2019
Transition
REPORT

Prepared For
County Executive Steuart Pittman

The Best Place
Www.aacounty.org

 Letter from the Co-Chairs

Table of Contents
Executive Summary

4

Transition Structure
& Process
5
Summary of
Recommendations

5

Healthy

6

Sustainable

8

Empowered

10

Safe

12

Thriving

13

Educated

15

Responsive GovT

16

Guiding Principles

17

Overall Themes &
Conclusions

18

Dear County Executive Pittman,

We are pleased to present you with the attached transition report.
We believe you will find it informative, bold and inspiring.
You have declared that you want to make Anne Arundel County
The Best Place. We believe this transition report equips you to do
just that. In the report you will find 63 recommendations that range
from easy to hard, narrow to broad, practical to visionary.
The report and the recommendations are the result of more than
5,000 hours of voluntary work from more than 200 Anne Arundel
County citizens. Your campaign for office focused on putting
communities first. This report follows the same construct, and our
seven transition committees are organized around safe
communities, healthy communities, thriving communities,
empowered communities, educated communities, sustainable
communities and responsive government.
You will find one key theme woven throughout many of the
recommendations: County residents want to be engaged in local
government. They want access to information, more opportunities
for public participation and a chance to help shape decisions. In
the immortal words of President Abraham Lincoln, they want
“government of the people, by the people, for the people.” And we
believe nothing is more powerful and beneficial than an engaged
constituency.
Each transition committee was led by a volunteer chair, with the
exception of safe communities, which was led by two co-chairs. As
your overall transition co-chairs, we believe the most important
contribution we made to this effort was helping you select the
leaders for these seven transition teams.
In each and every case, the transition committee chairs are
experts in their fields, respected by their peers and knowledgeable
in the ways of local government. Chairs were deliberately given
wide latitude to build their teams, set their schedules, divide into
subcommittees and whatever else they needed to do to prepare a
comprehensive and actionable report. We cannot thank these
individuals enough or properly acknowledge their incredible
volunteer contributions to the County and to your Administration.
Though each committee report bears the chair’s name, we want to
take an opportunity to list them here in this letter:
2

 Healthy Communities

Lisa Hillman

Sustainable Communities

Kate Fritz

Empowered Communities

Peter Smith

Safe Communities Edward

Bergin / Rook Rodgers

Thriving Communities

Christina Pompa

Educated Communities

Stacy Korbelak

Responsible Government

Jerry Walker

In addition to the seven transition committees, the transition also featured two
liaisons who worked with all the teams to establish a systemic approach. Janice
Hayes-Williams led the effort to ensure the process was inclusive and that teams
represented viewpoints from the diverse communities that make up our county.
Instead of designating a transition committee for business issues, Bob Burdon
served as our liaison for economic development and the business community.
Janice and Bob both made valuable contributions to the committee reports and
to the transition report overall.
We would also like to take a moment to acknowledge the cooperation and
collaboration of existing county staff. For agency staff, leadership change can be
discomforting and uncertain. But we found county employees to be universally
open and accessible to assisting our transition committees. In fact, employees
often took the initiative to suggest ideas and initiatives that they had come up
with on their own, in the hopes of improving county policies or services.
An additional debt of gratitude is due to your County Executive Office staff, who
were instrumental in supporting the transition committees’ endeavors and also
for synthesizing and formatting this report. In particular, we would like to thank
Jennifer Purcell, Dejah Williams and Sergio Polanco for their contributions.
This report is now in your hands. We hope that it will guide you well as you set
your vision for the future of our county. Our role as co-chairs of your transition
team is over, but we stand ready to help you implement these recommendations
for the good of Anne Arundel County.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve – it has been an honor. We want to
conclude by thanking each and every member of the transition team that
contributed their time, their hearts and their expertise to this report. We believe it
represents the best Anne Arundel County has to offer.
We wish you and your Administration success and good fortune as you work to
make Anne Arundel County The Best Place.
Respectfully,

Janet Owens
Co-Chair

Chris Trumbauer
Co-Chair
3

 Executive Summary
The transition process began immediately following the 2018 election when
County Executive-Elect Steuart Pittman requested volunteers interested in
serving on the Transition Team. This resulted in a pool of almost 600
individuals. The County Executive-Elect appointed former County Executive
Janet Owens and former County Councilmember Chris Trumbauer as cochairs for the transition. The leadership team then formulated a transition
process and structure based on Steuart’s plan to put communities first.
The transition established the following committees: Healthy, Sustainable,
Empowered, Safe, Thriving, and Educated Communities, along with
Responsive Government. More than 200 individuals agreed to serve on the
committees and spent over 5000 hours collecting and reviewing information,
interviewing key stakeholders, and writing recommendations.
The committees were intentionally broad to represent the complex set of
issues that impact government and overlap across committees was expected. Forty four sub-committees
explored narrowly-defined areas and specific methods of data collection were determined by each group.
Committees were requested to integrate five guiding principles, but otherwise given free rein to do their
work. In total, the committees put forth 298 action items, which varied in terms of scope, resources
required, and time to complete. Sixty three overarching recommendations are listed in this report.
Common themes emerged throughout the committees’ work, not only in the issues they explored, but also
in their recommendations. Committees consistently found that residents wanted transparency and open
access to information and data. The most prevalent theme across all committees was a stated desire for
residents to be engage with government and each other. Additional themes included collaboration, equity
and access to programs and services, and the need for county-wide transportation. These themes differ
from those identified four years ago.

