ESLC’s Land Use & Policy Manager Carol Bean caught up with board member Victoria Jackson-Stanley this summer in Cambridge to discuss Jackson-Stanley’s background, her passion for the city of Cambridge, her favorite places to enjoy nature in the area, and her perspective on Cambridge’s past, present, and future development.

 

What are your earliest memories of growing up in Cambridge? 

I was born in the 50s, during Brown vs. Board of Education and the Civil Rights movement. All of these things compiled to make a very interesting childhood. I remember when the Freedom Riders came to Cambridge. I was a little girl, and I remember my father making a point to shelter us from all the ugliness and the violence that was going on in Cambridge. He was one of the more visible Civil Rights leaders in the community, working with Gloria Richardson. He was her lieutenant. He was the one in the famous picture where she’s batting away the bayonet. You don’t see his full face, but his profile. Frederick Douglass Jackson Jr. They called him Fred Jackson.

Growing up, we were always taught once you “get it up here” (meaning education) they can’t take that from you. They can take your house and your car, all the other trappings, but once you get an education, that’s the thing that you can use. So that’s what he ingrained in all of us… as well as doing something to help our community. Give back to the community. Help your community.  I heard it and did my best to live that life.

We had relatives in Baltimore, Washington, and Philly. I remember that we took these family trips to visit relatives. Daddy would pull off and we’d have a picnic along the side of the road. I had no clue at the time that the restaurants and bathrooms were segregated and that we couldn’t go into the McDonald’s at the time. My Mom would pack us lunch and we kids just played and enjoyed each other. They made our life normal.

Daddy had to work two to three jobs after he was blackballed as a Civil Rights leader.  My early memory was not of being impoverished, but of being protected. My mom protected us from the horrors of Civil Rights. Daddy protected us from us being victimized. I remember going to the movies and we were in the balcony, but I liked it because I had a better view. I wasn’t allowed in the orchestra. I had to go to the balcony. It’s all in the perspective. So, the perspective that we were given was to be positive, to take what you had, and to do your best to get your education.

 

How has your experience on the board of ESLC influenced your work as mayor, your perspective on Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc. (CWDI), and also your relationship to the landscape of the Eastern Shore?

Becoming a board member for the conservancy was a decision I made because I love the land, I love the water, and I thought I could learn. I thought I could learn more to bring back to the community. And I found that the work of ESLC was way above my head a lot of times. So, I take good notes and I do a lot of reading.

I had a very starry-eyed idea of how things were going to go as it relates to CWDI. I had this perspective that because we were taking it out of the hands of the political control, that we could go from 50,000 feet and look down and say, “OK, this is going to be the plan because we’re all on the same page.” But hearing the discussion at Eastern Shore Land Conservancy meetings and hearing all that was going on as related to CWDI, it made me step back and say I was too naive in my wants for the community. I wanted this because I felt it would expand resources for all of us.

But I’m only Cambridge. Eastern Shore Land Conservancy showed me that Chestertown has issues, and Centreville, and Easton. And we all have the same water. I mean, water is water no matter what you call it, but you have to be aware that it all flows together. And you have to look at things from 50,000 feet in order to see how it’s going to impact people with boots on the ground. I’m more of a boots-on-the-ground person now than I was then. It is a good thing, because I can now translate what I learned to my CWDI conversations.

I’ve learned a lot from the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy. I’m getting a lot and I’m getting a better view of the geography of this area. I now look at the Dorchester County map (which is shaped as a heart by the way) and get the message that much of our land is going under seawater. I learned that it is possible that The Harriet Tubman National Byway could be underwater in fifty years.

 

Do you see a way for CWDI to get back on track? 

Trust is the word way for CWDI to get back on track. Our community must trust that what was done before was for the good of the whole community, not just one segment. Members of CWDI need to remember the public requires meetings to be transparent and open to build trust.  That’s where I think we fell flat.

 

If you allowed yourself the liberty to imagine what you would hope the CWDI space would become, how would it look?

My vision has never changed. I’m crossing the bridge coming into Cambridge from Talbot County. To the left you see the Hyatt, and that view is beautiful. And to the right, my image was to have a WOW factor on that property. The public promenade would outline the property. A couple of retail stores. The boutique hotel would be off from the water, and then the developers have to have housing. And then if I’m going to be optimistic, I would love a children’s museum with the focus on water. That was the vision, so it would be a lot of lights-on activity. The boutique hotel would cater to those who want to have that experience of being on the water, but it would not be overly expensive. The public promenade would have various vendors. And then what you can’t find down by the water, visitors would go downtown or to Pine Street to find bargains. The last thing I think would work would be a business-friendly coupon booklet from the visitor’s center. Shoppers could get a free dessert at the boutique restaurant or get a drink at a local bar. Just do something that will bring people off Route 50 and into town. I’ve not changed my vision, but I realize it takes money. It takes support from the entire community. It can be done.

