EASTON, MARYLAND — Democrat Pete Lesher has spent two terms trying to tighten Talbot County’s short-term rental rules and has not produced a majority.

On Dec. 9, 2025, Council members Pete Lesher and Lynn Mielke withdrew sponsorship of Bill 1622. No vote was taken. Under the County Charter, a bill without a sponsor dies. Lesher and Mielke first brought a restrictive short-term rental package in May 2025; the Planning Commission sent it back substantially loosened. The numbered Bill 1622 was introduced Oct. 28, 2025, with a Nov. 25 public hearing. Sponsors said the draft still missed the Town Residential and Town Conservation zoning districts, where many of the bill’s own supporters live.

A separate §190-63 licensing text amendment — not Bill 1622 — failed 2-2 on Aug. 11, 2026, on referral to the Planning Commission, with President Chuck Callahan absent. Lesher and Mielke voted yes; Dave Stepp and Keasha Haythe voted no. That tally was not a vote on adopting an ordinance and was not a second death of Bill 1622.

Property owners have called the bills government overreach; neighbors say unregulated rentals are changing residential streets. After those two losses, Lesher still does not have a law.