TRANSITION STATISTICS
1480 Responses to online Survey

5

Guiding Principles

599

Volunteers for Transition
Committees

63

Broad Recommendations

207

Transition Team Members

298

Action Items

7

Transition Committees

600+

Pages of Documents

44

Sub – Committees

5000+ Hours Volunteered
1

4

Responsive Government

 Transition Structure & Process
Steuart Pittman campaigned on a platform to put communities first. He committed to making county government
open, accessible, inclusive and transparent. In his inaugural speech, Steuart declared Anne Arundel County to
be not only the best place to live or work, but also the best place to ride a bike, the best place to go to school, the
best place to be a tree, or maybe even a fish. And to be the best place, citizens must feel engaged and
empowered.
As County Executive-Elect, one of Steuart’s first actions was to create and publish a transition website and put
out a call to county constituents to help shape the new administration by serving on the transition team. He
received an overwhelming response. Almost 1500 individuals submitted comments or suggestions and 599
volunteer to be part of this effort.
Transition Committees were structured to focus on communities: healthy, sustainable, empowered, safe, thriving
and educated communities. A final committee focused on building a responsive government.
Team chairs were given flexibility and autonomy to best utilize their time and resources. Committees used a
variety of methods to evaluate programs, identify needs, explore potential improvements and propose final
recommendations. In most cases, committee members examined written reports and academic literature, probed
primary data sources, spoke with national, state and local experts and interviewed staff from Anne Arundel
County government agencies and community groups. Perhaps most relevant, individual members drew heavily
on their own knowledge and experience, sharing their stories openly in hopes of providing deep understanding of
the challenges that lay ahead.
This structure was created to ensure that Anne Arundel County was viewed as the complex system that it is.
Although some committees focused on specific departments and agencies; others took a broader view. In some
cases, more than one committee explored the same issue. While this presented some duplication, exploring
issues from different perspectives often resulted in innovative recommendations.
For instance, workforce development was considered in both empowering and educated committees. Mental
health and substance use disorders were explored within both healthy and safe committees. Schools safety was
addressed in both educated and safe communities. Healthy communities cannot exist in absence of a healthy
environment, which was highlighted by the sustainable committee, and there was clear yet important overlap in
the planning and zoning processes from both sustainable and thriving community perspectives. These examples
represent the complex web of issues that must be considered as the administration makes policy and
governance decisions that impact not just the short-term health of the county, but the long term implications that
will affect generations to come.

Summary of Committee Recommendations
A result of nearly three thousand volunteer hours, the seven committees combined offered almost
300 actions items, which were then synthesized to create 63 broad recommendations for this final
report.
The following is a summary of the reports provided by each committee. Detailed reports,
recommendations, short- and long-term strategies, as well as a comprehensive list of resources
are available for viewing and download on the Anne Arundel County website.

www.aacounty.org/departments/county-executive/transition

5

 Healthy Communities
The Healthy Communities Committee was charged with reviewing the
many health-related issues impacting Anne Arundel County residents
and the programs to address them. The committee formed five subcommittees to review 1) health and human services, 2) behavioral health
and addiction, 3) aging and disabilities, 4) recreation and parks, and
5) re-entry.
The Healthy Communities Transition Committee envisioned “the best”
healthy community as one that is diverse, inclusive and equitable,
supports those in need, protects the environment and provides a sound
education for all. Health care itself should be accessible, skilled, timely
and accountable. Committee members thought broadly about health and recognized that the context in
which people live and work has a significant influence on the health of the county. The committee believes
that creating a healthy community supports economic development by offering employers a ready
workforce of capable, educated and engaged employees. Put simply, the committee defines a “healthy
community” as one in which we want to live. All of its recommendations use this simple metric as a
benchmark.

