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We Make It News’ Maury Tobin recently chatted with Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn Kelly about her perspective on the hot-button issue of managing growth in Charles County.

In this interview, Kelly makes an interesting observation that some topics – such as caring about the environment, conservation, and looking at best practices based on science – have been unfairly linked to “extremist” viewpoints. She also touches on the prevailing wisdom that sustainable communities and strong economies are not generally and widely linked to solely promoting residential development.

Kelly says: “We’re all, at the end of the day, interested in preserving our planet for the future. More importantly, people move to Charles County because they love the rural atmosphere. They love our hiker bike trails. They love the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. … But there’s this perception – on the part of, at least in my view – of some of the decision-makers that caring about the environment and focusing on sound planning is somehow contradictory to smart and prudent business. We’re confusing economic development and good business and progress, in terms of economic development, with residential development and that’s unfortunate.”

Video and audio pieces for We Make It News are produced by Tobin Communications.