. Was that your school there little Salisbury, like elementary school on the right there?

Julie Giordano  04:50

No, no, I taught it when I was elected. I taught at James and Bennett. So we were kind of more the interior was a brand new school. So, yeah, we were more this

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Nestor Aparicio  04:56

school looks like something out of a movie set that Salisbury that looked. Downtown. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, that’s regal. Looks like a looks like it’s out of a movie set. Yeah, yeah. School, yeah. So I went to ugly pie, yeah, I think

Julie Giordano  05:08

JFK spoke there. Like, that’s how old that school is, like, Wicomico middle. That’s like, right off Route 50. That’s like, brick building, yeah, yeah. We’ve had, like, I mean, it is, is actually next on the list to be redone. So they actually won’t tear down that building. They’ll just move y middle to another location, and they’re going to repurpose that building because, I mean, it’s got a lot of historical aspect to it. It’s beautiful character, it does, yeah? And so they’re going to keep that downtown. So, yeah?

Nestor Aparicio  05:33

Well, I mean, that’s part of the downtown Salisbury charm, the zoo and all the other things, yeah? But I like food. I mean, for being a skinny guy, you know, I mean, thank you. Planet Fitness. So I stopped by yesterday and they have this thing called death by coconut.

Julie Giordano  05:47

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Oh gosh, I’ve never had it. How was it? They like, I’m still alive, but it’s delicious. Their creme brulee pie is, like, one of their favorites. Oh my gosh, it’s so good. I mean, I love a lot of the things they do, but, I mean, it’s definitely a staple at my Thanksgiving table. At least, you know, we at least do it for Thanksgiving. I don’t want to do it too many times a year. But anytime we do a birthday in the office, we’re always swinging by ugly pie. So

Nestor Aparicio  06:09

last night, I went to the Maryland Tourism Commission party. And I’m an idiot. I raced down here. I even raced through the pie company. I raced through hoopers Island and all this to get down or thinking. This thing started at four, and I showed up at, you know, 402, know, 402, and they’re like, don’t start till five. I was over, like, 65th 66th Street, the Holiday Inn. I’m like, alright, what am I gonna do? Well, there is a beach, yeah, I didn’t do that first. I’m like, you know that little grocery store across the I’ma go over there. Check that out. And I walked over, and I walk into grocery store just sniffing around because I’m a grocery store. Sniff right with my eyes. And I wasn’t really hungry. I just looking around, saying, maybe some blueberries. Maybe some blueberries for breakfast tomorrow, tomorrow. And I looked, I went over to the dessert thing, and they had the ugly pie. They had the death by coconut. It was 16 bucks. Was big. It was a big, big old pie. When the little thing I got, but like they’re selling it. I mean, that places must really be doing well, because I could have bought the pie an hour later in Worcester County, if I wanted to. Yeah, I love seeing regional, local. I mean, that place has love, but that’s small business, and Salisbury is built with that. Your County’s built with

Julie Giordano  07:09

that. Yeah, no, absolutely. And I think that we do a really good job at really, like that type of thing is like supporting the small businesses within the community. We had a local baker who was making the Smith Island cakes for Fratellis restaurant. So I really think that our county does a good job at really supporting one another. I’ve

Nestor Aparicio  07:25

been to Fratellis. I’ve had their crab cake. Yeah, they’re Essex people.

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Julie Giordano  07:28

Yeah, Baltimore people. I you know what I did there,

Nestor Aparicio  07:32

Baltimore folks whose daughters went to Salisbury, and the parents said, we’re going down there. Yeah, and they sold the diner in Essex 25 years ago. Salisbury, Oh, wow. Okay, that’s another Wicomico county success story. There it is. Joy Giordano’s here. She’s the account executive. So for a smaller county, and like, when I go up to Carroll County, they don’t have an executive, they have a commissioner. I don’t know how many counties don’t have executives you’re considered to be. I don’t know the difference in the job. What’s important in Wicomico County?