Committee Chair
Lisa Hillman

Social factors such as education, diet, income, greenspace, the built environment, pollution, and social
integration play a larger role in individual and community health than the delivery of health care. Thus, while
many recommendations are focused on the health care system, the Committee recognizes the fundamental
importance of a holistic approach to creating a healthy community because good health is more than
absence of disease. Creating a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and measurement will ensure
the citizens and communities of Anne Arundel county remain vibrant, strong, and healthy.
Recommendations:
1) Make a healthy community the centerpiece of the Administration’s “The Best Place” objective by
requiring health notes for legislation, considering an executive-level office to oversee health
initiatives, and improving transparency, communication and collaboration among county and
community-based health programs.
2) Create an accountable health community by establishing priorities, instituting policies to attract and
retain a diverse, talented workforce, revitalizing “Healthy Anne Arundel,” focusing on workplace
wellness programs, creating affordable inter-generational housing and providing adequate funding
to county-based recreational activities.
3) Retain Health Department leadership that is visionary and innovative and will engage community
partners, promote collaboration, and energize the department through adequate funding, new
employment models, quality assurance programs, and the recruitment and retention of diverse,
highly-qualified candidates.
4) Establish an accountable governance structure for the local behavioral health agencies through the
creation of a Behavioral Health Council or similar entity, clearly defined goals and measurement

6

 Subcommittee
Members
indicators, community assessments, an outcomes-oriented
website, and a systematic method of evaluating effectiveness to
make modifications as needed.
5)

Implement policies and programs to address substance use
disorders and reduce the number of deaths caused by such
disorders by employing proven harm reduction initiatives,
investing in all evidence-based treatments including Medication
Assisted Treatment, providing nurse-home visits for at-risk youth,
expanding Not My Child and provider network training programs,
and partnering with community groups to disseminate information.

6)

Build primary care and behavioral health capacity by attracting
professionals to the county, training them to recognize behavioral
health disorders, and supporting increased mental health bed
capacity at the county’s hospitals.

7)

8)

9)

Take health care and human services to the citizens by
establishing one-stop access points for services, involving
communities to develop those services, helping people in their
homes, expanding clinics in hard-to-reach places, fully staffing
senior centers, exploring re-entry housing opportunities,
mobilizing clinical and social services, adding behavioral health
specialists in schools, and facilitating re-entry of county residents
returning from incarceration.
Take citizens to health care and human services by exploring
affordable transportation, providing transportation to people aged
55 and over, utilizing peer support specialists to augment
transportation from Safe Stations, and making optimal use of
Medicaid reimbursement.
Utilize parks, greenspace, and rural/agricultural areas to promote
healthy lifestyles by returning a percentage of user fees to the
Dept. of Recreation and Parks (DRP), eliminating 1500-hr work
limits for DRP employees, promoting community gardens,
establishing multi-generational community centers, and ensuring
access to parks and greenspace county-wide, especially in north
county where little open land exists.

10) Create a culture of continuous learning, innovation and
measurement, monitor residents’ needs, especially the expected
40% increase by 2030 of those 60+, and collaborate with likeminded jurisdictions to learn what works and what doesn’t.

7

Behavioral Health
Co-Chairs
Martha Blaxall
LaToya Nkongolo
Steve Baron
Kristy Blalock
Katherine Bonincontri
Tom Croghan
Mike Drummond
Jessie Dunleavy
Marie Grant
Nick Kyriacou
Beverly Marcus
Angel Traynor
Health & Human Services
Co-Chairs
Christine Crabbs
Becky Paesch
Carol Boyer
Chris McCabe
Eileen Hoover
Recreation & Parks
Chair
Rudy Brown
Michael Klasmeier
Pamela Browne
Eileen Hoover
Jeannette Hoenig
Re-Entry
Chair
Vanessa Bright
Kristy Blalock
Lisa Cohen
Jeannette Hoenig
Aging & Disabilities
Chair
Chris Poulsen
Carol Boyer
Mike Drummond
Marie Grant
Chris Moore
Sharon Poet
Floating Members
Rachelle Adams
Pamela M. Brown

 Sustainable Communities

Committee Chair
Kate Fritz

The Sustainable Communities Committee was divided into five
subcommittees tasked with evaluating the discrete but
interlocking areas of climate change, smart growth, green energy
and waste, environmental justice and education, and resource
protection & restoration. The Sustainable Committee’s subcommittee reports present a deep-dive into the issues,
challenges, and opportunities to make Anne Arundel County the
best place based on sound environmental principles.

A sustainable community is one that can be healthy, safe,
educated, thriving, and empowered for generations to come, and
a community that is all those things will only be the best place if it
is sustainable. There was some overlap between the Sustainable and the Thriving committees, with the
resulting reports being more global for the former and operational for the latter.

As subcommittees began their work, it became clear that there were also many areas of overlap within the
smaller groups. These commonalities include:








Where and how Anne Arundel County will grow over the next 20 years
through the next General Development Plan.
How to modernize codes to progressive standards across various agencies.
Equity in delivery and implementation of all county services and policies.
The need for improved interdepartmental coordination and a common
baseline of environmental data across departments.
Opportunities for transformational change across the departments. Many of
the issues described in this report are intertwined across environmental
topics, but also across the other Transition Team reports.
The need for new and innovative funding sources.