 

Do you think that that structure fundamentally is a sound one still for projects like this?

The boutique hotel should be in view of the water. The hotel can attract guests that want to spend the night and view the Choptank. Restaurants and single-family housing should be either scaled down or scaled up to ensure the developer finds that it’s profitable to work with us and to ensure the community is respected. But the developers must demonstrate a commitment to our county. We’ve had too many developers come in and take advantage of the resources we have, and then say, “Oh, we can’t make the money that we want.” And then they’re gone.

 

So as someone who is a lifelong resident in Cambridge and who also has been in public service here, can you think of ways that seem realistic for rebuilding that trust?

There’s not one way to answer your question. It takes time. Success breeds success. One success will build upon another success, and it’s not just one person leading the way. When Tom Brokaw visited Cambridge he asked me, “Mayor, what is your vision five years from now?” We were walking up and down Race Street when it was still just changing. Jimmy and Sooks was just opening and some of the other places hadn’t filled in. You know what I envisioned? I envisioned stores filling up these empty spaces and their life being brought back into Cambridge. Maybe one shop at a time, small things at a time. Slow but sure. I kept that conversation in the back of my head and right now, Jimmy and Sooks is closed but there’s another restaurant that’s going to be there. And then there’s the Art Center. And then there’s Sunnyside. And RAR. That whole block has got something on that side of the street. There are boutiques and the leather shop and the olive oil store. Blackwater Bakery. Ava’s. Nice little restaurants that all have their little specialty bringing people and their followers. Businesses on Pine Street are thriving again. Cambridge is unique in our own little way. And when we succeed, everybody succeeds. Success breeds success.

 

Is there a place that’s particularly special when you think of Cambridge?

There are a lot of special places, but for this conversation, the Great Marsh. Gerry Boyle Park. It’s the water. I’m a child of the water. My mother’s father and his father were watermen. So, I always had a thing for water. I go to Great Marsh to decompress. I sit there and I look at the bridge and it’s not about going somewhere. It’s about the calm of the water. Great Marsh is significant for me because that was the location where Blacks in the community could enjoy the water freely, without any kind of interference. We could get to Great Marsh and the children would swim and we could picnic. It was wide open. No shade from the sun though and in the summertime the sun was brutal. But it was near the water. It was fun. It was calming. And that was my favorite spot in the summertime.

 

How does the bridge speak to you? 

Many years ago, I told myself that to get off the Shore, you must cross a bridge. You cannot leave Cambridge or Dorchester County without crossing a bridge. Like every kid I knew, we all wanted to leave home (the Shore). So, I crossed the Cambridge Bridge, then I crossed the bridge at Kent Island. Then I had to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. And then I could get off the Shore. Even to go South I had to cross the Vienna Bridge. And then, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The only place you can leave Dorchester County without crossing the bridge is Hurlock. The bridge is a symbol. The symbol is to get anything done, you must bridge or have a connector with someone. We must have some kind of bridge to get the work done.

 

What is the biggest challenge that you have faced in navigating redevelopment projects in a community with significant poverty rates? 

We have lots of great plans. Plans are great, but if you don’t have the financial wealth to supplement what the plans are, you’re going to struggle. Over the years as Mayor, I found Habitat for Humanity is the City’s reliable partner. The partnership that the city has with Habitat has just expanded across our community. Working with Habitat, participants demonstrate that they have stable income, acceptable credit ratings up, and the ability to sustain your house.

Of course, there is work sweat equity. That’s all-built in. You have to prove that whatever we provide you can sustain. If you’ve got bad credit, they will work with you to get bad credit fixed. They will help you figure out a budget that will pay your bills and they’ll build you a great house that you can sustain for yourself.

 

 

What is a moment you are particularly proud of from your time serving as Cambridge’s Mayor? 

I was invited to the White House to witness the day President Barack Obama signed the executive order to designate the Harriet Tubman National Park. That was a big deal. I was starstruck.  Meeting President Obama and witnessing this historic event will forever be one of the greatest highlights of my life. To think that the Nation recognized our Harriett Tubman was awesome.

 

 

Well, that’s an amazing trajectory. If you think about where we started talking about your childhood experience and your father’s Civil Rights activity. And then, as Mayor, you were invited to the White House, shaking hands not only with the president, but with the first African American president. Is there anything we didn’t ask that you wanted to add?

Harriet’s home was just up the road from my ancestor’s home. Although Harriett and others left, my ancestors decided to stay in Dorchester County. They sacrificed and built our family. I am proud to say I stand on their shoulders to be who I am today.