During Havre de Grace’s city election last month Matthew Ellis defeated five other candidates to earn a spot on the City Council.

Ellis, 33, won 553 votes, enough to get him one of three seats that were up for election. The other two seats were filled by incumbents Johnny Boker and Vicki Jones. On May 19, Boker, Ellis and Jones were sworn into office.

The city council consists of six members who each serve two-year terms. The mayor serves a three-year term. During the 2024 city election Mayor William Martin earned another three-year term, and three other council members were reelected. City Council members are paid $7,800 annually.

Ellis said during his term in office he hopes to encourage more engagement from Havre de Grace residents, build economic development in the city and be a voice for residents who may not believe their votes count.

The Aegis asked Ellis about his background and plans for the future. The interview below was edited for clarity and brevity.

How long have you been living in the Havre de Grace area?

I’ve been living in Havre de Grace since about 2016. I moved out for a year then I moved back, but I’ve been here this time for just over three years.

Who or what inspired you to run for a seat on the Havre de Grace City Council?

Every time I do something, there’s a quote that I always say. I know people are going to get tired of me saying it, it’s “Be who you needed when you were younger.” I’m just trying to be that person that kids can look up to, that my son can look up to. And not look up to in a light where it’s like “Man, when I turn 65 I can do this.” Realistically, when you turn 30 you can do this or 25. I want my son and kids who I coach, and everyone else to know you can do it now. When I told [my son] that I signed my name up to run, he was like “it’s about time.” So, I can’t gas him up anymore because I’ve set the bar so high that it’s like, if I tell him I’m going to run that I should have already ran. Every time I do something, my son automatically thinks he can do better, which is the goal. I had several people in the community tell me that I should run, that they knew that it was in my plans. It wasn’t necessarily in my plan to do it now. My plan was to do it next election, but then I started talking to a couple people like “Well, why don’t I do it now?”

During your two-year term, what policies or initiatives do you plan to tackle first?

My plan is to make sure that people who aren’t engaged get engaged and stay engaged. I put on my Facebook page, like anything I had to vote on, I’m going to make a poll essentially, put a heart on it if you think I should vote yes, put an angry face if you think I should vote no. It raised so much awareness and engagement and people were having conversations that people aren’t having. Then I realized, I have to show them how to find the information, show them how to understand the information. There’s just levels to it that I didn’t know that we were that far from. Havre de Grace is special because of the people, because of where Havre de Grace is. The water is important, the antique stores are important, the little bars are important. I don’t have anything specific that’s on my agenda. Maybe in six months, I have a different opinion, maybe a year from now I have a whole different opinion. I would love to work more on economic development in Havre de Grace. What’s going to help is getting people to come here and be like “Man, we had a great time. I want to check this out. I want to go here,” and keep them coming back and coming back.

Following the conclusion of your term, what are you hoping to accomplish individually and collectively as a council?

I’m hoping that the council as a unit can better represent everybody. I’m hoping that we can all work together to branch out. Where we sit down and say “this is the reality of things.” We have 1,400 voters. I would like to see that number go sky high because we have more than that complaining on Facebook. I feel like, and several people have told me this, but I feel like it opened up the box where it’s like if he got in, that means my vote actually did count. I think by getting in, it showed something for me but more importantly, I think it showed that the overall citizens want something new. They need something new. They need engagement from a different angle or they need information from a different angle. I’m excited to see where this goes for myself because this is a new venture for myself and even just the connections that I’ve built, the hands I’ve shaken since throwing my name in the race have been exponential.

What areas around Havre de Grace are in need of improvements?

One thing I would say that I’ve already been tied into pretty heavily is the lack of food. I made a Facebook page called Feeding Havre de Grace, I just put a list of the free [food] pantries. I can’t bring in a grocery store. I need a grocery store to pitch that to us or pitch that to the town. They’ve got to want to come here. That revolves around the whole thing where we’re building the downtown up. We get economic development up, more businesses want to come in. More plausible than building more grocery stores in Havre de Grace is utilizing the things we do have, like butcher shops, the farms or the community gardens in town.

What message do you have for the people who voted for you?

The two quotes I live by: “Be the person you needed when you were younger” and “Accountability breeds responsibility.” If you want me to do something, I want you to be engaged. I need you to engage with me. I need you to hold me accountable and say “Hey, you had 100 people comment ‘no’ on this, I need to understand why you said ‘yes.’” I want people to know that I’m going to do everything I can do and that one thing I can guarantee is that I don’t want to let my son down. I don’t want to let the kids down. This is supposed to catapult everyone. This is supposed to show everybody that it’s possible and their vote does matter.

Have a news tip? Contact Shaela Foster at sfoster@baltsun.com or 443-826-5894.