The Sustainable Communities Committee encourages the County Executive to take a leadership role with
other County Executives in Maryland to address climate change on a regional basis and seek support and
cooperation from the State. With over 500 miles of shoreline, this is an opportunity for the Pittman
Administration to make Anne Arundel County a leader on this increasingly urgent and real issue.
The committee noted that conversations with county departments and agencies were fruitful and inspiring,
and it highlighted several departments as “leading the way despite funding and staffing challenges.”

Recommendations:
1)

Form a leadership-level “Streams and Creeks Cabinet,” an internal stakeholder group comprised of
nine departments, led by the County Executive’s Environmental Specialist.

8

 2) Create a county-wide, standing Resident Environmental Advisory Committee as an institutional place
for residents to provide input and guidance to both Executive and Legislative branches on a regular
basis.
3) Create a Department of the Environment and Sustainability using a cost-effective model informed by
the two units listed above.
4) Modernize the Anne Arundel County codes and evaluate procedures and practices to facilitate smart
growth, community-based planning, sustainability and resiliency by first instituting a comprehensive,
coordinated environmental review among all departments.
5) Revisit and refine 2018 County Ordinance #89-18, “Solar Energy Generating Facilities Zoning” to
reflect broader county-wide stakeholder input and align with the objective of Anne Arundel County
hosting its proportionate share of Maryland’s targets for solar energy.
6) Create an environmental justice assessment tool to be used prior to new development and to inform
updates to existing development.
7) Institutionalize and operationalize climate change planning across county agencies and with the
public.
8) Establish a policy for no net loss of forest, then create a countywide Natural Resources Inventory
report enumerating the acres of forests preserved, planted and lost over the past year in each small
area planning community, which can be updated every two years.

Subcommittee Members
Climate Change
Chair
Jette Findsen
Kate Fritz
Raycine Hodo
Marsha Perry
Environmental Education
Health & Justice
Co-Chairs
Carmera Thomas; Josh Falk
Kacey Wetzel
Ammar Hanif
Floating Members
Adebola Ajayi
Sylvia Jennings
Bob Gallagher
Ginger Woolridge

Resource Protection & Restoration
Co-Chairs
Jesse Illiff; Matthew Johnston
Peter Marx
Tom Guay
Virginia Clagett
Bill Morgante
Shelley Hopkins
Jim Lyons
Robert Agee
Pamela Bush
Rob Savidge
Bob Gallagher
Sylvia Jennings
Ginger Woolridge

9

Green Energy & Recycling
Chair
Michael G. Miller
Randi Chidekel
Fred Hoover
Josh Cohen
Chris Graae
Smart Growth
Co-Chairs
Pamela Bush
Melanie Hartwig-Davis
Virginia Clagett
Brian Conner
Chris Graae
John Hamm
Jim Lyons
Russell Stevenson

 Empowered Communities

Committee Chair
Peter Smith

The Empowered Communities Committee was supported by
more than 45 individuals broken down into five sub-committees:
Communities Outreach & Engagement, Constituent Services,
Economic Development, Military Partnerships/Veterans Affairs,
and Workforce Development / Job Training. They looked at job
training through a lens of economic opportunity and economic
development and made recommendations to improve
community outreach and constituent services, build upon the
county’s veteran affairs and military partnerships, and
strengthen economic development through strategic planning.

The Empowering Communities Committee believes that connecting people to jobs and resources allows
them to better engage in the communities where they live. People can be empowered through
opportunities to interact with one another and with government. Better utilizing technology to improve
both outreach and services is the next step. English as a second language (ESL) across the county can
continue to improve, specifically in the technical specialties. Transportation is another key issue.
Anne Arundel County has a large veteran population and Fort Meade is one of the most important
economic drivers in the county.
Recommendations:

Subcommittee
Members

1)

Undertake a comprehensive strategic planning process for
economic development, which is the foundational support
system that allows county government to resource adequate
programs and activities. The last plan was created 25 years
ago. A new 3-year plan, to be reviewed annually, should
consider evidence-based decision making, a marketing plan,
stakeholder partnerships, and examination of Anne Arundel
Economic Development Corporation financing and tax credit
programs.

2)

Expand workforce development opportunities by connecting
the Anne Arundel County Workforce Development Center
with current community outreach programs to better educate
citizens about available resources, provide ESL support,
establish a county-wide mentoring program, provide funds to
non-profit organizations that work with unemployed and
homeless populations, and require contractors to hire a
percentage of workers from the communities in which they
are building.

3)

Develop and maintain critical communication links among the
County Council, County Executive, city, state, and elected
officials to support the County Executive’s promise of
transparency and open government. Explore strategies to

Community Relations
& Outreach
Lucinda Ware, Chair
Isabella Firth Shycoff
Britt Griswold
Sheila Henriquez
Monica Lindsey
Tisha Richardson
Debbie Ritchie
Karen Simpson
Constituent Services
Lisa Shore, Chair
Jackie Boone Allsup
Nicky Butler
Christine Davenport
Terry Douglas
Sheila Henriquez
Debbie Ritchie
Amanda Spake

10

 improve constituent services, such as data collection and tracking,
follow up surveys, training in best practices, and reducing the
duplication between County Council and Constituent Services
offices.