Julie Giordano  08:03

Yeah. So right now, I think the biggest thing is a big focus on our airport. So we are getting a new airline. That’s the first flight will be coming in October 1. So that is breeze airline, and they will be flying from Salisbury right to MCO in Florida. So we will have a direct flight to Florida. Right now we only have Piedmont that goes to Charlotte and Philly and so now we’ll have this direct flight to Florida. So we are hoping to really keep a lot of that economic development and commerce like so we’re not losing them to Southwest, you know, going out of Baltimore. So we’ll have people that are going to be flying out of Salisbury, going to Florida. So that’s huge. We’re excited about that. How do you grow an airport? Well, we’ve been working so one way is we have the runway extension. So that was a seven year project that my administration was able to bring across the

Nestor Aparicio  08:46

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finish line. Okay, bigger planes. Yep, I’m learning keep going. So

Julie Giordano  08:50

we’ve got bigger planes. Another airline coming in. And then the other thing is, we noticed that there were, is such a shortage in airplane mechanics, aviation mechanics, and so I signed over. So Governor Hogan, before he went out of office, gave the Tri County $3.3 million so I signed that money over to Swed, which is Salisbury, Wicomico economic development, and they worked with Umes, you know, HBCU, and we started an aviation maintenance program at our airport. And literally, the ribbon cutting will be September 17. So we have a cohort of 25 students that are going to go through. It’s a one year program, and when they get done, they will have their amp license so they can go right to work, or they can go continue at Umes and continue their education and get an aviation degree. And it’s unparalleled to anything in the United States.

Nestor Aparicio  09:37

I have my cousin’s an aviation mechanic. Oh, California. It’s what he did with his life. I don’t know anyone else I’ve ever met in life’s walk, other than my cousin Gene Yeah, he was the, he was the, the tech for the Otis spunk Meyer planes. Wow. Oakland, California, very cool 20 years ago, and they flew all the cookies and, you know. And. Then he was the pilot, the tech for the senator from, say, Feinstein, aging senator, her husband, he flew their planes. Wow. And fly him a pilot, but pretty important arrow. I mean, I never, yeah, I’ve been on a million planes, and never thought, hey, who tightened the bolts on this joint?

Julie Giordano  10:20

Yeah, yeah. So we knew that there was a need for it, and so we are going to end up hopefully saving, you know, aviation up and down the entire East Coast and really, really even over to Middle America. So and when you have a partnership with an airline and a county and an HBCU, I mean, it’s just such a perfect marriage, the colleges don’t teach that, yeah? Well, US has an amazing aviation school. So you can become a pilot. You can major in aviation and do more, like a bit, the business aspect, and now we’re adding the technical side of it, so you can become somebody who can fly your own plane, you know, do the business aspect, and you’ll be able to fix

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Nestor Aparicio  10:54

it as well. Well, Joe, I’m gonna learn AI and just fix everything. I’ll find my own plane. Yeah, there you go, for you with Ocean City and Mako and coming down here and fighting for your little turf and your piece of your county residents in your county, 104,000 how does that stack up around? Is that the 10th, maybe eighth or 10th bit less than

Julie Giordano  11:13

that? Yeah, less. Like, we’re pretty comparable to Cecil there at 107, so we’re definitely on the smaller end. I mean, we definitely are on the

Nestor Aparicio  11:19

smaller 23 plus one, so you’re probably in the teens, I guess. Yeah. What does that mean to be a smaller county and fighting for your piece of the turf? I don’t know what to say about that, but yeah, you do have a, you know, a big town. Salisbury is a big town. It is, you know. I mean, as far as the state goes, I had the mayor Frederick on Hagerstown company, you know, towns that aren’t Baltimore or like that, or Yeah,

Julie Giordano  11:41

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I think what’s important is, when you’re from the smaller town, you’re louder your voice needs to be. And what’s lucky for us is that you’re talking about Salisbury, we have Mayor Jake day, who is now Secretary day, so we have an advocate at the state level already. So we have him kind of fighting for Salisbury. And, you know, kind of has a place in his heart for there so, and we capitalize on that. And you know, right now, being, you know, a Republican, you know, with a democratic, you know, Governor, Wes Moore and I get along. You know what I mean, we find that common ground. He loves economic development. He loves everything we’re doing at the airport. He’s going to be at the ribbon cutting. And I think that he appreciates that bipartisan relationship, and I think that both of us understand how important that is, you know, you have to be able to get along with the other side. In my situation, not only do I have it at the state level, but I have it at the federal level, you know, the federal level, you know, I have andy Harris, and then I have two Democratic senators. So, you know, you have to figure out common ground and figure out how you’re going to work. And I think that the governor and even this in the legislature, they understand how hard we work, you know, we are constantly trying to do things here, and we can figure out ways to find common ground and work together to make Maryland successful. So

