Meet Josh

Josh Hastings is an independent-minded, common sense, member of the Wicomico County Council. Josh is a husband, a business owner, and a lifelong Wicomico resident who seeks fairness and opportunity.

Having grown up on a poultry farm and Maryland’s very first certified organic farm, he has a deep appreciation for (and understanding of) the complexities of agriculture, environmental sustainability, natural resources, and land use. Prior to starting his company, Josh spent 15 years working in state and local land use policy, and within nonprofit leadership. He is the past Executive Director of Forever Maryland – a statewide nonprofit that supports the conservation of forests, farms, parks, critical habitat, and Maryland’s most vital lands.

As a member of the Wicomico County Council, Josh has championed: a new County water/sewer masterplan, consistent above maintenance-of-effort funding for Wicomico schools, dramatic upgrades of county parks and recreation, increased public safety, support for first-responders, investments in a cleaner Wicomico and much more. Among his favorite achievements are helping secure a new Mardela Middle and High School, helping bring pickleball to Harmon Field Park, and helping address invasive species. Councilman Hastings continually works to bring about more civil, thoughtful discussions of the real problems and challenges that affect Wicomico County and the Eastern Shore.

Josh Hastings currently serves on the board of the Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology and is a member of the Salisbury-Wicomico Metropolitan Planning Organization. He has led numerous vital partnerships and collaboratives, including: the Delmarva Land and Litter Collaborative, the Partners for Open Space coalition, and the Delmarva Restoration and Conservation Network. In 2019, Josh was appointed by Republican Governor Larry Hogan to serve on the Chesapeake Bay Executive Council’s Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) and served a previous gubernatorial appointment on Maryland’s Rural Legacy Advisory Committee.

Josh is a LEAD Maryland (Class VIII) alumnus, a University of Maryland “Academy of Excellence in Local Governance” graduate and, in December 2023, was chosen to receive the prestigious Maryland Sustainable Growth Award – in “Leadership and Service.”

Josh is a 2000 graduate of Mardela Middle and High School. He has earned two bachelor’s degrees from Salisbury University, in business and in political science, and a master’s degree in public policy from the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

While public service is very important to Josh, the most important thing to him is his wife, Alyssa, and his family. The Hastings family lives in Salisbury, MD.