State Of The County

HoCo exec Ken Ulman delivered his state of the county speech this week; here's some excerpts that caught our attention:

On the development of Blandair Park on the old Smith farm in eastern Columbia:

THE PARK WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR, BLANDAIR REGIONAL PARK, IS SET TO BREAK GROUND IN JUST A FEW MONTHS....

On the economy:

LET ME TELL YOU WHERE WE ARE.

REVENUES ARE DOWN:
• PROPERTY TAX – DOWN, THE MOST RECENT RESIDENTIAL ASSESSMENTS DOWN 23 PERCENT.
• INCOME TAX – DOWN 7 PERCENT.
• STATE AID – CUT TO THE BONE.

OUR BUDGET CRUNCH IS EXACERBATED BY THE FACT THAT IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES, PEOPLE TURN MORE TO PUBLIC SERVICES. AND WE'RE SEEING IT: LIBRARY USE IS UP; PARK USE IS UP; HCC'S ENROLLMENT IS UP; REQUESTS FOR ENERGY, HOUSING AND FOOD ASSISTANCE ARE ALL UP. I WANT TO THANK ALL OUR NON-PROFIT PARTNERS FOR THEIR HARD WORK IN THESE TOUGH TIMES.

CLEARLY, THE COUNTY'S FINANCIAL SITUATION PRESENTS CHALLENGES AND OVERCOMING THESE CHALLENGES REQUIRES FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY. SO, WHEN FACED WITH DECLINING REVENUE, WE TURN TO THE SAME STRATEGY YOU DO: CUT SPENDING.

WE CUT OUR PRINT SHOP; WE CUT OUR CABLE TV STUDIO; WE CUT EMPLOYEE TAKE HOME CAR USE; WE CUT CELL PHONE USE; WE CUT POSITIONS AND ARE HOLDING VACANCIES; WE CUT OUR ENERGY USE, OUR PAPER USE; WE CUT INNEFFICENCIES THROUGHOUT GOVERNMENT; WE CUT BENEFIT COSTS. WE ARE EVEN CUTTING COSTS WHEN IT COMES TO CUTTING THE GRASS, WITH OUR JOINT MOWING AGREEMENT WITH THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. AND WE WILL KEEP CUTTING.

WE EVEN CUT A WEEK OF COUNTY SERVICES. THE WEEK-LONG FURLOUGH BETWEEN CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEARS SAVED THE COUNTY ALMOST $2 MILLION, AS COUNTY EMPLOYEES INCLUDING ELECTED OFFICIALS GAVE UP A WEEK’S PAY. I KNOW IT WASN’T EASY FOR ANYONE, BUT NO ONE EVER SAID GETTING THROUGH THESE TOUGH TIMES WOULD BE EASY...

(The Sun's ExploreHoward blog said furloughs are likely again this year.)

On the status of efforts to relocated people and offices to Fort Meade as part of the nation's base relocation effort:

ALREADY, 300 WORKERS FROM THE DEFENSE INFORMATION SYSTEMS AGENCY ARE AT FT. MEADE WORKING IN TEMPORARY OFFICES. AND THE FIRST NEW BRAC-RELATED BUILDING WILL OPEN IN OCTOBER OF THIS YEAR WITH ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS AND AGENCIES TO FOLLOW OVER THE NEXT 24 MONTHS. IN ALL, OVER 6,000 NEW EMPLOYEES WILL BE STATIONED ON BASE BECAUSE OF BRAC.

BRAC IS JUST ONE PIECE OF THE FT. MEADE EXPANSION. NSA IS SLATED TO ADD AS MANY AS 4,000 NEW POSITIONS, AND THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE’S NEW CYBER COMMAND IS PROPOSED FOR FT. MEADE, WHICH COULD BRING WITH IT 5,000 NEW DIRECT JOBS.

I CANNOT OVERSTATE THE IMPORTANCE OF CYBER SECURITY IN THIS DAY AND AGE. IN FACT, THE CURRENT DIRECTOR OF NSA, GENERAL KEITH ALEXANDER, HAD THIS TO SAY: “MAINTAINING FREEDOM OF ACTION IN CYBERSPACE IN THE 21ST CENTURY IS AS INHERENT TO U.S. INTERESTS AS FREEDOM OF THE SEAS WAS IN THE 19TH CENTURY, AND ACCESS TO AIR AND SPACE IN THE 20TH CENTURY.”

IN SHORT, THE FRONT LINE IS NOW ONLINE...

On Columbia's downtown:

TODAY WE STAND ON THE BRINK OF ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING OPPORTUNITIES HOWARD COUNTY HAS FACED SINCE JIM ROUSE CAME BEFORE THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS IN 1964. THE DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA PLAN WHICH IS CURRENTLY PENDING BEFORE THE COUNCIL HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CREATE THE TYPE OF VIBRANT, WALKABLE, LIVABLE DOWNTOWN THAT HOWARD COUNTY DESERVES...

IT IS IMPORTANT TO RECOGNIZE, AS JIM ROUSE DID, THAT DOING IT RIGHT IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO – NOT ONLY FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE COMMUNITY, BUT ALSO TO ADD VALUE TO THE DEVELOPMENT ITSELF. AS I LOOK AT HOW FAR WE HAVE COME, I AM PROUD OF WHAT WE HAVE ACCOMPLISHED AND EXCITED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF DOWNTOWN COLUMBIA.