Op-Ed: The Bay Connects Us All

The following article was written and submitted by Cheryl Miele – Founder of Community Coalition of Myrtle Landing 

I grew up in Baltimore City by a stream named Herring Run — a stream that flows through the neighborhoods and eventually into Back River and the Chesapeake Bay.

Even as a child, that water grounded me. It was the one constant that felt deeper than streets, sidewalks, or even home.

The Chesapeake Bay has kept me alive my whole life — Baltimore to here, across the Bay and back and forth.

I may have grown up mostly in Maryland, but I have healed mostly here — on these beaches, on this sand, in this water. This place has held me together in ways people never could. I cherish the earth and nature of this holy place. The shoreline has embraced me. It has given me grounding, perspective, and strength when I needed it most.

That grounding is exactly why the division here is painful to witness and to be part of. For such a beautiful place, the contrast is concerning. The hostility, the exclusion, the cliques, the constant undercurrent of resentment — it does not point to a stable future for this place. It really doesn’t.

And I cannot see what’s happening to the Bay, its people, or its future without speaking up.

“THAT BAY CONNECTS US. IT SHOULD UNIFY US.”

We can disagree about gentrification. We can disagree politically. We can disagree about who is from here and who came here. None of that changes the fact that the Bay is what should connect us. That body of water ties this region together more than our divisions ever will.

So when I see housing conditions deteriorating here in Cape Charles — not by accident, but through years of neglect, oversight failures, and decisions that disproportionately impact HUD residents — I can’t separate that from the Bay either. The same patterns that allow vulnerable people to be ignored are the patterns that allow environmental harm to be ignored. The people and the water are not separate issues here. They are the same story. 

And what we are watching unfold is not just deferred maintenance. It is displacement. It is gentrification in slow motion.

When patterns of neglect intersect with rising development pressure in a waterfront town, that is not coincidence. It is a trajectory.

What is happening at Myrtle Landing is not a misunderstanding or a personality conflict. It reflects years of decisions, approvals, inspection sign-offs, and choices that did not occur in isolation.

Neglect is not always dramatic. Sometimes it looks procedural. Sometimes it hides behind paperwork. Sometimes it passes inspection.

If anyone connected to past inspections or approvals feels uncomfortable with this being brought into public view, the response should not be hostility or anonymous attacks. It should be documentation. The records exist. If everything was handled properly, there should be no hesitation in reviewing them openly.

THE FEEDBACK I’M RECEIVING COLLECTIVELY SPEAKS VOLUMES.

From face-to-face conversations, to silence from leadership, to local nonprofit entities reaching out in different ways, to the tone in these comment sections — it is clarifying priorities.

Silence clarifies. Defensiveness clarifies. Hostility clarifies.

It is also clarifying where I will and will not align. I do not go along to get along. If fitting in requires silence, I’m not interested in fitting in.

Personal attacks do not protect the Chesapeake Bay. They do not protect the elderly or the disabled. They do not strengthen this community.

To the commenter invoking Jesus while posting under the name “All of Us” — you do not speak for everyone.

My conscience is clear. Jesus knows my heart. My actions speak louder than anyone’s attempt to police my tone, my language, or my faith.

One reason I respond to hostile comments when I do is because I am not speaking only for myself. I am speaking for residents and readers who will never comment here — or anywhere online — because they refuse to make themselves targets for trolls. Silence from others is often self-protection, not agreement.

If I did not have thick skin, I would not be standing here. I have survived far more than online criticism. Attempts to rattle me will fail. They do not weaken me — they clarify who is uncomfortable with accountability.

Giving back and paying it forward matter to me because I have been the recipient of much help throughout my life. I have a long history of advocacy work and have built support systems that have helped thousands of people for decades. You do not know my full story, so check your assumptions, your gossip, and your illegitimate judgments at your own door.

This is a standalone post because the rhetoric and harassment in the comments distract from the substance of each article, and they’re meant to distract and divide. Distraction benefits those who would rather avoid accountability. That speaks volumes as to where these comments are coming from.

I appreciate the Mirror’s willingness to provide space for open discourse and to allow community voices to be heard without heavy editorial filtering. Platforms that allow disagreement to be visible rather than hidden serve a purpose. Transparency strengthens credibility, and credibility sustains readership.

The further this goes, the more documentation will surface and the truth will come forward. I stand by my words.

Can you?

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Wayne Creed

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