MIKE BIBB

Mike Bibb makes a very big deal of two holidays: Halloween and Christmas. The retired housing inspector and former volunteer firefighter of 25 years hosts about a thousand kids every Halloween in his St. Michaels home, festooned with creepy crawlies and howling ghosts. And he takes his role as Santa — complete with his trademark snowy beard — seriously, performing at local events and parades.

It's part of his deep belief in community service. Born and raised in Prince George's County, Mike started his career as a corrections officer. He then spent 38 years as a housing inspector with Prince George's County and the Maryland Department of Housing.

He moved to St. Michaels 15 years ago and decided to run as a Town Commissioner. “I felt that with my housing background, I could make a difference,” he said. He was elected to the board in 2016 and served until 2022, including two years as commission president.

He is most proud of the fact that during his tenure, the commission lowered taxes, reduced the budget and modernized the town's administrative functions. But he left feeling there was more to be done.

“Eighty percent of the people who work in St. Michaels can't afford to live here,” he said. The main reason, he said, is that housing costs are too high — and one-third of those costs are permits and other regulatory requirements. When elected to County Council, he would work hard to lower those costs, and to ensure that any new housing served the citizens, not the developers.

“I'm tired of developers getting rich off of taxpayers' money,” he said. “We need to slow growth but not stop growth.”

Mike also believes the county needs to forcefully address climate change. A member of the Maryland Commission on Climate Change, Mike said not enough is being done to address flooding from stormwaters. St. Michaels and Oxford are particularly vulnerable, he said. “I don't think the county is doing enough to help municipalities.”

When elected to County Council, Mike vows to regularly visit the county's towns to get a firsthand feel for residents' concerns. And he plans to become involved with the Maryland Association of Counties to ensure that the county's interests are represented at the state level.

Mike is a graduate and now chair of Shore Leadership, which helps develop leaders on the Eastern Shore. He credits the program with bringing “me out of my shell” and helping him learn how to “bring everybody to the table.”

“It's all about listening,” he said. “If we don't listen to people, what are we doing?” And, for Mike, it's also all about a little Trick or Treat and a little Ho Ho Ho.