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Well, it’s looking like snow and ice are coming our way with no thaw in the forecast, so I hope you’re prepared to hunker down for a bit. Once you’ve done the planning to meet your own household’s needs, please check in with friends and neighbors, especially the older ones.
Our Office of Emergency Management, under the leadership of Preeti Emrick, convened 98 representatives from county agencies, utilities, and partners yesterday to review the storm planning that is underway. These people are pros. They know how to manage an incredibly complex mobilization to protect our 600,000 residents. When you see them out there working long shifts for us in harsh conditions, give them a thumbs up.
The department we depend on to make our roads passable is Public Works. They have hustled all year to recruit 200 snow plow contractors to supplement our county crews, and all are ready. If the forecast holds and the initial snow is followed by an icy mix, their strategy will be to apply heavy salt loads, allowing the snow to insulate and act as a barrier to ice, rather than continuous plowing to the pavement, which increases the chances of ice sheets.
Police and Fire are prepared to work extra shifts, Aging and Disabilities is ready to help our seniors, dialysis patient locations are mapped for transport if needed, coordination with BGE is established to address power outages and downed lines, and warming centers are open.
Click here for condition of county roads, click here for condition of state roads, and visit aacounty.org/county-operations for additional resources. For non-emergency requests or questions, call the Office of Emergency Management at 410-222-0600, and call 911 for emergencies.
On Friday night last week, I attended my last Anne Arundel County Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner as County Executive. It’s a huge annual event that this year included Governor Moore, Speaker Peña Melnyk, Mayor Littmann, Senator Henson, and 900 of our residents. It’s big because the volunteers who organize it - the Martin Luther King Jr. Committee led by The Honorable Carl Snowden - works hard all year to make it that way. It inspires me because the legacy of Dr. King feels more and more relevant every year.
One beloved face was missing from this year’s dinner, that of Dee Goodwyn, co-founder of the Caucus of African American Leaders and a member of our county Personnel Board. She never missed one of these dinners, and rarely missed any opportunity to organize, advocate, and uplift her community. It was a shock to learn Sunday that she had passed away. I will miss her presence and her advocacy.
Governor Moore introduced his budget proposal to the Maryland General Assembly this week. It’s a belt-tightener, but it’s balanced, and there were no big surprises for the county, other than the great news that our top-ranked capital funding request is included - $4 million toward refurbishing the Meyer Building at Crownsville Hospital Memorial Park for transitional and permanent housing for veterans, families, and individuals. Thank you, Governor Moore!
Word on the street is that there was strong collaboration with the Maryland General Assembly leadership, so I hope that forecasts a smooth path to budget passage.
Lastly, I just want to say how thrilled I have been with some of the first moves made by Maryland’s new Speaker of the House, Joseline Peña Melnyk. She not only elevated our own Delegate Sandy Bartlett to Judiciary Chair and Delegate Heather Bagnall to Health Chair, but she also hired my friend Heather Mizeur as Communications Director. Heather is on a mission to put the humanity back in politics, and I’m loving the sound of the messaging she’s putting out.
As a farmer from rural south county, I was especially pleased to see the Speaker’s launch this week of the bipartisan House Rural Caucus. Rural communities need a stronger voice in the Maryland General Assembly, and I hope this new caucus delivers it.
Stay safe these next few days, and let’s hope for an early thaw.
Until next week…