Citizens for Courtney Billups

Courtney M. Billups has fought for people his entire professional career. After graduating from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., he  began his professional career as an attorney for a non-profit founded by former Maryland Congressman and Chairman of the Small Business Committee, Parren J. Mitchell, where he represented the interests of small business owners and distinguished himself as a civil rights attorney.  He opened a private practice in 1995 exclusively representing small business owners.  Attorney Billups has served as a consultant to numerous state and local jurisdictions across the country in the areas of economic development and small business utilization.  He is a graduate of Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia where he captained the football team and was a three-time, all-conference, student-athlete.  He graduated with honors receiving a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science.  While at Morehouse, he founded the ATLAB Program which provided role models and mentors to disadvantaged youth.  For the past three years, he has served on the  Queen Anne's County Public Schools Task Force for Accelerating Student Achievement.  Education is extremely important to Courtney.  His mother is a former professor at the University of Maryland, College Park and taught in public schools for thirty-five years, her last twenty-five years in Maryland public schools.  His father currently teaches at the Tuskegee University School of Veterinary Medicine.  His wife, Laura Michelle teaches in the Education Department at Washington College, supervising student teachers in elementary education in Queen Anne's and Kent County Public Schools.  He and his wife operate a tree nursery in Ingleside with the help of daughters Shelby and Shannon.  Courtney has always been involved in landscaping and worked doing landscaping through college and law school.  He is committed to developing agriculture in Queen Anne's County and preserving the County's rural character.  If elected, Courtney will be an advocate for the citizens of this county, not the interests of those who seek to make it another suburban enclave.  He will work to provide a citizen-oriented, open, honest and accountable government based upon mutual respect, input and collaboration.  A native Marylander, Courtney wants Queen Anne's County to be a state-wide model for responsible growth, quality education, economic development and responsive government.

Dear Neighbor:

I am proud to be your Queen Anne's County Commissioner from District 1.  As I travel the County, from Crumpton to Stevensville, from the Cloverfields and Queen Anne's Colony communities of Kent Island to the Chester Harbor and Kingstown communities of North County, I have listened to the concerns and suggestions of my fellow citizens regarding the current state of our County.  It is clear that many citizens feel that often, our local government is distracted or controlled by interests other than those of its citizens.  I pledge to make decisions based solely upon what is in the best interests of the citizens of this County.  I am also committed to bringing the citizens of this County together for an open dialogue in order to help formulate a common vision for the future of Queen Anne's County that will benefit us all.  There are many important issues facing us and there are critical decisions that need to be made regarding the long-term fiscal, environmental and social well-being of Queen Anne's County.  We can not afford inaction, empty pledges and the politics of division.  Our local government and our elected officials should be committed to delivering essential services, providing leadership on difficult issues and solving problems.  We must all work together, beyond the interests of a few, and focus on solving the problems that will inevitably effect us all.  With your support, we will succeed together.  Please feel free to contact me to let me know what we can do to help make Queen Anne's County all it can and should be.