Kevin Kamenetz
Inaugural Address -
December 6, 2010
Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and family, honored judges and our new council, other dedicated County officials and distinguished guests, today I am proud to begin my service as the 12th Baltimore County Executive.
I feel extremely grateful to be here today, but I also feel as if I have come full circle. As a teenager in 1974, I volunteered on Ted Venetoulis’ campaign for County Executive. Four years later, I was on the ballot for the Democratic Central Committee the same year that Jim Smith was first elected to the County Council and Don Hutchinson was first elected as County Executive. In 1985, when Jim was appointed to the bench, as a Central Committee member, I voted to fill the vacancy with Dutch Ruppersberger. Little did I know so many future County Executives would be involved in one meeting! Of course during my sixteen years as a member of the Council, I had the pleasure of working with both Dutch and Jim as County Executives. And today, as I assume the office of Baltimore County Executive in a difficult economy, I fully appreciate the tough decisions that Roger Hayden had to make. Each of these dedicated public servants helped make Baltimore County what it is today. And Gentlemen, be assured that I will continue to seek your advice in the years to come.
Gratitude to Predecessors
I also want to extend my gratitude to two of my predecessors in particular. Ted Venetoulis is just as committed to the people of this County as when he was first elected 36 years ago. Ted, you did a great job guiding my transition into office and I am deeply grateful for your wisdom and hard work over the past month, and over the many years of our friendship.
And to Jim Smith, thank you. You made my job easier with your adherence to fiscal responsibility over the past 8 years as well as your kindness by ensuring such a smooth transition.
For the past four years, the people of Baltimore County and Maryland could not have asked for a greater friend than Governor Martin O’Malley. I look forward to our partnership as we move our County and State forward. I am also honored to be joined by our State’s Senior Senator and the second longest-serving female member in the history of the United States Congress, Senator Barbara Mikulski. Greetings as well to our closest neighbor, Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. We are also honored to be joined members of our County’s federal delegation, including my dear friend Congressman Elijah Cummings and Congressman John Sarbanes.
Longtime Resident
Today, I am a lucky man. I have spent nearly my entire life in Baltimore County. From the streets of Lochearn, to the storefronts of Overlea, to the courtrooms of Towson, to the neighborhoods of Owings Mills, I grew up, built a career, met and married Jill, and now raise my own family in our wonderful hometown. I am grateful for the life that I have been able to create here, and I am committed to making sure that my own boys, and all the children growing up in Baltimore County today, have the same opportunities to prosper that my generation did.
Changes Through the Years
One hundred years ago, Baltimore County was a very different place from the one that we call home today. Communities like Owings Mills and White Marsh were largely farmland. Horses and trolleys were the dominant mode of transportation, and it could take 90 minutes to get from Towson to Catonsville. And not withstanding our expanding beltway, it seems on some days it still takes that long. Unsightly electricity towers represented the exciting and frightening cutting edge of science and technology, perhaps eerily echoed by today’s cell tower controversy.
However, in one way, 1910 was a lot like 2010—it was a time when people were not always sure whether changes on the horizon would improve or hamper their quality of life. Change is inevitable, but progress is optional. Throughout its history, the people of Baltimore County have chosen the path of progress. In a single century, we have come farther than anyone could have ever imagined thanks to a simple truth: progress is built by creative people with new ideas.
Growing up in the second half of these last 100 years, I tended to think of our County as the “ideas” county of the region. It was our County that installed solar panels on the roof of the detention center, long before green energy was a cutting edge industry. We created the Urban Rural Demarcation Line to protect our rural heritage and avoid suburban sprawl, defining “Smart Growth” decades before that term was coined. We were ahead of the curve when we first implemented Countywide recycling in the early 90's. This kind of innovation defined our County once, and it can do so again.
Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple, said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” As we enter the second decade of this new century, I know that Baltimore County can reclaim its role as Maryland's leader in innovation and creativity.
Whether a child graduates from a school in Randallstown, Essex, or Towson, he or she will be entering a global economy, competing with not just workers in Wilmington and New York but with workers in Munich and Beijing. We must ensure that the jobs that drive this new economy are not located in some far off land, but here, in the communities where our sons and daughters grow up. Every school in Baltimore County must be prepared to meet the needs of a 21st century education for each and every child. I’ve said it often: the quality of our children’s education cannot be determined by their zip code.
County's Future
Green jobs, like those at the GM’s Transmission plant in White Marsh, where workers manufacture hybrid transmissions and electric motors, represent an increasingly important sector of our economy. We must support this growth with innovative ideas, infrastructure, and a skilled workforce right here in Baltimore County.
As I look out on this crowd today, I see people with the determination to seize the promise and opportunity of Baltimore County’s future. I see a County that draws its strength from its diversity and character. And I see our children, whose limitless potential has yet to be realized.
As we move forward toward tomorrow, our shared future depends on our ability to inspire confidence—confidence in a government where public servants make the right decisions for the right reasons; confidence that our streets will remain safe and our schools will shine as beacons of excellence, and confidence that in this changing century, we will be leaders, not followers.
Guided by the words of George Bernard Shaw, that were so often repeated by the late Senator Robert Kennedy, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?” Today, I believe that there is no dream that is beyond the reach of the people of Baltimore County.
I believe that together, we can build a future that is worthy of our children and all the generations who will follow. I look forward to joining you on that journey.
