Annapolis, MD - The following is a statement prepared by County Executive Steuart Pittman on filing for re-election.
“Today I filed papers to run for re-election. Here’s why.
In three years I’ve built an extraordinary team that through pandemic, political chaos, tornado, and storms managed not only to jump-start the progress we needed for schools, public safety, environment, and health, but also to put county government in a stronger fiscal position than it’s ever been before while keeping taxes lower than any other central Maryland county.
Our record is extraordinary. We’ve reduced violent crime while it’s risen elsewhere. We’ve reduced opioid overdose and death while it’s increased in the state and country. We’ve empowered communities on development matters with our new regional stakeholder groups while shifting to smart growth development strategies that get cars off roads and protect nature.
And with help from our state and federal partners we’ve invested in families and children strategically and effectively, creating economic opportunity to expand our workforce in support of local businesses.
But all of this progress could be undone. The people who have expressed interest in replacing me opposed every one of our budgets, even though we ended each year with a significant surplus. They opposed our resilience authority, our workforce housing legislation, our land use plan, and every action that we took at the request of our Health Officer to save lives from COVID-19.
All three of the opposing party’s county council representatives, including the one who recently filed to run for county executive, actually voted to reject state grants for programs to vaccinate children and combat the opioid epidemic. Their dislike of local government is so intense that they want to shut down our services.
I spent 35 years running organizations and businesses before I took this job, and I used that experience to make county government more efficient, more transparent, and more effective. I used it to build a team that can govern through the kinds of challenges we’ve faced and the ones that might come our way.
I am running for re-election because the future matters. I will not step aside for people who have never run an organization or a business, and who seek to end government services.
I care too much about our teachers, our firefighters, our police officers and our public servants to walk away from this job. I care too much about the homeowners, the renters, the small business owners, and the visitors to this county to walk away from this job. And I care too much about the land, the water, and the wildlife of this county to walk away from this job.
That’s why I filed papers today seeking the honor of serving for a second term as your Anne Arundel County Executive, and that’s why I’m asking for your vote.”
