public safety

As a retired Maryland State Trooper, I strongly believe in developing open lines of communication and increasing trust between the citizens, police and elected officials to keep Havre de Grace safe. We need to keep our School Resource Officers in the local schools. Don’t believe me, ask a student about their interactions with the SRO’s in school, outside school and at the summer camps. There is a need to invest in Harford County’s quality of life by investing in law enforcement and the Havre de Grace Police Department, in particular. The addition of an Auxiliary Police Unit provided the opportunity of inclusion for all in keeping our community safe.  Funding needs to be provided for a Cadet Program(on hold due to Covid-19) that will allow the recruitment of 18 to 21 year old residents to participate and discover the interactions of law enforcement in the community. It will provided the cadets an opportunity to receive college education credits, and make an informed decision about law enforcement as a career. Is the right choice for them? It provides Havre de Grace the ability to hire our future police officers from Havre de Grace residents rather than having to recruit outside the community for qualified police officer candidates.

I am also aware of the continuing Heroin/Opioid Epidemic impacting Harford County and Havre de Grace. According to preliminary data provided by the Vital Statistics Administration (VSA) of the Maryland Department of Health (MDH), there were significant increases in unintentional intoxication fatalities related to nearly all major drug categories in Maryland through the second calendar quarter of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has very likely contributed to and compounded these trends. Taken together, the associated social isolation, disruptions of support, impeded access to care, and economic distress have helped to create an extremely dangerous environment for those suffering from substance use disorder (SUD). In the first six months of 2020, there was a total of 1,326 reported unintentional intoxication deaths from all types of drugs and alcohol in Maryland. This represents an increase of 9.1 percent from the 1,215 intoxication deaths reported in the first half of 2019. Opioids were involved in 89.5 percent of all fatalities, and fentanyl was involved in 83.0 percent of all cases. Opioids were involved in 1,187 intoxication deaths during this timeframe, an increase of 9.4 percent as compared to the same time last year. As with other intoxicants, the growth in the rate of opioid-related fatalities increased significantly in the second quarter of 2020. For reference, opioid-related deaths increased by 2.6 percent in the first calendar quarter of 2020 compared to the same time frame in 2019. This followed a 1.7 percent annual decrease in 2019, the first annual decrease in opioid-related fatalities since the beginning of the opioid crisis over a decade ago. Fentanyl continues to be involved in a vast majority of opioid-related fatalities. There were 1,100 deaths involving fentanyl through the second quarter of 2020, accounting for 92.7 percent of all opioid-related deaths. Fentanyl-related deaths increased by 11.9 percent compared to the same time last year. There was also an increase in deaths involving prescription opioids in the first two quarters of 2020. There were 214 such fatalities as compared to the 198 reported during this time in 2019, an increase of 8.1 percent. In contrast to fentanyl and prescription opioids, heroin-related deaths continued to decrease in the first half of 2020. There were 288 such fatalities, 30.4 percent fewer than in the same time frame last year. For reference, heroin-related fatalities decreased by 28.6 percent in the first quarter of 2020 and by 12.5 percent annually in 2019. Maryland saw significant increases in the number of fatalities related to other, non-opioid substances in the first six months of 2020. There were 486 cocaine-related intoxication deaths, a 13.3 percent increase from this time last year. There were 287 alcohol-related deaths in the same time frame, a drastic increase of 34.7 percent from the 213 such deaths reported in the first half of 2019. Alcohol-related fatalities saw the largest numerical increase (74) of all non-opioid substances.. There were 62 benzodiazepine-related deaths in the first two quarters of 2020, representing a 24.0 percent increase compared to the same time in 2019. Methamphetamine-related deaths more than doubled with 40 fatalities in the same time frame, an increase of 122.2 percent. Lastly, there were 32 phencyclidine (PCP)-related deaths through the second quarter of 2020, a decrease of 8.6 percent from the same time frame in 2019.

I fully support and recognize the achievements of our First Responders.  The Susquehanna Hose Company and their dedication to training and improving response times to include their desire to obtain their ISO 1 rating.  The men and women of the Ambulance Corp continue to face increasing demands responding to 2,543 calls for service in 2020.  With the future closing of Harford Memorial Hospital, the demands will continue to spiral upwards. I along with other members of the Administration and City Council continue seeking support for a full service hospital and not a Free Standing Medical Facility to serve our community

