Issues
There are countless concerns that many of our neighborhoods and communities have. Here are just a handful of issues we look forward to having more dialogue about and look forward to working with you to tackle head on.
Empowering Neighborhoods and Communities
Every Anne Arundel County Citizen should have an equal seat at the table, not just the privileged few. My administration will work to empower our neighborhoods and communities through transparency and open dialogue. We need to address the disconnect between our elected officials and their constituents so that our policies accurately reflect the will of the people.
Traffic and Managed Growth
Traffic in Anne Arundel County has become noticeably worse. This is a natural part of growth in our population over time however; recent planning and zoning decisions by our current County Council leadership has only put this traffic concern into overdrive!
We need to strengthen requirements for private developers so that our roads, schools and public utilities can keep up with increased growth. Developers can't reap the benefits of millions of dollars without paying their fair share.
Housing for Success
Anne Arundel County needs to do a better job of creating opportunities for housing. With increased diversity in housing type can meet families where they are by providing housing supply that works for them.
We also need to be more strategic by incentivizing workforce housing in areas that are closer to job centers, or corridors with reliable transportation options. Simply developing workforce housing in car-dependent areas defeats the purpose of affordability. We can implement income-based housing policies as much as we want but the cost of automobiles, gasoline, and car repairs don't care how much or how little we make.
Education
My administration will work with the Anne Arundel County Public School system to develop a strategy for reducing classroom sizes so that all students can get the more focused attention they deserve, while also lessening the burden on our educators. The goal of my administration is to put the County on a path to no more than 20 students per classroom.
An improved public school system strengthens our County and makes us more competitive with our neighboring jurisdictions but we can only make substantive gains if we provide our teachers the resources and conditions they deserve to do their jobs effectively.
Public Safety
We will work hard to strive for improvements in public safety. Neighborhoods and communities should be made to feel that law enforcement is a part of the community and not there to simply police it. This can be achieved through enhanced training ititiatives and incentives.
We will also work to ensure that our law enforcement puts our residents first regardless of race or ethnicity. Any Anne Arundel County Resident within our jurisdiction is subject to our State and Local laws first. We will focus on training of our local law enforcement to deescalate conflicts with I.C.E while protecting the rights of individuals.