We were taught in school that an informed citizenry is the foundation of a strong civil society. I believe that to my core, and that’s why I follow the news. I hope you’re doing the same, because decisions are being made this week at an alarming pace about who will be leading the federal institutions that we depend on for national defense, law and order, public spending, environmental protection, and health. Knowing their backgrounds informs both our public engagement and preparation for the future.
Last Friday I asked our directors of health and human service agencies to share any concerns they have about how the change in administration might impact their work. I’m glad I asked. It’s our job to plan for change, and each of them are doing exactly that. Many have been through these kinds of changes before, and all of them are pillars of strength for the people they serve.
But we also keep on doing what we’ve been doing. The good things.
Saturday night I joined my former board colleagues at the Anne Arundel County Farm Bureau Annual Banquet. I updated them on the many new farms participating in the ag preservation program, prospects for the grain elevator, prospects for expansion of ag education programs, and thanked them for driving truckloads of feed and supplies to North Carolina farmers devastated by Hurricane Helene.
On Monday, I went to the World War II Memorial overlooking the Severn River in Annapolis for the American Legion Cook-Pinkney Post 141 Veterans Day Ceremony. I go there every year, and being invited to speak encourages me to think about why I and so many others look up to our veterans.
My message this year was the “We, not me” that a Navy veteran explained to me once. Those of us who never served will never understand it fully, but we can observe the quality of the men and women that the experience creates. Connecting to others, and to a cause greater than ourselves makes us better humans, and we can all find a way to do that.
Monday night, Swedish Ambassador Urban Ahlin and his wife Jenni joined a group of us who had recently been on a study tour of their country for a conversation about what we learned. He commented that Americans often describe Sweden as practicing some form of socialism, but that he doesn’t see it that way at all. It’s very much a free market economy, he argues. It’s just that the residents demand that their government use their tax dollars to provide services that give them the freedom to live productive lives.
On Tuesday morning I was able to bring a proposal from former Housing Commission of Anne Arundel County Director Clif Martin to a group of local officials convened by State Senator and soon-to-be Congresswoman Sarah Elfreth. We had hired Clif to work with Housing Authority of City of Annapolis (HACA) Director Melissa Maddox-Evans and others on a plan to rescue the institution from a financial crisis that had resulted from the impacts of COVID and the maintenance costs of severely deteriorated buildings.
You’ll soon be hearing in the news about a four-part strategy with funding from the City, the State, and the County that I am confident will bring all HACA units up to code, bring back rent collections, resolve lawsuits, and allow the agency to move forward with the redevelopment of their properties while keeping residents safely housed. That’s all I’ll say on the topic for now, other than that getting to this point was only possible because people took a deep breath and chose to trust one another.
Later that day I interviewed Leah Paley, Director of the Anne Arundel County Food Bank for Pittman and Friends Podcast. We’re about three weeks ahead in production, so you’ll have to wait to hear it, but did you catch our fifth episode this week, titled “Connecting People with Government,” with Vincent Moulden? Vincent runs our Community Engagement and Constituent Services office, and he’s an extraordinary peacemaker.
On Tuesday night I joined a very well attended Town Hall hosted by the Severn Improvement Association (SIA), based largely in Queenstown. It’s a primarily African American, low density residential community with an extraordinary history.
Parts of the community were upzoned to commercial and industrial decades ago because somebody wanted to make easy money, and residents weren’t notified. As a result, they have tractor trailers coming through regularly.
SIA leaders engaged in the Region Plan process during the last 18 months, and the plan heading to the County Council for approval very soon has solutions proposed that their organization will be working to implement. It was satisfying to see four county departments presenting updates, and community leaders being truly heard.
This is getting long, and I’ve only covered half the week. You can catch my Fox45 interview about how our voters spoke loud and clear in this election to endorse the progress and direction of our Anne Arundel Board of Education, and I’ll leave out the part about the extraordinary presentation from Anne Arundel Community Action Agency on the success of their re-entry work with recently released men and women, and about the comprehensive rezoning process we’re going through, and a bunch of other big things that move through this office carefully but efficiently.
I’m really lucky to be surrounded by quality people who make it all happen. Oh, and speaking of them, they can really cook! Today was our Friendsgiving Potluck. Yum.
Until next week…