With endorsements from the Enterprise and Saint Mary’s Today, it’s clearly not nice to say anything negative about Jack Russell in Saint Mary’s County. Jack is a nice guy, but there’s a few facts I think you should know:

Jack’s political profile at the Washington Post web site says:

“Occupation: Boat captain, teacher, Chesapeake Bay Field Lab; instructor, Lundeberg School of Seamanship; president, Skipjack Tours.”

And Jack’s campaign website says:

“After converting the Dee into a floating classroom in 1989, he founded Skipjack Tours, currently reaching 5,000 students a year. In 2000, began conversion to Chesapeake Bay Field Lab, a non-profit educational organization, that instructs young and old alike about the fragile environment of the local waterways.”

The Maryland Tax site reports this about Skipjack Tours:

Good Standing: NO

The tax site says Skipjack Tours was formed in 1992. Jack tells us on his campaign site that he started it in 1989. It is currently being reported as Forfeited. What was going on during the missing three years Jack?

Definition of Forfeited: For a Maryland entity, its existence has been ended by the State for some delinquency. For a non-Maryland entity it means its authority to do business and legal presence here has been terminated. For a trade name it means the filing has lapsed after 5 years and not been renewed.

Why is Jack telling the Washington Post on his political profile that he’s the President of Skipjack Tours when it has been Forfeited?

The Baltimore Sun said this about Jack on September 29, 2006, and he quotes the article on his website: “Russell a 63-year-old former waterman from St. George Island, is a boat captain who also runs a small nonprofit organization called the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab.”

Jack’s most recent tax return for the nonprofit lists Jack as simply an employee/boat captain. According to the document, the Chesapeake Bay Field Lab actually has 10 Directors, 2 Vice Presidents, 1 Secretary, 2 Co-Treasurers, 1 President, and 1 Executive Director, which is Jack’s wife.

If Jack is such an “environmental type guy,” why did he get fined by the Department of Natural Resources, and subsequently plead guilty to all of these violations against the very things he says that he’s teaching our children to protect:

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