Nestor Aparicio  12:40

I mentioned AI, and I’m the last 90 days, I honestly been taking a deep dive. I mean, I’m giving it the respect it warrants and deserves, and what it’s going to give me back out of it. I still, and it’s been years, and I come down here, I cross the bridge, and sometimes my cell phone works, and sometimes it doesn’t, and it the further you get off of 50, the worse it is. I don’t tell you live down here, yeah, AI doesn’t work with that Wi Fi. Let’s start. You know what? I mean, education, home, you know, work, you know, zooms business. You know, I can’t drive into town and sit somewhere there’s Wi Fi to have a meeting. And it affects who can live in your county and where they want to live. What, where are we with that? I mean, I was gonna get cornbread on, but he’s all running around with the governor. But, um, you mentioned Governor Moore hiring Republican people. I mean, our mutual friend Carl Anderson, um, who couldn’t be with us, because he’s with the governor, but they’re doing ribbon cutting, and he’s doing rural help, and he was telling me what he’s doing St Mary’s County and all that stuff, but he’s one of your people, Wicomico county person getting things done. I and I can’t imagine the other challenges you have with whatever transportation, poverty, maybe not crime, as much as we have in Baltimore, but the Wi Fi thing from a city guy, I’m still It frustrates the hell out of me, not because I can’t send a text. It frustrates me because I think these poor people live down here and they can’t even get on the internet of life to get all of the things that it provides and doesn’t provide, quite frankly. But I think from an educational standpoint, I’m frustrated by it. I can’t imagine if you’re down here as a citizen, maybe you take it in stride, maybe you just don’t, and maybe I take it for granted, right? You know, just that it always works, right? Yeah, it always didn’t work, yeah? But I want it to work because I think it’s a movement forward for humans, yeah, population. I think it’s an important thing for you to have in

Julie Giordano  14:34

modern life, yeah. So we have worked really well. So we have talking communication that has utilized a lot of great federal grants, state grants, that they’re kind of putting the Wi Fi in the underserved areas, making sure that there’s broadband access on our east side of our county. We have been working with CHOP tank on the west side of our county. So we do have it. We’re moving forward. But I will tell you, there is one location, and I don’t know if you’ve ever been there, but it’s down like by boonies and down all the way down Nanticoke road. We have the red roof. Which is a pretty famous

Nestor Aparicio  15:01

Hold on a second. That place, everybody tells me, fried chicken there. It’s, yeah, it’s delicious. I’ve been told that if I go there to get the fried chicken, you need

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Julie Giordano  15:10

to go there, and then you need to go to bull lips, which is the bar that’s like, right outside. And you can pull a boat. It’s on my list. We got to take you down there.

Nestor Aparicio  15:18

Yeah. I mean, I could show you my Google Maps, and you’ll see all the stars of places that I mean to get a crab cake at, yeah, but I’ve done the crab cake tour two years. I did the 30th anniversary, 31st anniversary of my career. I’m on my 34th now. This year, we’re doing 27th of the station, okay? And I’m doing my 27 favorite things to eat. We’ll do a Fisher’s popcorn tonight. So you can tell Worcester County I got them too, yeah, but the crab cake thing, I couldn’t do them all. And the first year I did Fratellis, second year I did mogans, right? So, I mean, I’ve had a crap. I mean, it’s just time red roost finished third, and it was because, like, somebody said to me, go there for the chicken man. And it’s a crab place, right? It’s a real, yeah, crabs than it is crab cake, as far as what, it’s famous,

Julie Giordano  16:00

right? But anyway, down that way, there is no cell service like you hit a point in time, and if you have Verizon, you can forget it. And I know my director of administration and I, we worked so hard with Verizon, it has taken two years, and they are finally going to be putting a tower down there, because it’s also a safety factor, you know what I mean, like, I’m going down there, you know, with my phone, and you literally have to drive, you know, 15 minutes the other way to make sure that you have cell service. So we have been working with other words, you couldn’t call 911, yeah. I mean, you have to have a house line. But some of the other problems too, that we’re having is you will have larger companies like Verizon say, well, the density isn’t there, so it’s not worth us putting a tower up. And I’m like, but you do know that other people may move there when they have the cell service. So, like, it doesn’t, you know, and there are people there now, so it’s, it’s been kind of a, you know, a struggle with them, but, but they are willing to do the tower down Nanticoke road. So we’re happy about that. So we are working in that direction to try to get people served with broadband and making sure that their cell service. So

Nestor Aparicio  16:58

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what problems you have? I mean, you mentioned good things going on. What are you trying to solve? Yeah, other the airport. That’s great story.

