We face many pressing issues here in Anne Arundel County. Our location, our size, and our population present challenges that we must face head on. We need strategic thinkers who can plan for tomorrow while taking care of our needs today. As a County Councilman, I will lead an effort to undertake a S.W.O.T. Analysis which will help us to determine our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Only then can we strategically plan for the future. In doing so, we will be leaders taking charge of our future, and ensuring that it is what we deserve. Our children and those who protect us deserve it.

Our most pressing issues are:

Much has been said about the state of our schools. Unfortunately little has been done to improve the infrastructure of these buildings. As an educator, I take this as a personal affront to all that is right about educating our children and ensuring their safety.

My approach:

• Demonstrate to our students that we support them in their academic pursuits by respecting the teachers, administrators, and staff at each school. This can be done by making sure that each facility is properly maintained, has the appropriate equipment, and all employees of AACPS feel valued and appreciated. Adequate compensation and benefits are the very least we can do for those who take care of our children.
• Become familiar with the MGT Strategic Facilities Master Plan which was done by an independent consulting firm and review the needs assessment that is presented on each school. Everyone should understand the implications of the findings for schools in their district.
• Determine why some of these schools have been neglected for years and are now deemed unsafe and get the problems fixed immediately. Schools such as Severna Park High School are so dilapidated that accreditation was in doubt at one point and it will require over $1 billion dollars to bring the school up to acceptable standards.
• Determine if redistricting is in fact the only appropriate action to our over crowding issues or if there are better ways to utilize the facilities we have.
• Only when we are sure we have maximized the potential for our current facilities to the best of our ability and taken care to ensure they are all safe should we look to assess the need for a new high school.
• We must work with the Board of Education to ensure that our educators get the supplies and support they need to be successful while taking care not to undermine their efforts.
• Take care of our children! We have to guarantee that we feed them healthy food, keep them safe from bullies and gangs, and provide effective after-school programs including mentoring and tutoring to guide them along the right path. It is also appropriate to reexamine our start times in the morning and if appropriate, move them back to allow students more time asleep and also less time after school where they may not be supervised.

Storm water management is a key element to restoring The Chesapeake Bay and ensuring the quality of the water in our waterways. Simple and cost effective infiltration strategies and limiting impervious surfaces are just two ways to help us do this. Controlled, strategic, and environmentally friendly development is another.

My approach:

• Variances on development and zoning should be the exception and not the rule. Violators of such should be expected to bring violations into compliance and should be held fiscally responsible for environmental disruptions.
• All impervious surfaces should be limited when possible and incentives for those who make such modifications should be explored.
• When possible, storm water should be directed to areas where it can be naturally absorbed and not just routed into storm drains.
• Under direction from the county, neighborhoods should develop programs to deal with pet waste to prevent runoff into waterways. Promotion of these programs and enforcement would be vital to their success.
• Developers should be held responsible for the burden on the infrastructure when building and permits for such should be dependent on work done in this area prior to when building may commence.
• The Waterway Restoration Utility fund is an effective way to get the funds needed to address the serious problems we face with our waterways. Supporting this fund equates to supporting cleaner and safer waterways.

Developing emergency procedures, keeping us safe, and reacting to crisis situations as they happen are critical functions of Public Safety Personnel. At a time when natural and man-made emergencies are common place, funding is critical. I will always protect funding to those who protect us and to ensure that Anne Arundel County has the capacity to react appropriately to crisis situations. Crime, fire, weather, and unfortunately those who are out to disrupt our way of life will always be a part of our lives…..how we react and deal with them will save lives and help to keep us safer. Politics has no place in a discussion that helps take care of those who take care of us.

My approach:

• Be proactive on crime by promoting county sponsored Neighborhood Watch Programs in all communities.
• Ensure that police and fire are funded such that they have equipment necessary to respond as appropriate to crisis situations.
• Ensure that police and fire are funded such that they have long term security and the comparable salaries to those in nearby jurisdictions.
• Improve morale by encouraging open and honest dialogue with the county on issues that affect public safety personnel to find legitimate solutions to ongoing problems.
• Ensure that police, fire and county emergency management have appropriate communication equipment and protocols in place in the event that typical strategies are unavailable.
• Work with public safety personnel to support their efforts to be proactive in preventing fires and prepared for disasters to limit the impact of catastrophic events.