Subcommittee
Members

4)

Provide reliable public transportation to Fort Meade.

Economic Development

5)

Implement a community engagement "Reach Out" strategy. The
administration has taken the first step with the recent
announcement of its Office of Community Engagement and
Constituent Services. Specific recommendations to define and
implement this strategy are included in a separate sub-committee
report.

6)

Support development of a more effective workforce housing
program so people who work in our county can also live in our
county.

Mary Burkholder, Chair

7)

Establish the Anne Arundel County Veterans Assistance Center
(AACVAC) with a dedicated location at Crownsville, staff, and
budget to provide access to resources such as transportation and
housing resources as well as other services for veterans, active
duty personnel, military families, while addressing the unique
needs of female veterans. Resources should also be easily
accessible online.

Robert Burdon
Deidra Dennie
Thomas Diana
L.E. Gomez
Dennis Murphy
Silas Price
JaCina Stanton

Military Partnerships &
Veteran Affairs:
Eve Hurwitz
Dan Tootle
Joyce Rosencranz
Co-Chairs
Emma Buchman
Col. John Church
Briayna Cuffie
Chris Gowan
Chad Jones
Curtis Jones
Priscilla Kania
John Mecholsky
Carmen Skarpula

Job Training &
Workforce Development
Linda Robertson, Chair
Rudwan Abu-Rumman
Christine Davenport
Chuck Hurley
Curtis Muhammad
Abdul Raif Sheik
Connie Sharpe
JoAnne Zoller-Wagner

11

 SAFE Communities
Each sub-committee found many strengths within each
agency and were generally impressed with their inner
workings, yet noted opportunities for improvement.
Excellence should always be the standard for setting and
achieving goals.

Committee Co-ChairS
Ed Bergin
Rook Rogers

The committee recognizes that economics will play a
significant role in staffing and many policy outcomes.
Some recommendations set forth will incur large costs to
the County and its citizens. Staffing was the most
prevalent recommendation across the board for each subcommittee. To mitigate some expected costs, innovative
alternatives and strategies will be needed.

Recommendations:
1) Increase staffing, both civilian and sworn in each agency, not just police, fire, and EMS, but the 911
Center, Animal Control, EOC, SROs, and smaller units such as the Gang Unit. Raising salaries and
addressing pay compression can eliminate disparity, bring equity to the workplace, and increase each
agency’s ability to recruit and retain a quality workforce.
2) Increase diversity in all agencies, with an emphasis on Hispanics, who are particularly
underrepresented. This can be done by evaluating current hiring, promotion and retention practices
as well as providing opportunities for professional development.

Subcommittee Members
911 Communications and
Technology (police)

Diversity Recruitment &
Retention (police)

Michael Shier, Chair
Deborah Scott, Richard Herard

O'Brien Atkinson, IV, Chair
Richard Herard
Sheryl Menendez

Animal Care & Control
Emergency Operations Ctr
Michael Shier, Chair
Matt Walling
Behavioral Health
Jen Corbin, Chair
Angel Traynor, Pam Smelser
Detention
Calvin Wilson, Chair
Gary Simmons, Dale Waldroff

Fire
Richard “Rook” Rogers, Chair
Yulanda Barnes
Craig Harman
Curtis Harrold
Albert Kirchner
Kelly Martin
Craig Oldershaw
Keith Popp
Charles Rogers
Kevin Simmons
Walter Snyder

12

Community Relations
& Outreach
Jay Offer, Chair
Rudwan Abu-Rumman
Ed Bergin
Gangs & Crime Reduction
Luis Gonzelez
Leadership
Eddie Hegewisch, Chair
Tom Shanahan, Joe Johnson,
Michael Shier
School Safety
Kim McNemar, Chair
Dr. Shawn Ashworth
Nysha Counts