Julie Giordano  17:03

Yeah, yeah, no, no, the airport has been amazing. Um, some of the bigger things that we’re tackling are trying to do a good balance between, you know, what’s coming down from the state, and then you’ve got your federal government too. So they’re kind of, you know, got two different ideas of what’s going on, you know, and what

Nestor Aparicio  17:17

were your state the creep in the White House and gonna help you. Yeah, are in front of you? You like women and, you know, like blue

Julie Giordano  17:25

states, yeah? Well, we have andy Harris too. So I think when we’re trying to tackle the federal government, we typically go through his office. Never met him. Yeah, you’ve never met him. I don’t

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Nestor Aparicio  17:34

know. I don’t think I want to meet him, but if he stopped by, he could sit here. I mean, he’s, he’s running, yeah, he could come on and tell me some lies if you want. Yeah, I would call them lies, though, but, yeah, but you know, I’m not fan, yeah. But what does he do for you? Yeah? Well, I mean, I don’t ever hear anything, ever anything he does that. I would say that’s good, including being accountable as an elected official. But, like, I say something to your Republican. Say something good

Julie Giordano  17:59

about ya know, for you, there’s a lot of good things. So right now he’s working on a solar situation. So I think the state got a little advantageous with a bill that they did, which is going to really harm my county when it comes to solar. We’re about renewable energy, but

Nestor Aparicio  18:10

so am. I’m sponsored by Gordian energy. Cole Ruth, yeah,

Julie Giordano  18:13

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no, we’re good for that. But the problem is, is that right now we’re looking to where the state has control over like 9500 acres in my county to put solar, and so that’s not something that we’re interested in. We want to have solar, but we want solar where it makes sense for us. We don’t want to have, you know, our planning and zoning completely removed from the conversation, like we need to be having those local conversations. So I feel like the state has an idea of what they want to do, and when the counties push back, they sort of seem to be like, we’re going to do it anyway, and this is how we’re going to do it. And so we’re really trying to navigate that. And then, of course, we had the federal change, so we’re looking at that. But on a more local level, I would say some of the big things that we are trying to tackle are, you know, like we’re working with, you know, with education. Education is a huge thing. So my county is one of the only counties that actually has to serve every student. So we don’t have like, a Kennedy Krieger or a, you know, Shepherd Pratt or something like that specialty schools. We don’t and so we have to have a population of so experienced teachers that can teach every child.

Nestor Aparicio  19:15

If I have an autistic child in Wicomico county or anywhere that’s more rural, this is something I, you know, wouldn’t consider my wife had cancer 12 years ago, right? Being a mile and a half from Hopkins was a big part. Yeah, she’s

Julie Giordano  19:27

still alive. Yeah? No, absolutely, literally, yeah. No, no, no, absolutely. So we, I think, are doing an injustice for our for our kids in our county. So we’re working with Kennedy Krieger, working with those agencies, saying you need something on the shore. We cannot have children separated from their parents, to have to go to school to be successful on the other side of the bridge. So we need to bring those services here. So we’re kind of working on that right now, which is a huge ordeal, but we really want I do have to give our school credit, because they do teach every child, and they do it with grace and compassion and try to figure out the best way. But we also know that we. He, you know, our teachers are not going to be specialized in every single thing, and so we, our kids, deserve better, and so we’re fighting for that right now. Well

Nestor Aparicio  20:07

Spoken like a true teacher. Yeah. Joey Giordano, here she is the county executive at why comical county never to be confused with Worcester, although I always confuse it, and I always forget those poor people at Somerset and Danny Thompson gonna be pissed at me because he’s, he saw me last night. He’s mad at me. Well, I went down to Smith Island. And, you know, I drove through Blackwater refuge yesterday. I went down to hoopers because great crab cake down, or old salty so I went down. I added them to my 27 because I think it’s, it’s not even just about old salties in this would speak to your county in the eastern shore in general, as that getting off of 50. And I’ve been saying this since I got old, since turned 50, and I did the crab cake tour getting off of 50. Not only do you realize the Wi Fi doesn’t work and you see challenges that we don’t haven’t done right, right, but, but some of the other same challenges we have, but just the beauty of the Eastern Shore and the beauty of black water. And I drove from Blackwater over toward Vienna on the back roads, sort of Harriet Tubman trail. Oh, it’s beautiful. I just can’t fathom. And I put a status up when I was down there, I took a picture right where the the T is, where the Harriet Tubman Museum is, and where the visitor center for Blackwater a mile apart and it’s the middle is beautiful. It’s 10 minutes south of Cambridge, like literally drive down, and when you get there, you will feel like you’re in another part of the world. Yeah, and it doesn’t really look like New Orleans or lowlands. It does. It looks a little like Vietnam. It looks like you could grow rice there, and there’s water and Marsh everywhere, birds. But on a beautiful day, or even a little bit of a cloudy day yesterday. I just find the eastern shore to be one of those. I haven’t explored it enough. I mean, I’ve been all over the world, but I hadn’t spent enough time. I feel that way about Western Maryland too, whether it’s Deep Creek or swallow falls or rocky gap in the mountains and the streams and the fishing you can do out on the western part of state. But the eastern shore for most city people, Baltimore people, most people were like, no, You never heard of it. Oh, you know. And, but the people that have been there all my time like, Oh, my God, don’t let the secret out, people will show up, yeah, but it really is in your 20 minutes away, yeah. It’s just a beautiful area.

