I’ve been working on my State of the County speech this week. Like these Weekly Letters, it will seek to make sense of the mood of the country, the mood of our county, our moment in history, and the relevance of our work in local government. It will consider the question of whether we’ve governed these last seven years in a way that increases or decreases public trust in local government, where we stand, and what’s left to do. Those are the fundamental questions that every government should be asking itself every day.
Some of you flinch when I link local issues to state and federal policy, and to the political moods that drive those policies. I’m ok with that. As always, I invite you to respond and to tell me what you think. I read your emails, consider your thoughts, and sometimes you make me flinch!
I started the week at the Odenton MARC station, for the MD Department of Transportation (MDOT) announcement of the development team that will convert a ten acre parking lot into public space, pathways and train access, commercial space, and 585 units of housing.
The project was made possible by a decision that we made early in our administration to deploy tax increment funds that were set aside for local infrastructure from past development in the area to convert surface parking to a parking garage. Ground will break on that project soon.
In my mind, this is development done right. Our Odenton Town Center Advisory Committee asked for transit-oriented development and improved public space. It was consistent with our countywide Plan2040 and our transportation plan. I brought Governor Moore to the site before he was even elected so that he could envision what the community was looking for, and after he took office, the project became a top state and county priority.
The icing on the cake is that MDOT went above and beyond the minimum affordability requirements in our new county law - 15% of rental units affordable to households at 70% area median income - and selected a development team that includes the locally-based nonprofit affordable housing developer Homes For America and Questar Properties, and they’ve agreed to deliver 26% of the homes as workforce or affordable.
Now it’s time to move the project through the permitting process and get it done, along with the nearby park in our capital plan and some other exciting developments that will restore Odenton to its historic importance as a major Anne Arundel County transit center.
On Wednesday, I found myself on a boat with state officials where the initial pilings are being driven into the bed of the Patapsco River for construction of the new Key Bridge.
I asked a lot of questions about revenue and cash flow for the massive construction project, and threats by Secretary Duffy and President Trump to renege on Congress’s decision to fund the project.
I was impressed, not just by the fact that the “design-build” innovation allows construction to commence as details of design and pricing are underway, but also by the careful funding plan that has been built around insurance payments, bonds, potential legal settlement, and federal reimbursement. I suspect that the final price tag will reflect the rising cost of construction everywhere in our country, but I walked away confident that Governor Moore has very experienced and very smart people at MDOT navigating these waters.
I was honored on Wednesday morning to receive a special award from the Maryland chapter of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD). They called it the Crownsville Legacy Award, and explained that it was for the work we are doing to transform the campus into a place for healing.
The longtime chair was overcome with emotion, and had trouble getting through his script announcing the award. I quickly realized that many in the room had histories of work with Crownsville patients, Crownsville staff, and some had worked at Crownsville themselves. I did my best to honor their service, and assured them that the work would continue there, because of them. I especially want to recognize long-time Anne Arundel County advocate and provider Carol Boyer for her work with NCADD and the community it represents.
Yesterday, I signed Anne Arundel County Council Bill 79-25, with representatives of our Office of Emergency Management, CERT volunteers, Department of Health, Community Engagement and Constituent Services, Council Chair Hummer, and Councilwoman Pickard. The bill passed 7-0, and allows the county to charge landlords for costs incurred providing air-conditioning services to tenants in buildings that are advertised as having that service but are failing to provide it. It grew out of a series of prolonged AC failures at a large multi-family apartment building near Laurel during the hottest days of summer. County employees stepped up with temporary units and fans, but there was no law in place to pressure the building owners to act, or to reimburse the county. Now there is.
Last night, I visited the crew distributing food boxes at the Annapolis Senior Center, the third of four sites across the county that we funded through Anne Arundel County Food Bank. When we sent out a notice to County employees looking for volunteers, nearly 100 offered to help. We have truly good public servants in county government. Please thank them for their service.
It’s great news for our county’s people and its economy that the federal government shutdown has ended, and that our federal workers will be paid. I learned just this morning that SNAP benefits will be paid in full starting November 18.
But during our Health and Human Services subcabinet meeting on Monday, we were briefed on nine major forthcoming changes to Medicaid resulting from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. It’s a looming disaster for our 107,200 enrolled residents and for our health care industry, especially our hospitals and community health clinics. But it will also require a massive increase in staff at our Department of Health, just to manage the new regulatory burden. It’s the epitome of government inefficiency, and seems to be designed to dismantle Medicaid as we know it, and increase public anger at government institutions.
When I interviewed Annapolis Mayor-elect Jared Littman on Wednesday for next week’s Pittman and Friends Podcast, I asked him, if he could accomplish just one thing during his time in office, what would it be?
His answer was, “To have all city residents feel like, ‘my government cares about me.’”
That’s basically the answer I gave to the same question eight years ago. I hope it’s the answer that all of our future government leaders are giving. It’s the one answer that opens the door to building the future that our next generation deserves.
Until next week…