 3) Ensure the safety of children in schools by providing extensive training for officers in juvenile
issues, improving technology, developing more collaborative relationships between schools and
law enforcement, educating teachers in gang identification, and instituting a single public safety
plan at all schools.
4) Improve and expand educational resources, including Not My Child, and training around mental
health and substance use disorders.
5) Invest in technology after successful pilot programs. Two specific areas are the 911 Center and
purchase of body cameras. The latter will aid in police investigations and provide vital evidence in
cases of police misconduct, which will improve transparency and trust in communities.
6) Establish strict policies and guidelines to prevent department members from being used as political
weapons by any administration, practice modern leadership principles in each agency, give
autonomy to subordinate supervisors, and reassess the shift assignment structure to improve
employee morale and well-being.
7) Develop an accountable strategic plan to efficiently and effectively operate Anne Arundel County
detention facilities, including plans to improve salary packages, morale, management training,
recruitment and hiring, intra-departmental communication, and the security policy.
8) Improve fire department operations, response times, and public safety by identifying an effective
business model, engaging with the community, collaborating with other jurisdictions and the local
hospitals, assessing the Central Shop, and returning to the Rapid Dispatch Protocol. Fire
leadership must address a “toxic culture” in the department, and the Committee believes the
appointment of Chief Wolford is a good first step.
Recommendations specific to the two largest public safety agencies, police and fire, are very similar
despite being studied by two separate groups. Both identified the need to elevate staffing levels, increase
diversity, improve leadership practices, invest in technology and equipment and provide better training
especially related to mental and behavioral health issues.

Thriving Communities
The Thriving Communities Committee identified strategies to keep
Anne Arundel County vibrant and moving forward. Issues
explored included land use, infrastructure, transportation
planning, affordable housing, and the general development plan.
A thriving community is one where growth results from the needs
of the county’s citizens and the county ensures that the resources
needed to support that growth are planned and available. This
starts with environmentally sensitive land use policies and the
exploration of broad based revenue sources. Citizens who work
here should be able to live here, and for those who do call Anne
Arundel County home, creating transparent processes that allow
for community participation can increase their confidence in
government.

13

Committee Chair
Christina Pompa

 Thriving

Recommendations:

Communities
Subcommittee

1)

Provide for visioning, enhance citizen engagement, reconstitute the
Citizen Advisory Committee for the General Development Plan
(GDP), and add an implementation action item in the GDP to
reinstate the Small Area Planning (SAP) Processes.

2)

Provide staff resources to comprehensively update the Zoning
Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations after the GDP and/or each
SAP to codify implementation actions contained in the updated
plans.

3)

Provide funding to fully implement and maintain the Accela Land
Management Core System (LMCS) cloud-based planning and
permitting submittal and task manager software, giving it a new
publicly recognizable name and initiating a public relations/
information campaign to inform stakeholders at each stage of
implementation.

Members
Affordable Housing
Trudy McFall, Chair
Kam Cooke
Shaneka Hensen
Devin Tucker
Infrastructure and Adequate
Public Facilities
Linda Schuett, Chair
Lex Birney
Rob Sell
Joan Turek
Planning
Ann Fligsten, Chair
John Frece
Patricia Huecker
Eliot Powell
Transportation Planning
Jon Korin, Chair

4) Strengthen the authority and stature of the Office of Transportation
to assure compliance with policies and regulations related to all
transportation modes for private development as well as county
projects.
5) Increase the Transportation Capital Budget for system expansion of
transportation projects that reduce congestion and improve safety for
all modes.
6) Obtain enabling legislation from the General Assembly to impose an
excise tax instead of impact fees on new development which
eliminates the need for impact fee districts and allows the County to
spend the funds where the need is greatest. Funded projects should
be well publicized to allow extensive public comment.

Paul Foer

Elza McGowan

7) Create methods for incentivizing the production of new affordable
housing units in the County through a mandatory inclusionary zoning
requirement and zoning code revisions.

Zoning

8) Commit to information technology, GIS, and database improvements

Caroll Hynson
Tom Masog

Richard Falk, Wil Scott,
Melissa Stanton
Sager Williams

and upgrades for ease of use by the public and staff.
9) Align staff with work program, including budgeting for new positions
in the Office of Planning & Zoning and the Office of Transportation,
and relocating some staff as recommended.

14

 Educated Communities
Members of the Educated Communities Committee were charged with
exploring the current state of all levels of education from early childhood to
community college, as well as library services, the availability of job training and
apprenticeships, and opportunities to participate in the arts in Anne Arundel
County.
Note: The Educated Communities Committee was smaller than the other
committees but relied on key advisors to the subcommittee chairs.

Committee Chair
Stacy Korbelak

Educated communities contribute to the growth of every other community
defined and explored during the transition process. Educated communities are
empowered, they are healthy, they are thriving and more. Investment in
students, teachers, and staff is necessary to ensure that the next generation of
citizens can continue to build upon the work our county leaders begin today.

