Welcome to the first installment of my Weekly Letter.
It's the direct, raw, and sometimes unconventional story the way I want to tell it. It’s my take on what matters each and every week from the fourth floor of the Arundel Center.
We began our second term on December 5 with a new Chief Administrative Officer, a new Chief of Staff, a new Communications Director, and a new Community Engagement and Constituent Services Director. They were all promoted from within, and looking at my schedule over the last week suggests that they have all hit the ground sprinting. I know because they have me sprinting, and that is a good thing. Four years goes fast and we need to finish what we started.
The week started with a legislative briefing from our partners at Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Then came the swearing in of my cabinet, a tough conversation with them about revenue and expense projections for the FY24 budget, and speaking to our Anne Arundel and Annapolis Chamber of Commerce about our challenges and opportunities.
Wednesday was the first day of session for the Maryland General Assembly when I gather with my peers from neighboring counties, attend the House and Senate swearings-in, and begin advocacy on behalf of our residents to the movers and shakers of state government.
The next day I spoke to the MD Economic Development Association, met with one of my favorite advocacy organizations - Anne Arundel Connecting Together, met with our county and nonprofit partners on a new re-entry framework to bring formerly incarcerated residents into our workforce, and attended a ribbon cutting for the opening of Senor Chile’s Severna Park location - a restaurant owned and run by an extraordinary nineteen-year-old boy named Harry Salmoran whose parents moved here from Mexico and raised him in the business.
On Thursday evening we did our first of eight Budget Town Halls with Councilwoman Pickard in District 2, where I was very blunt about the fiscal pressures we face and heard compelling cases from residents for spending on everything from defibrillators at county parks to animal care and control staff.
Maybe the most impactful work I did this week was writing the short speech that I’ll deliver at the start of the inauguration of Governor-elect Wes Moore and Lt. Governor-elect Aruna Miller on the steps of Maryland’s Capitol. I have been given the high honor of serving as Master of Ceremonies that day, and will share some thoughts about our moment in history and the man we will swear in as our next Governor.
Until next week,
Steuart Pittman
Anne Arundel County Executive