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Julie Giordano  22:14

It is. It really is. And it is kind of a well, you well kept secret. You know, we have a couple of those in Wicomico County, down off Cove road, and these little, like beaches, that

Nestor Aparicio  22:22

red roofs place would be an interesting that would be beautiful down

Julie Giordano  22:25

there. Yes, oh, it is. It’s wonderful. I mean, right on the water. And then, like I said, they have, like, their tiki bar that’s right outside. That’s amazing. Boats will pull up and they can grab a drink and go. If I go, I’m calling you with cornbread. Yes, we’re going, Yeah, we love it. We love it down I think maybe

Nestor Aparicio  22:38

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next year when I come down from Mako, well, I always do my annivers, my anniversary month, so I’m always doing something fun and different, weird. I may go back, circle back, and get some crab cakes at places that I just I haven’t been, like, you mentioned it now, it’s like, all right, it’s one more place I ain’t never been that I gotta get,

Julie Giordano  22:54

yeah. And it’s not even just the food, too. It’s the experience. Because you’re driving, you’re like, oh my gosh, I’m going to the ends of the earth as I’m driving down here, you know? And I felt that way driving to Chris, Yeah, same thing. You know, you’re passing the cute little town of Whitehaven, and, you know, you’re getting, I mean, so it’s, it’s, you know, you can head down that way, or you head down to the red roof. So it’s a, really, it’s an awesome location, and I think you’ll really enjoy

Nestor Aparicio  23:12

yourself. Catonsville girl comes to the Eastern Shore. Never leaves. Runs y comike, so once your term end, and how are you allowed to do more with your job and Miss teaching?

Julie Giordano  23:21

Yeah, of course, you know, I miss it. I miss kind of having just responsibility of four walls, as opposed to a whole county, you know. But yeah, so I’m in my first term, so my term will be up next November, so I am running for re election. I don’t have anybody who’s filed against me just yet, so we’re kind of waiting to see what happens there. I’m sure I’ll have an opponent, but for right now, I don’t, and so I’m kind of like that

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Nestor Aparicio  23:42

win in your county. I think it would be really in Salisbury, a Democrat can win

Julie Giordano  23:46

Salisbury, yeah, yeah. Well, we have a Republican mayor right now, so they split the vote, and it was, like a whole big thing, but, um, yeah, no, I think it would be really hard for a Democrat. I think that you would have to be a very moderate Democrat. So it wouldn’t be anything like very left and liberal. I just don’t think it would really fare well in the majority of the county. But I do you know that, yeah, they would have to thin a very, you know, thread a needle. But I think it could be done. I mean, you know what? I think you won. I think I won because I worked hard. I went out and knocked 1000s of doors, you know, and told people, like, I want to make a change. I want to make a difference. I can get us across the finish line on all of these things. And I feel like I’ve done that. So I, you know, prove to the people like, I just want you to give me a chance. We’ve had a stagnant government. We’ve had a stagnant executive right now. And so we need movement. We need and I and it doesn’t matter about the R, the D at that point in time, it’s about are you going to fulfill and are you going to do the best things for the county? And I feel like we have done that. Because it doesn’t matter if you’re Republican or Democrat when you’re, you know, doing the extension to the runway, when you’re doing better things for education, when you’re paving roads, when you’re, you know, figuring out ways to successfully spend your cannabis funds, you know, from tax revenue and putting it back into the community. Doesn’t matter if you’re an RD at that point, you just want to see your county

Nestor Aparicio  24:56

thrive. So what? Why did you run? Were you upset about something? Yeah, I.