But, education goes well beyond a standard curriculum. Given the magnitude of divisiveness in our world,
this committee believes the county must provide safe, welcoming places to help build tolerance and
understanding while being mindful of geographic equity concerns in all of the key areas identified. Citizens
of Anne Arundel County want access to libraries, the arts, workforce development, quality schools and
teachers, and higher education offerings county-wide.
Recommendations:
1) Reexamine the plan for the Old Mill “Campus” to free up capital
dollars and maximize the space to offer additional community
services, such as a regional library, mental health services for
students, workforce development, and sports facilities.
2) Create an arts district in north and west county through
revitalization and repurposing of existing centers. The arts can
serve as an economic driver for these areas.
3) Ensure our county educators and staff are compensated equitably
by maintaining market-rate salaries at Anne Arundel Community
College, adjusting bargaining unit salaries at Anne Arundel County
Public Schools, and improving substitute and adjunct pay.
4) Prepare for mandatory Pre-K by determining where there are
available seats and aligning certification requirements.
5) Pilot a mobile outreach vehicle to reach underserved communities.
The vehicle can host library resources, a food bank, workforce
training, and physical/mental health services.
6) Empower the workforce via micro-credentialing and digital
badging.
7) Create more community spaces where people can gather to learn,

meet, and talk while being mindful of geographic equity concerns.
15

Subcommittee
Members
Community College
Sue Callahan, Nyia Curtis
Early Childhood Education
Nisha Rastogi
K-12 Education
Richard Benfer
Scott Howarth
Elizabeth Ysla-Leight
Libraries
Karen Smith
The Arts
Ruby Singleton Blakeney
Workforce Development /
Apprenticeships
Kip Kunsman
Equity Advisory Member
Mikio Manuel

 Responsive Government
The Responsive Government Committee made recommendations to
ensure that Anne Arundel County communities can be healthy,
sustainable, empowered, safe, thriving, and educated by providing
government services that are efficient, transparent, and cost effective.
The committee looked at both internal government functions and external
relations.

Committee Chair

Jerry Walker

The scope of this committee was large and required a review of seven
county departments plus the exploration of a CountyStat system, which
resulted in a longer list of recommendations than other committees.
Recommendations 1-5, and number 12a are offered by the committee
chair based on one on one meetings with department heads, prior
knowledge of county government, and discussions with members of the
individual subcommittees. Recommendations 6-11, and 12b-14 were
recommendations made directly by the 8 subcommittees based on their
findings and conclusions.

Recommendations:
1)

Expand the Chief Administrative Office (CAO) by adding a minimum of two Deputy CAO
positions to divide the agencies and handle the day to day oversight of their respective
areas with direct reporting to the CAO. This recommendation is consistent with
neighboring jurisdictions and best practices.

2)

Invest resources into the County 311 system. This system was discussed in multiple
subcommittees within the Responsive Government umbrella as well as other transition
committees. The program appears to lack clear direction from senior leadership and no
single department has claimed ownership of the inputs and outcomes. The result is a
program that lacks resources, is underutilized, not well marketed, and therefore not
functioning at its optimum abilities.

3)

Create an approach to information technology and data sharing/management across
agencies to allow for generation of data and information that could be utilized in decision
making by the administration.

4)

Consider three potential options to establish a childcare facility and/or general wellness
amenity for employees. These options are described in the Chair’s report.

5)

To increase participatory budgeting and funding for projects that local residents feel are
important, propose a charter amendment that establishes a special category/fund within
the budget to permit an individual council member to propose spending a limited and
clearly defined pool of revenue within their jurisdiction.

6)

Host public hearings in each council district in coordination with the district’s councilperson
early in the budget cycle and make all testimony and responses easily available to citizens
who were unable to attend.

16

 7)

Develop an Employee Empowerment Program to facilitate
employee participation in decision processes to enhance
services, reduce costs and create efficiencies. Empowering
employees and engaging the knowledgeable base of county
employees is critical to improvements, which can have a
positive impact on all citizens.

8)

Publish a Central Services users’ manual.

9)

Institute an employee survey to tap into their experience and
knowledge, to address employee concerns, and to hear what
is working in County government from the employee
perspective.

10) Provide greater clarity to the current employee reporting
process and create a procedure where the Personnel Officer
must gather and analyze all reports to identify systemic or
individual issues, prepare a plan to address those issues,
and report the findings to the County Executive on a regular
basis.
11) Protect the county’s data and systems while increasing
transparency and access by investing in cyber security
infrastructure and training, improving the procurement
process, investigating and creating an open data portal, and
evaluating progress twice each year.
12) (a) Adjust the balance of power between Executive and
Legislative branches to allow appointment approval and
removal of the County Attorney by the County Council to
prevent undue influence or the appearance of undue
influence on the Council’s Attorney from the County
Executive. Alternatively, (b) appoint an attorney to represent
the County Council. Both would require changes to the
County Code.
13) Reinstate the position of Land Use Officer to better
coordinate and improve functions of the Office of Planning &
Zoning and the Department of Inspections & Permits. The
same goal may be achieved by implementing the first
recommendation.
14) Form a CountyStat team and develop reports for the County
Executive’s top three priorities.

