Today is proof of what hardworking people, working together, can accomplish. You truly made a difference! I would not be here today without the support of the great people of Baltimore County.
I would not be here today without the imagination, energy, and commitment of more than a thousand volunteers who worked together in an intense 14-month campaign. I can't name you all or we will be here on New Year's Eve, but I do not take your help for granted.
I want you to know that at Thanksgiving when my family gathered, we gave thanks for all your help, and we prayed for your continued help as the real work begins.
There are a few people I must recognize for their special sacrifices, in fact, the almost total interruption of their personal lives, over the last 14 months. My family, my wife, Sandy, and my children and their spouses, whom Don has already introduced, and of course my grandchildren who were with me throughout the campaign and will be participating in one of my first official acts, the annual holiday tree lighting taking place tonight. I also must mention my sister-in-law, Shirley Smith, my sister Terry Cook, and my nephew, Jacob Smith, who gave almost full time support. I especially want to mention my campaign manager, my son, Michael Paul. No father and son have had a greater experience together than we have had over the last 16 months.
Thanks to the more than a thousand volunteers who made up my campaign organization, especially Mike Weber, my campaign treasurer, and Paul Bekman my finance chair.
I also want to thank the inaugural committee, who planned and supported these ceremonies under the leadership of Bebe Kernan, Sharon Paul, Donna Morrison, Stuart Kaplow and Issac Manjoe.
And I want to thank Dutch Ruppersberger. I want to thank him for leaving us one of the best managed county governments in the nation. I ask that we show our appreciation to Dutch for a job well done.
And I can assure you that I have no intention of letting Dutch disappear on Capitol Hill. Not only will I seek his advice and counsel, I will specifically seek his help lining up federal support for Baltimore County, particularly in these current economic times when I may need a little extra help, especially at the start.
You know there are many other familiar faces here today who have helped me throughout my career. I saw many of you when I recently toured the County offices, county employees, working men and women serving the citizens of Baltimore County and of whom Baltimore County can be proud. Many of you I even recognized from my days in County government dating as far back as 20 years ago.
Our county is blessed with an outstanding and stable workforce and it's nice for me to be back to work with them again.
It's nice to be back in the old Courthouse in Towson. Towson is where I have spent much of my adult life in trying to help others.
I first came to Towson as a lawyer helping people with routine problems, and in some cases life-altering situations. Then I came to Towson as a County Councilman working with like-minded elected officials to improve our County's quality of life. Then I sat here as a Judge, working to provide fair and humane resolutions to life's most complicated difficulties.
Now I return as County Executive, charged with the task of making sure that this team of people we call government, does its best everyday to help our citizens; does its best to make Baltimore County a better place to live; does its best to provide support early, in order to nip problems in the bud; does its best to fashion solutions at the front end so that troubled families, youth and adults do not end up standing before a Judge charged with being a problem.
The reason I ran for County Executive was to get involved in the front-end of the problem-solving process.
I want to collaborate with our County Council and legislative delegation and federal representatives to promote Baltimore County's quality of life. I want to work together in metropolitan cooperation. It's the right thing to do and it's important for improving the quality of life in Baltimore County.
Now, I do not stand here today thinking that I know all the answers to all of our problems. As I said when I campaigned, when we spoke in your homes and at your community organizations, Baltimore County's future depends on all of us working together and I will listen for ideas, guidance, support, and, yes, constructive criticism. We're going to be experimenting with some new ways of involving communities through round-table discussions and workshops. I am also interested in exploring new technologies that can help us improve services and communications with our citizens.
I found as a Judge, you learn more listening than talking. I learned a lot criss-crossing our county and listening to you, the people of Baltimore County.
You made it crystal clear that Baltimore County must continue to marshal its resources efficiently and effectively, especially in light of the national economy and our state budget, and I commit to doing that, and to aggressively pursuing federal, state, business, foundation and grant funding to support improvements in Baltimore County's delivery of services and promotion of quality of life.
You have made it clear that, to the fullest extent responsible management will allow, education must be a priority to improve the performance of our young people throughout Baltimore County, and I commit to working with the Superintendent, school board, PTA's, education's professional associations and the County Council to accomplish that, and to continue to update our older school facilities, to create academic centers in our high schools that are too large, to attract principals, teachers and support staff to our more challenging schools, to reduce the administrative burden on principals, assistant principals and teachers, to move forward with new school construction where warranted, and, as with the delivery of all county service, to maintain a competitive salary structure throughout the system.
You have made it clear that neighborhoods and local business districts must be secure, and I commit to working with the police, fire and paramedics to maintain the safety of where you live and work, and to making certain that a sense of trust and confidence is maintained between the police and the communities they serve.
You have made it clear that priority must be given to our older neighborhoods and commercial areas, and I commit to working with you to develop community plans that will renaissance our mature neighborhoods and local business districts, to utilizing both our Office of Community Conservation and our Department of Economic Development in the promotion of these community plans, and to providing priority status in the development process for redevelopment in Baltimore County.
Baltimore county faces exciting challenges and opportunities, and with communities and neighborhoods, business and labor, educators, PTA's and parents, dedicated County employees, organized volunteers, and political teamwork, we can meet these challenges and take advantage of these opportunities. Together we can do it. Working together we will do it.
I promise to give you my best effort everyday, to serve with integrity, to do the right thing even when what's right is not popular, to treat difficult decisions with seriousness and deliberation, and to listen.
Thank you for your trust. Thank you for your confidence. And let's always remember the power of prayer, in all that we do, and in all we can be. God bless you, and God bless Baltimore County.
Revised December 5, 2002
Courthouse 