Doris Spencer moved to Calvert County mainly for recreational pur­poses. "I love to fish," she admits. "It's a way to unwind and relax."

   When she retired from a career in government and education a few years ago, she knew she wanted to be on the water and near her family. Spencer had been living in Alexandria, VA but had fished the Chesapeake Bay from the Rod 'N' Reel's head boats.

   She decided Chesapeake Beach would be the ideal location for her new life of leisure.

   Somehow, Spencer's agenda became filled with meetings and activities that have her on the go. In 2002 she was elected to the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee. The members of the committee selected her chair. That is a county first for an African-American woman.

   "I had no intention of going into politics in Calvert County," said Spen­cer. "I promised my children I was going to retire."

   Instead, she was asked to serve on the Chesapeake Beach Zoning Appeals Board. That led to Mayor Gerald Donovan asking her to run for central committee, Spencer explained.

   Some of the newer residents of al Calvert County can probably best re identify with Spencer's journey that led her to move to the county. A native Washingtonian, she left the big city for the suburbs seeking a better education for her two children.

   "Education is my highest priority," said Spencer, who explained her marriage ended when her son and daugh­ter were very young. She had strict rules that limited her children's tele­vision viewing time and required that they do more reading.

   Spencer's children were attending public school in DC where "the school system wasn't the best," she admits. Her son Charles was assaulted at elementary school one day by other children who didn't care for the way he always did his homework and con­stantly had his hand up in class. "I almost lost my son at [age] six," she recalled.

   A teacher who came to visit Charles in the hospital after the assault told Spencer, "if you put your son back in this school they're going to kill him."

   She then enrolled both of her chil­dren in private school. After moving to Northern Virginia, the children started attending public school.

Spencer is proud of the public schools in her adopted home. "I think our school system is fantastic. I love it," she exclaimed. What she is not enamored with are the government mandates driven by standardized test­ing.

   "Local communities should be the ones who set the standards for schools," said Spencer. "I trust the teachers." Standardized tests, accord­ing to Spencer, "are taking all the fun out of learning. They're pushing those kids."

While her praise is high for public education in Calvert, Spencer is a little more reserved in her assess­ment of the political landscape. "It's difficult to grasp who's what," she said. She is quick to give the county's GOP credit for success in leveling the playing field over the last decade. But Spencer adds that there are still a tremendous number of democrats in the county who "simply have not been participating."

Her mantra as central committee chair is "you can't change something that's been going on for 10 years in one year." Spencer boasts that she has the ability to "organize and man­age." Her goal is to "develop an infra­structure" as a way to rebuild Calvert’s Democratic Party.

Regarding the high-profile local issue of growth control, Spencer stated, "quite frankly I think some of it [growth control] is racist. It’s to keep out 'those people.' "   .

   When asked if she was disappointed that the two African-Americans (both democrats) who ran for county com­missioner in 2002 didn't make an issue of the possible racial aspects of growth management, Spencer nodded and smiled. "Calvert County is an interesting place," she explained: "It doesn't want to deal with those is­sues. It makes no sense to me that this county has never sent a woman or an African-American to the state [legis­lature]. These are issues that have never been addressed. There are a number of African-American women in this county who have done great things given their situation. This county needs to look at itself."

   The challenge of restructuring a once ­dominant political party and demand­ing the county self-reflect on its social composition are tasks Spencer is ca­pable of accomplishing.

   Her career in government was high­lighted by protesting prejudicial and unfair labor practices, race and sex dis­crimination. She has won those battles.

   "Fear keeps you from moving for­ward," said Spencer. "I have no fear.