First-Ward Resident Seeks Town Council Seat This Fall By Lisa J. Gotto

Abandoned buildings, empty store fronts, lack of affordable housing, substandard road repairs, and crime; these are some of the concerns that Chestertown resident Dwight Zilinskas will be addressing in his campaign to win a Ward 1 town council seat this November.

Zilinskas, who will be running against incumbent, Sheila Austrian for that seat, says he outlined these issues in a recent letter that he directed to the town council ahead of the election hoping to get a sense of what the appetite to address them might be. Not feeling fully satisfied with the response, Zilinskas says, he decided to run himself.

In the letter, Zilinskas, 71, expressed his concerns with the number of abandoned, or unoccupied residential and commercial properties that he continues to see around town, the conditions of our town and county roads, crime, of which he feels one incident is too many, and the general cleanliness of the town especially where it relates to commercial properties, parking lots, and our area’s parks.

On the issues, Zilinskas was quick to offer positive remarks about some of the things he feels are going well, such as the Town’s initiative to reduce the use of single-use plastic bags, and where crime is concerned, he says, he supports the efforts of Chestertown’s Police Department Chief.

“I am extremely impressed with Chief (Ron) Dixon and the CPD. Although understaffed, the CPD continues to make great strides in controlling crime and building trust within the community. However, Chestertown still has crime, any amount which is unacceptable.”

While Zilinskas feels that extremely poor economic growth of Kent County may be a contributing factor when it comes to crime, he feels the citizenry may have a larger role to play.

“We as residents of the Town and County need to be doing more to bring our communities together. Chief Dixon’s involvement with our schools and schoolchildren is a great first step. Let’s build on that success.”

Zilinskas is also supportive of Chestertown Mayor David Foster’s on-going efforts related to tax fairness issues, or what some in the town are regarding as a form of double taxation.

“Kent is one of only three counties that do not receive a tax deferential, returning funds proportionally and fairly back to the municipalities,” explains Zilinskas.

“So, residents of Chestertown receive fewer services from their Kent County taxes than those who live outside our town limits. Additionally, the average income is lower in Chestertown than the rest of the County. Therefore, it is the poorer section (Chestertown) of the County that is supporting the richer (non-Chestertown) parts of Kent County. But, until the fair distribution of tax dollars is resolved, we need to maximize the use of the funds that we do have.”

Zilinskas feels that answers may be found in a more thoughtful approach to existing resources.

“My contention here is not necessarily to fight another battle, but more or less to try to determine if there are ways without money coming out of the pockets of Kent County government or ways that we can reduce some of our costs here,” says Zilinskas.

“What I’m looking at is, are there ways that we can combine the resources of jurisdictions? There are resources that we have here in the town that we use for a lot of maintenance programs that the county also has maintenance programs. I mean, I certainly don’t want any to eliminate anyone’s job, but if you can find a way of bringing costs down through volume, there may be some opportunities there.”

Zilinskas, who formerly worked in International Business Development and executive-level business management, also hopes to address the growing number of abandoned homes and empty business fronts throughout the town, firstly calling for more accountability by bringing together property owners and local representatives to discuss ways to resolve these matters to create “win-win” situations, if possible. He understands, however, there needs to be culpability impressed upon owners who do not step up to the plate.

“If your property is unoccupied for X number of months and there’s no obvious attempts to market this property beyond just putting a sign in your window, then there should be some type of fee, or whatever,  to encourage you to invest in getting this property moving, and it doesn’t have to be a permit. There could be some type of fee them for having it unoccupied. And after a period of time if they do rent it, maybe they get 50 percent of that money back.”

No stranger to community involvement, Zilinskas is already a member of the Chestertown Recreation Commission, serves as a volunteer with the Friends of the Kent County Public Library, and is also a member of the YMCA Leadership Council where he contributes to operational strategy initiatives.

Should he win the seat, he says, he hopes to bring some of the focus he has to bear from these roles to the greater benefit of the community.

“Parks, trails, and recreation have been my biggest passions since I moved to Chestertown. All of the existing (council) members have been extremely encouraging and supportive of the efforts of the Recreation Commission. In recent years, playground equipment for young children has been installed in Wilmer Park, Ajax Park, and Carpenter Park. Equipment for older kids is now being researched for Bailey Park,” he says, adding his gratitude to current council member, Sheila Austrian’s, advocacy on that project.

As he looks down the road, or trail as it were, one thing he wishes to address while a member of council, is the expansion of our community trail system.

“The Wayne Gilchrest Trail is a wonderful asset to our town but needs to be expanded. I believe it needs to connect more areas of the town to bring communities closer together. First, we need to connect neighborhoods in the Northwest, Coventry Farms, and Washington Park,” he says.

Zilinskas adds that he would like to examine the possibility of expanding the trail along the west side of Radcliffe Creek connecting with the existing trail at Gateway Park. The highest priority, he says, is connecting Chestertown with Worton by extending the trail from the water tower to the Community Center along the old railway bed.

“Parks, trails, bike lanes, and sidewalks all bring us together as a community.”

Zilinskas and his wife of 47 years, Eileen, reside in Chestertown’s First Ward, moving here from the Western Shore in 2021. Avid travelers, they encountered Chestertown while out and about, and it left—as it does for many who venture here— an enduring impression.

When not enjoying their roles as grandparents to their two grandchildren, Dwight and Eileen can be found riding their bikes, hosting a dinner party, or playing bocce on league night in Wilmer Park.

 

Lisa Gotto is a recent resident to Chestertown, who is immensely enjoying learning more about the area, its people, and what makes living here so special. She hopes to continue doing that through her work with the Spy and her role as owner of Tea Leaves Media, LLC,  a communications and content generation company. Since acquiring her B.A. In Communications & Journalism from Shippensburg University of PA, Lisa has been writing and editing for decades for numerous media outlets including The Morning Call and Lehigh Valley Style in Easton, Pennsylvania, and What’s Up? Media in Annapolis.