New business development & retention

As a prior small business owner, myself I understand the importance of locally owned businesses to the economic success of our community.  In 2020 through the efforts of the Havre de Grace's Economic Development Team were able retain most existing businesses while working to attract new businesses to vacant store fronts has been an immense success.  In 2020 Havre de Grace had 21 new businesses open with a loss of only 7 existing businesses. For 2021the Economic Development Team is anticipating 30 new jobs will be created as well as a 40,000 square foot construction project at Revolution Street and Old Post Road. Working with the county and the federal government the Economic Development team assisted in obtaining Maryland Small Business Covid-19 Emergency Relief Grant Funds, Round -1- fourteen and in Round - 2 - seventy-one in addition to Emergency Relief Loans Round -1- fourteen and Round -2 eleven. The expansion of Air BnB and VRBO offerings to accommodate “staycation” functionality. By improving tourism and ensuring sustainable economic growth, we can advance the quality of life for all our citizens.

education

We need to keep our School Resource Officers in the local schools. Don’t believe me, ask a student about their interactions with the SRO’s in school, outside school and at the summer camps. Providing quality education for our children has always been a key issue for me. While the City Council does not directly impact the decisions of the County Executive, County Council or the School Board, by establishing open lines of communication with these parties Havre de Grace's education priorities have been heard. The City's top priority the opening of the new Middle/Senior High School including its New Magnet Program “ Information Technology-Oracle Academy” has been accomplished. The creation of this magnet program will attract students county-wide to Havre de Grace. It will be a key reason for the increase of families with school age children will continue to relocate to Havre de Grace. Finally, it is critical that we retain key educators within our schools to maintain continuity and work to ensure the best outcomes for our students.

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY

Working with members of the Administration and citizen volunteer organizations, the City continues to develop long term objectives instead of the short-term, "Band-Aid" fixes as in past years. Examples of these are:

  • There have been no increases in our property taxes.

  • Going Green- use solar energy for all city owned buildings and addition of electric vehicles.

  • I have been in Annapolis representing the City on a legislative change to allow electric trolleys to operate in Havre de Grace, opposition to the closing of Harford Memorial Hospital, support of green environment legislation and our School Resource Officers.  

  • While chair of the Water and Sewer Commission, the City reached an water purchase agreement with Aberdeen and should come to fruition in the near future.  The administration is still reaching out to Harford County to be an available water resource in the future.

  • The after passage of the Bond Bill Referendum the City was able to go to the market at a opportune time and received lower than expected rates. The City was able to convert $1.6 from the loan to a grant effectively creating a 16.5% savings to the tax payers of Havre de Grace. Some of the projects that have begun with the additional funding: Water Treatment Plant upgrades, Intake Pipe Repairs, Wilson and Green St waterline repairs, Commerce and Francis Streets sewer line replacement.

I continue to focus on the long-term success of Havre de Grace and will ensure all solutions focus on the root cause of issues and are implemented in a fiscally responsible way.

INFRASTRUCTURE (ROADS, WATER/SEWAGE AND TECHNOLOGY)

As a member of the Maryland Municipal League Legislative Committee we were able to have 95% of the Highway User Funds returned to the municipalities for the 2020 fiscal year. In 2021 there is a legislative bill to remove the sunset clause from the prior HUR. These returned funds allowed for the increase in paving and resurfacing projects in Havre de Grace. The City has spent almost $___,000 in paving projects to ensure safe driving conditions. Maintaining Havre de Grace's supply of fresh and clean water continues to remain a priority. Currently, Havre de Grace does not have the funding to support the maintenance of pipes, ruptures and leaking pipes in 2020 there were __ water main breaks, __ storm drain issues and __ sinkholes repaired. Water conservation in Havre de Grace is an economic, double-edged sword. On the positive side, water consumption in the city begun to increase. Combined this with the increase of new homes construction and the decrease in home vacancies that has contributed to a positive financial impact. While chair of the Water and Sewer Commission, the City exercised the “buy-out” option of the County-City Water Agreement and the Aberdeen water purchase agreement has been signed and delivery of water to Aberdeen should come to fruition in earl 2022. The city continues to court high volume water usage manufacturing to help decrease the burden on the citizens and is continuing negotiations with Harford County to become a supplier for their water needs.

Team Successes

Working with the Mayor and other City Council Members we have:

  • Helped Havre de Grace earn Sustainable Maryland Certification

  • Supported the Mayors initiative to install new play ground equipment along with an ADA Accessible Ramp and Swing in Tydings Park

  • Worked with citizens to help build Little Free Libraries to promote public art, the library and citizens

  • Established a “John O’Neil Day” ( our first municipal holiday)

  • Creation of the Havre de Grace Youth Commission

  • Member of the Wage and Benefit Committee that is recommending improvements to employee benefits while creating financial sustainability

  • Any many more....

ETHICS

With the support of the Mayor, I was the champion of an ethics legislation and working as a member of the Ethics Committee we developed an Ethics Resolution which has been adopted and an Ethics Ordinance that has just been approved by the Maryland State Ethics Commission and will be presented to the Havre de Grace City Council for review and adoption.  This makes Havre de Grace the first municipality out of 157 municipalities in the State of Maryland to be proactive in creating an ethics standard.