John Psota, Julie Giordano highlight campaigns ahead of Republican Primary for Wicomico County Executive

SALISBURY, Md. – Incumbent John Psota and challenger and local teacher Julie Giordano are squaring off in the Republican primary for Wicomico County Executive.

Psota is highlighting his record in office, and points to the recent 200 million dollar budget, securing federal funding for upgrades to the Wicomico Civic Center, Capital projects for local school buildings, and new water, and sewer plant, as well as expanded broadband access.

He says he’s proud of how his office was able to keep businesses afloat during the height of the pandemic, by helping to distribute and covid relief funding.

“$13.8 million went to over 1,200 businesses in this county that is huge,” he said, adding, “We’ve been able to get an awful lot of money out into the hands of the people in a very short period of time to relieve the burden of covid.”

But Giordano says it’s not enough she says teacher education is a top priority. She says education may be well-funded thanks to state dollars, but she wants to help connect students that are looking to graduate with businesses and departments including police and fire that are struggling to fill positions.

“I want to make sure our fire chiefs that are hiring are coming back in [to schools], the businesses that hire local students are coming back in chatting with them,” she said.

Psota told 47abc he supports bringing back and expanding the CTE program that helped transition high school students to first responder careers, and says funding his office was able to secure with state partners for upgrades at WorWic will help students going into trades find careers as well.

Giordano tells 47ABC that a major point of contrast between her and Psota has to do with the changing of FOP contracts, which she claims would see injured officers pay back settlements if they were to retire after an injury.

“What we are doing as a county is profiting off of our police, people that put on a bulletproof vest every day and we know how dangerous their job is and it’s something I’d reverse if elected,” she said.

She tells 47ABC another key issue for her, unfilled positions in the county, which she says she would hope to fill if elected.

“I have a really great group of people ready to go right now we have 80 vacancies in our county and no director of administration so I just announced mine so we are ready to go,” she said.

According to John Psota, his administration has been working to fill the vacancies, including a study that shows what the new pay scale would need to be to retain staff.

“We hadn’t done a study in quite some time they went through all positions to determine compensation compared to the region for each position and as a result for recruitment and retention we can implement those recommendations,” he said.

Another point of contention is the implementation of broadband for underserved communities on the Eastern Shore. Giordano tells us she thinks the bid should have gone to Choptank, which she says already had an infrastructure and could have better-served customers, rather than to Talkie Communications.

“I don’t really agree with the company that was chosen, I think that the numbers were looked at through rose-colored glasses and so when you break it down I believe we would have done better with Choptank,” Giordano said.

But according to Psota, the deal shows how his experience in the office saved tax payer’s money. He says the competition shaved 3 years and thousands of dollars off of the proposal.

“I wanted to ensure that the county taxpayer is not unnecessarily providing funding for this utility,” he said.

Both candidates say they are passionate and ready to help the county and deliver for voters.

“You have to deliver the reliable government of public safety because this is an administrative role and it’s all about fiscal responsibility,” Psota said.

For Giordano, she says she wants to bring a more public and high-energy face to the County Executive Position.

“I feel like we need more active local leadership and I don’t feel like we’ve had that,” she said.

The ultimate call will be made by voters Tuesday, July 19th, with a November general election.