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I really should be pinching myself every once in a while, to confirm that what I do in this job isn’t a dream. Here are the top eight things that I got to experience just this week, in the order that they happened.
I spoke at the Annual Meeting of the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture, and the meeting was at my favorite place to be in all of Annapolis - the Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum.
It was a chance for me to reflect on the impact of the history-telling work that we’ve done over the last eight years with a group of people who truly get it. The Lynching Memorial at People’s Park, Juneteenth as a holiday and festival, the youth education that grew out of the response to the killing of George Floyd, our response to Hate Bias, the establishment of our Office of Equity and Human Rights, and the placement of the last two words of our Pledge of Allegiance on the signs welcoming travelers into our county - For All.
My primary message to the Commission, however, was gratitude for what I, and people like me, have learned from Black leaders in Anne Arundel County. Listening leads to learning, and both continue.
I had breakfast with the legendary Vinny DeMarco, subject of a book called The DeMarco Factor and leader of Maryland Health Care For All. Some might call him a lobbyist, but I consider him an organizer. Either way he’s responsible for too many of Maryland’s best public policy innovations to list here, which is why there’s a book about him. He hasn’t slowed down.
One of Vinny’s more recent victories was establishment of the Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board (PDAB), a state-chartered group that reviews what the drug companies get paid for their drugs and puts limits when they are overpriced. The law was not popular with the drug companies, so the work was not funded under Governor Hogan, but the Moore administration is fully on board, and PDAB has finally approved upper limits on a few drugs, first applied only to what state and local governments pay, and soon extended to all of us.
Vinny was letting me know that in the 2027 Maryland General Assembly, his coalition of advocates will be pushing a bill that would accept the growing list of Medicaid upper limits, and expedite them through the PDAB in Maryland. It’s a brilliant way to expedite and expand the Maryland program.
Someday Marylanders, and eventually all Americans, could be paying the much lower prices that consumers in other countries pay for the same drugs - if, and only if, politicians stop rewarding their big pharma campaign contributors with freedom to price-gouge Americans when they are sick. I’m so glad that people like Vinny DeMarco are working to turn the tide in Maryland.
National Night Out in Northern, Western, Eastern and Southern Police Districts were joyous and well-attended, but I’ve learned that there’s no way to cover all four in the 6-8pm time span that they happen unless you do ten minutes at each and drive 90mph in a police vehicle with the siren on. But I promise that I’ve never tried that. I got to Northern and Southern this year, and both were showcases of community.
When I was President of the Maryland Horse Council, I advocated for the casino to be built at Laurel Racetrack. When the license went to Cordish Companies for Arundel Mills and the MD Jockey Club tried to block them with a referendum, I switched sides and supported the Arundel Mills location.
I told that story on Wednesday, and also the story of how I opposed the tax incentive that led to construction of The Hall at Live! when I was a candidate for County Executive. I changed my mind about that when I attended a high school graduation there, and found myself attending community events and celebrations at the Hall multiple times each month.
The occasion was the annual luncheon at the Hall at Live! where we recognize the 30-or-so grant recipients of close to $20 million from casino revenues. I wanted the grantees to know the history that led to the support they receive, and to thank the Maryland General Assembly for structuring the program, the Local Development Council and Arundel Community Development Services for advising us on what to fund, and the casino employees for the work that they do to generate the dollars that make life better for so many of our residents. Here is a list of funded projects.
A Taste of Arundel Grown is organized by our Ag Specialists at Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation. It raises money for ag education, and it showcases food and drinks produced on county farms.
It was held Wednesday night at the new outdoor event space at Homestead Gardens in Davidsonville, and had a record crowd. I reminded the group that the best thing government can do to make agriculture commercially viable is to protect land and get out of the way. That’s a bigger agenda than it seems, and that’s why our Ag Commission has proposed and advocated for more county legislation than any other county commission, most of it removing government barriers to progress.
It was good to see so many old friends from Farm Bureau, Soil Conservation Board, and even MD Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks. Buy local.
I love CRAB (Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating). On Thursday I visited four sailboats on the water from a power boat. Each had on it a crew of young people from the Police Department’s Youth Activities Program, and they weren’t just passengers. Each tiller was held by the hand of a camper who had never before felt the power of the wind through a rudder and sail. It’s a magical feeling of connection to nature, and I suspect that it’s a moment none of those kids will ever forget. That happens every day at CRAB.
Ned Carey was a Brooklyn Park kid who played a lot of sports and grew up to work at MD Aviation Authority, serve on the Board of Education, and eventually represent his community as a Delegate in the Maryland General Assembly. He is a big part of the reason that we have so much public investment today in Brooklyn Park.
Ned is not just history. He is alive and well, continuing to advocate, not just for people but also for older dogs as the President of the Board at the Senior Dog Sanctuary. I consider Ned Carey to be the ideal that all of us should strive to be in public service - informed, focused, open-minded, and truly kind.
On Thursday, the Ned Carey fan club and Ned himself gathered at the Brooklyn Park Athletic Complex to unveil a sign dedicating the facility in his honor. It felt so right.
And today, I spoke to 75 summer interns at the closing ceremony of our Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation’s FutureSuccess Program. I asked who knew what they want to be when they grow up, and who doesn’t. It was an even split. I told them I was out of a job December 7, and didn’t know what I wanted to do. When I sat back down after speaking, I was assured that workforce development could help me out.
Until next week…