Julie Giordano  25:00

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Was upset. I was upset the way their government was moving. I felt like we were stagnant. We weren’t doing the things that we needed to do. I felt like, you know, things needed help. Our public safety needed help, our education needed help. They needed somebody who was going to be an advocate. And I felt that, you know, being a teacher. I mean, I’ve taught over 1500 kids, and I was like, Who better to support them and figure out how to make Wicomico county better than somebody who has seen it on the front lines. You see the struggles. And when I was teaching 11th grade, these kids were one year away from being out in the world. So are we doing the very best job at preparing our kids? Do we have enough jobs? Do we have enough opportunity? And that’s one of the reasons I was so supportive of the school, because you don’t have, you know, not every kid’s gonna go to college, and that’s okay, but let’s provide, you know, trade opportunities. Let’s make sure that we’re providing the opportunities. And so it was a lot of different,

Nestor Aparicio  25:43

never any political aspiration. I mean, you were gonna be teaching your whole life. Yeah, I was happy teacher over you a principal. Or was that was more management track? Yeah, I

Julie Giordano  25:50

had thought about it. My master’s is in administration and leadership, so I had thought about that track. I just, you know, I just really loved being in the classroom. And a couple times I had interviewed, it just didn’t really work out, which was, okay, it was, you know, I was you know, I was meant to do this, so that’s okay. But I think at the end of the day, my love was really in the classroom, so, but anyway, yeah, so, yeah, I was okay. I was content. And then when this opportunity came up, my husband, I talked to him, and he said, God bless him. He said, I will not be married to a loser. He said, so you better go at if you’re gonna do it, you better do it 150% because you and he’s like, and I know you, you will regret knowing, if you look back and you lost, that there was other things that you could have done. And I won the primary by 279 votes. So every door that I knocked mattered that good contacts that I made matters well. I

Nestor Aparicio  26:35

mean, and also, you’ve educated all these kids who now can vote in your calendar, and I would think a lot of them didn’t move away. I mean,

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Julie Giordano  26:41

they didn’t, yeah. And the cool thing was, is that the kids that I was teaching at the time got to see me sworn in. I invited them to my actually had the swearing in ceremony at the auditorium of the school. Oh, you were a teacher. When you ran, oh yeah, oh yeah, I was literally thinking,

Nestor Aparicio  26:54

like, you didn’t have another you’ve never had another job. You like, okay, so you ran as a teacher?

Julie Giordano  27:01

Yeah, I ran as a teacher. I literally was teaching up until December. I was sworn in December 6. My last day was, like, that Friday before,

Nestor Aparicio  27:07

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well, there’s no big track for government Wicomico county to step up to be the county. I mean, not like in Baltimore, where you’re like, Oh, well, I’ll help out a campaign. Then I might run for a council. Then I might, you know, like, it’s more of a stepping stone thing. Yeah, I still think it was supposed to be like, go from a classroom to run in the county.

Julie Giordano  27:24

No, it’s unprecedented. No, it really is unprecedented. And honestly, my original goal was to run for council, but at the time, you were still considered a county employee as a teacher, and so county employees can’t be on the county council. But now that there’s, like, some court debate out in Hartford, because teachers really are state employees. They get state benefits and everything else. So now there’s this debate, should teachers be allowed to run in county government because they’re state employees, they’re not county employees. But that’s, you know, that they’re trying to dual that out in court right now, out in Harford County. I

Nestor Aparicio  27:53

would think educators would make good executives in regard to government. I mean, I you know, being educated is really important.

Julie Giordano  28:00

No, I think so too. And I think that they’re patient. And there are things, you know, I learned resilience, you know, because you have critics, of course, you know. But I’m like, Look, I taught 17 year olds. Like, if you think you all are rough, like, I have 30 of them, yeah, like, you know, so, and I had entertained them and keep them, you know, occupied. So this is, you know, that part, you know, was a little bit easier. It taught me resilience, and that it’s a new day. You know what I mean, you can’t let things bother you, you know, you’re going to make a decision. You try to do the best. To do the best you can. And you know it is what it

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Nestor Aparicio  28:24

is. So All right, next time we get together, you’re gonna explain, even though I’ve been a professional writer all my life, and I you can explain subject verb now, I’m one now too.

Julie Giordano  28:34

Yeah. Well, yeah.