17

Subcommittee
Members
Budget
Charlie Manion, Chair
Kevin Kavanaugh, Brendan
Maltese, Dawn Myers,
Kathie Sulick
Central Services
Amy Lanham, Chair
Lonnie Lancione, Kim Pruim,
Bill Schull
Core Team
Jerry Walker
CountyStat
Mark Cook, Chair
Patrick Armstrong
Dylan Behler
Brooks Schandelmeier,
Scott Shaffer
Inspections & Permits
Bob Lee, Chair
Zulfiqar Baig, Carroll Hicks,
Tim Martin
Information Technology
John Juppe, Chair
Luna Akhter
Naser Rawashdeh
Gary Shives
Law / Legal
Daryl Jones, Chair
Tom Fleckenstein
Julia Pitcher
Jacina Stanton
Greg Jimeno
Personnel
William Kraus, Chair
Jeff Gauges
Laurel Hillocks, Tricia
Hopkins
Susan Lawrence
Edith Segree
Public Works
Jim Dipietro, Chair
Brittany Jones
Susan O'Brien
Terry Schuman
Brian Shepter

 Guiding Principles
The Pittman administration gave each committee chair a great deal of
latitude in terms of identifying committee members, developing a meeting
and research strategy, and selecting relevant stakeholders and resources.
The administration provided the committee chairs a list of five guiding
principles.
When reviewing the government’s current systems and preparing the final
recommendations in this report, committees considered the following:
Anne Arundel County is….
Diverse and Inclusive: Anne Arundel County government
should represent the communities and citizens that it serves
both internally (employment) and externally (programs) and aim
to advance equity for all people of the county.
Responsive to Communities: The voters elected Steuart Pittman based on his
vision for a more participatory and transparent government. Recommendations
should reflect that vision and the needs of the broader community, not just small
subsets of citizens.
An Economic Engine: Services to citizens can only be provided when resources
are available and each recommendation should consider how to best utilize existing
resources while growing new sources of non-tax revenue to provide these services.
Economic development and public/private partnerships are key to our success.
Fiscally and Environmentally Responsible: Resources of all types (taxpayer
dollars, grants, natural resources, human resources, etc.) will be used prudently and
recommendations should be both feasible in the short-term and sustainable for the
long-term.
The Best Place: Anne Arundel County is already a great place to live, learn, work,
play, visit, or engage in any other activity you enjoy, but there is always room for
improvement. Committees are charged with making recommendations that can
improve the lives of citizens today, tomorrow, and in the future.

18

 Overall Themes and Conclusions
The findings and recommendations in this report include both visionary ideas and specific, actionable
items. Some are small and presumably easy to accomplish, while others are complex and will require
significant time, resources and stakeholder involvement to implement. Some recommendations require
little if any funding, some would mean a large investment, while still others will require legislative action.
Whether the recommendations were small or large, visionary or specific, similar themes emerged from
most of the committees.
Staffing and funding aside, the most prevalent theme was engagement. The six community-based
committees recommended finding better mechanisms to engage the community in a wide range of
activities. The responsive government committee also recommended better engaging the county’s own
employees in making decisions to improve processes and services provided to the county’s internal and
external customers.
Engagement goes hand in hand with collaboration, information sharing, and communication. Almost all
committees saw a need to improve communication with constituents and among departments. Many of
these bigger-picture, long-term recommendations would require collaboration with the community, other
departments, local business or non-profits, the state legislature, and/or the City of Annapolis among many
other potential partners.
Transportation, or lack thereof, in the county was an issue identified by all committees. Transportation is
needed to access the county’s health and human services, its parks, and its schools. People need a
better transportation network to get to their places of work. Transportation is needed for the young, for the
old, and for ages in between. Transportation options are needed to decrease road congestion and protect
the environment.
A final theme was the county’s responsibility to ensure that there is equity and access to services for all
residents of the county. This includes transportation, recreation opportunities, education, health care,
employment opportunities, the arts and safe communities in which to live.
Interestingly, the universal themes identified as a result of this transition process, with just one exception,
differed from that of the previous administration. Four years ago, the transition team identified the need to
upgrade information technology, create a culture of customer-friendly service, enhance revenue from
private sources, embrace public/private partnerships, and streamline the procurement process. The one
key theme identified both now and four years ago is the need to build cross-departmental collaborations
and cooperation. This issue is clearly one that can still be improved.
In conclusion, all citizens deserve to live in healthy, sustainable, empowered, safe, thriving, educated
communities. All citizens deserve a government that is open, accessible and responsive to their needs.
The new administration has the opportunity to make changes to best address the changing needs of the
people who call this county home. This transition report provides the County Executive and his team with
a long list of actionable recommendations aimed at making Anne Arundel County The Best Place.

19

 "Let us never forget that government is ourselves
and not an alien power over us."
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't
walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving
forward."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“This is an ambitious agenda, but not a divisive agenda. This is an
agenda that can and will bring us together, with your help.
We have an opportunity, and an obligation, to show that trust in
government can be restored.”
- From Steuart Pittman’s Inaugural Address
December 3, 2018

© 2019
For information about this report, contact the County Executive’s Office at
countyexecutive@aacounty.org
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