Executive Update

April 2007

County Executive James T. Smith Jr.
400 Washington Avenue
Old Courthouse Mezzanine
Towson, Maryland 21204
410-887-2450
E-mail Address: jimsmith@baltimorecountymd.gov

Dear Friends of Baltimore County,

During the recently concluded 2007 of the Maryland General Assembly, our elected representatives demonstrated their determination to respond to the clear message sent by the voters in November—to collaborate on solutions to important issues facing families across Maryland. With a new Governor and a new legislature committed to working together in a spirit of compromise, this year’s session made significant contributions to progress in our State and to our County.

I am particularly proud of the Baltimore County delegation for their successful efforts on behalf of their constituents during the 2007 General Assembly. They made this Session work for families in Baltimore County. Among other important accomplishments, they secured record increases in school construction funding, helped to eliminate archaic and unfair ground rent laws, and fought to prevent the construction of an LNG Plant at Sparrow’s Point.

Improved Public Education

This year, our delegation once again focused on our number one priority—improving the quality of public education in Baltimore County. There is no resource more important to our communities than our schools, and no tool more important to our children than a good education. Baltimore County students go to good schools, and they are taught by outstanding teachers, but we know that there is another important component in helping children learn – the quality of the buildings themselves.

Many of the schools in Baltimore County are old—older than most of the teachers who teach in them and even older than many of the principals who lead them. Baltimore County’s Systemic Renovation Program is vital to our effort to provide every student with a safe, up to date classroom—the kind of classroom that is conducive to today’s learning, the kind of classroom we all want for our children and grandchildren.

Thanks to the hard work and committed collaboration of our County delegation, led by Delegate Adrienne Jones and Senator Ed Kasemeyer, Baltimore County will receive over $52 million dollars in state school renovation and construction funding this year, the largest sum Baltimore County has ever received.

Baltimore County will put these funds to immediate use. We can now complete the systemic renovations of our middle schools, and begin to move forward on our aging high schools. This year, all of our middle school projects will be either out to bid or under construction. The Governor and our delegation have helped to ensure that every student in Baltimore County will attend school in classrooms which are equipped to meet the needs of the 21^st Century, preparing students for today’s workforce and the challenges of tomorrow’s economy.

Public Safety

Public safety was another important priority of this year’s Session. Baltimore County worked together worked together with the Attorney General to secure passage of the Maryland Gang Prosecution Act of 2007 to give State’s Attorney, Scott Shellenberger, and other prosecutors throughout the State, a new tool to use in their important mission to eliminate gang activity in Maryland. Another new law will offer forensic workers, such as crime scene personnel and lab workers, additional legal protections that their jobs both require and deserve.

I was proud to see our delegation stand together during the 2007 Session against the dangerous and ill-advised proposal to locate an LNG Plant in Sparrow’s Point. LNG may be an excellent fuel source, but it brings with it serious safety, security, and environmental concerns when located in the environmentally stressed and densely populated area. I was disappointed that we were unable to secure legislation to prohibit the proposed LNG Plant, and I promise that Baltimore County will continue to fight the dangerous and environmentally reckless location of an LNG plant in Sparrow’s Point.

The people of Baltimore County trust us to make government work. We accomplished a great deal in the 2007 General Assembly Session. There is much more left to do in 2008, and do it we will.

James T. Smith, Jr.
Baltimore County Executive

Revised May 14, 2007