Nestor Aparicio  28:36

Well, as an English person and as a lifer writer who has AI now to help me diagram, yeah, but like, I still don’t get over your, your, your and their, their and their and apostrophes. Ravens doesn’t have a damn apostrophe between an N and S. What’s wrong with you people possessives? Man, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I learned this in eighth grade English, and I don’t even have a teacher’s good. Yeah, there was,

Julie Giordano  29:00

8

there’s a town in my county, and I won’t say it now, but they don’t even call them apostrophes. They call them high commas. I found this out, so I don’t really know what that meant. I was like, a high comma. They’re like, Yeah, you know the thing. And I’m like, Oh, you mean an apostrophe? Okay, so you know high commas? Yeah, that’s what we do. No, it wasn’t. We’ll say it was,

Nestor Aparicio  29:19

yeah, yeah. I’ll get Carl Anderson, oh, my buddy from he’s now working for the governor. Thanks for coming by. Yeah, thanks for having me. No, I was just saying somebody came by one of my dear friends, Joey knock who works for coal energy and who’s over at the Gordian solar area. And you know, Joe’s been a listener for 35 years, probably since the beginning for me, and we were just talking, he lives down here in Worcester County during the winter during the summer. He lives up literally two blocks from where I live. And we were just talking about, like, my transition to Baltimore, positive and all that. And he’s like, how it’s going down here. You know, you’re going from going to Super Bowls to doing this, because I did this at the Super Bowl for 27 years, five days in a row, 10 hours a day, and my little sweatshirt and Hall of. Same football players and like all this stuff. And I’m like, You know what? I like this better because it’s like local people. And I feel like we’re talking about local things, not necessarily esoteric things, but I like the people I meet because I just get treated better than ever. Got treated by athletes. Oh, I don’t expect all you politician types to like me, or like all my questions, or like, they’re not even cheap shots for Trump. They’re just, he’s just an off. He’s the worst human being ever. So I’m sorry he has an R in front of his name for your purposes, but if he does anything to help you, God bless you. You know, say, but the state of modern politics is so divisive, yet I don’t feel that when I’m at things like

Julie Giordano  30:37

this. Yeah, I really don’t know. And I think that everybody sort of, like, works together. And I mean, at the end of the day, I mean, you know, how politicians are, they’ll be on the floor, and they’re grandstanding and doing their thing, and then behind the scenes, they’re having a cigar or having a drink and, and I think, like, you know, I had a reception last night at Spain wine bar. And, you know, I mean, you know, the treasurer’s coming in, and the Secretary of MD and, you know, and my Republican colleagues, and, you know, you see people just like working together, and like, Hey, how can I help you? You know, that sort of thing. So I think at the end of the day, people really do want to work together. And has that

Nestor Aparicio  31:05

been better than you thought? As a politician? Maybe you were teacher 10 years ago, politics? Yeah, I

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Julie Giordano  31:10

would say, you know, I think it’s important. It depends on you. I mean, you can be sitting in this executive role or whatever role in leadership and be divisive. You can be, I mean, you can sit here and cause a whole bunch, but for me, it’s not beneficial. And I will tell you, Carl has been so monumental in that Carl’s a Republican, but Carl can get along with anybody, and Carl will show you the importance and the value of relationships. And I think that’s why he’s so good at his job, and why the governor really tapped him and said, You’re going to be the best person for this. You know, have I want that connection with those rural counties, typically Republican counties, but I want that connection, and so he has the ear of the governor. So when there are priorities, it makes me feel like I’m not left behind, you know what? I mean, that I am, you know, important, and that, you know, they’re not gonna Yeah, that we’re heard, so it’s important. And so, like I said, Carl is really great at that, and that is one thing that I will say, that he has taught me that you don’t have to be divisive all the time, and that you’re in a situation where it can only benefit you to work together, you know. And that’s where we’re at. So I

Nestor Aparicio  32:04

hope you get your raising canes soon. Oh, yeah, me

Julie Giordano  32:07

too, becoming Yeah, that’s what I heard. It’s supposed to be coming. Yeah, I ran into crumble cookie. I found that out. He

