Spy Video: QAC Commissioner David Dunmeyer

Queen Anne’s County Commissioner David Dunmeyer agreed to sit down with the Spy for a talk in the basement of the Liberty Building last week.

As a self described conservative-conservationist, Dunmeyer’s other job is as a contractor, which gives him a unique insight into the philosophy and pragmatics of sustainable development which he espoused during the interview.

In the first video,  Dunmeyer explains his views on the efficacies of the current Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, the threat of Big Box development, the work of the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association (QACA), and his opinion of the controversial “English-Only” mandate passed in Queen Anne’s County which made English the official language.
In the second video, Dunmeyer discusses his role on the county’s Watershed Implementation team, which works with E.P.A. mandates on nitrogen reduction and wastewater management strategies for the local Corsica and Chester River watersheds.

“It’s not just about finding credits and getting by by meeting our requirements for nutrient reduction–its not just that, its part of it,” said Dunmeyer. “I feel that the bigger picture is clean water. Without clean water, you have nothing. We lose industries, we lose our fishery industry, recreational boating. You should be able to go out in that water without fear of getting a disease or bacteria, and sadly, that is not the case now.”

Dunmeyer remains sensitive however of the importance of farming to the Queen Anne’s County economy, despite the fact that the industry on average is responsible for about 75% of all the nitrogen in the Chesapeake Bay.

” I don’t want to lose another acre of farmland in this county….farming is a way of life in Queen Anne’s County, it’s the biggest industry we have, and we need to protect the farms,” he said. “But we all know that farms have the biggest impact on our water quality. Queen Anne’s County farms do a lot in reduction, they do tremendous amounts, and over a lot of the other counties, especially in other states. We are doing a good job. Can we do better? Yes we can. I think if we work together as a team, we can make some better things happen….[the farmers] know the benefits.”