Nestor Aparicio  32:12

8

won’t mind me telling us, I don’t think, but I ran into him in Vegas at the Maryland party late at night, which I was leaving the hotel to go, and which ran into the pathway. And, you know, mayor Scott was getting killed by Fox 45 on Baltimore for just being there. And like, you’re on a chunk it, it’s, yeah, you’re in a nice you know why you’re in a nice hotel, because that’s where the business owners go, right? So, yeah, right there. He’s like, I’m trying to get a raise of Canes from my community. And I thought, well, that’s a humble little thought about a small town on the eastern shore, and it’s a fast food chicken joint, right? And we got one in Towson, and it was a line around the corner, like all that. But I went to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania the other night see the black crows. I’ll be there at the beach in Worcester County, seeing them in a couple weeks. But I went up and I went through Allentown, and I just happened to be going through middle of Allentown, not, probably not a dissimilar town to Saulsbury, okay, other towns like that. And it was a raising case. It was like, just Deluxe raising case. It was a quarter thing was, like a whole development was, like the center of it clearly was a thing. And I’m like, All right, so two points for cornbread, for Saulsbury, or anybody that is doing development and bringing in a chain, a risk, a business, an ugly pie, an airport, whatever you’re doing to make the world better. That’s like, what I’m counting on you to do when I vote for you. Yeah,

Julie Giordano  33:24

right, yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, yeah, we bring some jobs. Yeah, yeah. We’ve worked hard. I mean, I think, you know, one of the things too, that was really lacking also in my county was, you know, they don’t, they don’t really advertise it. We don’t have impact fees. We, you know, your planning process. St John’s property is now building, literally from the time they came down to visit to a shovel in the ground, was one year in Prince George’s. That would have taken five and that’s not a knock at Prince George’s. It’s just we are business friendly. We are moving the ball forward, and we are we want people here. We want you to come. You want to grow, and we want to grow. Yeah, so we’re going to figure out the very we are going to remove that red tape to get you here. We want the development. We want people here. You know, we want jobs. So, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  34:00

oh, little hassle Road in Salisbury. Yeah, you’re not going back to Catonsville,

Julie Giordano  34:05

are you? No, no, no, I’m here for life. Yeah, sure. Girl, yeah. I’m sorry, sure. Girl, now, oh yeah, yeah. I figure after 25 years, they still say I’m gonna come here. I don’t. I’ll never be from here. But, you know,

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Nestor Aparicio  34:15

here’s a weird thing, right? Like, for me, I crossed the bridge and I get excited, you know, I get excited when I crossed the chicken coop in the stadium in your town. I’m like, I’m getting 20 minutes away. We’re getting closer, you know, going east, and you see the road open a little bit. But I wonder, I really, really wonder, if I made a life in Salisbury, how often I would literally come down here and pull myself out of the back of the car and hit sand. It was all I could do to walk from one end of the Holiday Inn to the other end to take my shoes off, just to get in the water. But I wonder, I love the beach, but I wonder if I live closer to it,

Julie Giordano  34:48

if you would do it, I think once you’re here, you end up like we we probably visit the beach during the summer like two or three times. But then when after the tourist leave, after Labor Day, when it’s still warm in September, like that. It’s when you see us. Yeah, we’re coming down. Because, yeah, you know, it’s cleared out a little bit. So, all right, all right, keep

Nestor Aparicio  35:05

that comic. Go county strong and make sure I never call Worcester Wicomico, yeah, except if we’re talking about community college, yeah, Joy Jordan, oh, is the county executive for Wicomico county never to be confused with Worcester County, or

Julie Giordano  35:17

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is that my purchasing agent?

Nestor Aparicio  35:19

You’re happy? Why? Yeah, we’re in Mako. We’re in Ocean City, Maryland, Lucky sevens, as well as our pressure locks. We have our 27th anniversary featuring Wicomico County’s very own ugly pie. Maybe I should get them on and get a little recipe for Adam. Yeah, good crust or whatnot. I will be eating that delicious crust. 27 foods, 27 days. All my favorite things, the hashtag. You like this tasty Nestor. Tastiness, Oh, I like it. Taciness, yeah. Well, you know, my, my mayoral campaign that I never ran, was together Ness, there it is. If your name was Ness, you’d have it.

Julie Giordano  35:57

I’d have a whole slew of things. What was your campaign? Active, local leadership. Well, you’re active, you’re local and you’re leading. Yeah, there it is. All right, I’ve lived up to

Nestor Aparicio  36:06

it. Yeah, together, Nestor. All right, we’re back for more in Ocean City. We got the mayor of Ocean City coming on. We also have the mayor of Frederick coming on. We had the former mayor Eggers down coming on. Who’s now the opioid czar? Our senator, Senator Chris Van Hollen will be coming by as well. Odette Ramos, a whole bunch of people, city council people. Mayor Scott’s coming by tomorrow. All good things from Ocean City. It’s time to go drink. I’m at Mako back for more Baltimore positive. Stay with us. You.