Loading…
Baltimore County builds on a vision Executive's initiative yields jobs, investment
County Executive James T. Smith says the government structure has allowed him to achieve his goals without busting the budget.
LLOYD FOX / BALTIMORE SUN
Enlarge
As calls mount for Lucas County to consider major changes to its government structure, The Blade continues to examine areas in Ohio and across the United States that have elected executive-council county structures, where successes have resulted amid tough times.
One in an ongoing series
TOWSON, Md. - In the fall of 2001, around the time James T. Smith resigned from the bench as a Baltimore County, Maryland, Circuit Court judge to run for the county's elected executive seat, he met with a high-powered consultant to discuss campaign strategy.
Mr. Smith's plans to win over Baltimore County voters, revitalize the community's aging infrastructure, and jump-start economic development were one and the same. He called it his "Renaissance Vision" and laid out that vision for consultant Anita Dunn, who later would become communications director for President Obama.
"I said I wanted to lead a renaissance in Baltimore County and she said, 'Oh, that cannot be the theme. People don't even know how to spell [renaissance],' " said Mr. Smith, who was elected as county executive in 2002. "I said, 'Anita, I don't care if they know how to spell it. They know how to say it, and we're going to tell them what it means.' "
To Mr. Smith, "renaissance" meant renovating the county's older schools and building new ones. It meant moving libraries and police facilities into neighborhoods. It meant repaving roads and tearing down dilapidated buildings, and it meant partnering with private businesses to promote investment and create jobs.
Eight years, 15,000 new jobs, hundreds of millions of dollars in private investment, and many revitalized neighborhoods later, Mr. Smith's definition of renaissance is shared by many of Baltimore County's 800,000 residents today.
And because he was the county executive in an executive-council county government, Mr. Smith was able to develop such a strategy and see it through to fruition.
Last year in northeast Ohio's Cuyahoga County, voters overwhelmingly approved a charter government in which the commissioners and elected row officers (other than the prosecutor) will be replaced by an executive and council, whose members will be elected by district. A major theme in that successful campaign was the idea that a single executive serving as the chief negotiator for the county would strengthen economic development in the Cleveland area's sagging economy.
In Lucas County, where double-digit unemployment and other fiscal problems plague families and government alike, one of the county reform proposals being floated is a petition drive to place on the Nov. 2 ballot a charter and slate of reforms mirroring those approved in Cuyahoga County.
While he touts the major role his vision, hard work, and ability to reach out to many constituent groups played in Baltimore County's renaissance, Mr. Smith also said the positive steps his community has taken under his reign wouldn't have happened had the county not adopted a charter and moved away from the commissioners format back in 1956.
"You can't make real progress, and you certainly can't make dramatic progress, under [a commissioner county government]," Mr. Smith said. "That's the biggest complaint I hear from commissioners throughout Maryland. You've got to have power to make progress."
Baltimore County has some advantages that have nothing to do with how its government is structured.
Baltimore County does not include Baltimore city, which was separated from the county in 1851 and provides typical city and county services to its residents under a city charter government.
Though Baltimore County's seat is the bustling college and business community of Towson, the county has no municipalities within its 597 square miles, eliminating the presence of local government fiefdoms with which counties in other parts of Maryland and in most other states must contend.
Towson is also only an eight-mile drive from Baltimore city and 47 miles from Washington, so many affluent government, business, and academic professionals from the big cities choose to live in the suburban comfort of the county.
"I don't think you can minimize the effect of demographics and things of that nature," said Michael Sanderson, executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties. "Baltimore County is geographically situated in a perfect place."
Baltimore County lists its 2009 unemployment rate at 7.5 percent - compared to rates that soared past 13 percent in Lucas County last year. Almost 10,000 people are employed by the Social Security Administration in Baltimore County, and thousands more have jobs at hospitals and universities.
The devastating effects of disappearing manufacturing jobs have largely stayed away from much of Maryland, but stagnant development, neighborhood blight, crime, and other issues were beginning to take their toll on Baltimore County.
In Towson, despite the presence of three hospitals, Towson University, and strong neighborhoods, new businesses weren't moving to the area and some that were already there began to move out.
In Dundalk, which sits near the Chesapeake Bay and borders Baltimore city to the southeast, the slow decline of a steel industry that once employed many thousands of people led to steep declines in income, home values, and attitudes.
In Essex, another bay community north of Dundalk, pockets of broken-down buildings, eyesore lots, and a reputation for rising crime were impeding the area's growth.
And as a county that celebrated its 350th birthday last year, Baltimore County was full of streets, schools, and homes that were outdated. Hence, Mr. Smith's call for a countywide renaissance.
"I was very concerned that if we didn't have a county executive who was concerned about our neighborhoods and our struggling business districts, we could really in 10 or 15 years be in a hole that was very hard to dig out of," he said.
After winning election to the county executive seat once held by former Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, Mr. Smith, a Democrat, took his campaign promises and turned them into county policies. He did so through cooperation of the county council, forged at least in part by his involving many constituencies throughout the county, including the business community.
"If you call our county government and you've got a problem, you can be sure that someone is going to get back to you," said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce. "They're always setting up forums with businesses and residential leaders from all over the community.
"Our local government doesn't make the decisions. It listens to the businesses and the residents."
Ms. Hafford cites Mr. Smith's cooperation on a program to give Towson retail and restaurant businesses a jolt and keep people from fleeing downtown on the weekends.
Called "Feet on the Street," a seasonal, weekly Friday night event started by Ms. Hafford involves closing a main street in Towson from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Live entertainment plays outside, beer and wine are sold, and restaurants offer samples and sell their food to the crowds on the sidewalk.
According to business owners who participate in "Feet on the Street," as many as 2,000 people gather in Towson on Friday nights who otherwise would've gone elsewhere for entertainment. And often they stay in the bars and restaurants past 9:30 p.m.
"It definitely brings in additional revenue," said Hafey Hyle, owner of Ridgely and Ferrens Marketplace, a restaurant on Allegheny Avenue in Towson. "I've gotten catering jobs from people who stopped by on a Friday night outside to try the food. That's a big benefit right there, and we have a lot fun."
Mr. Hyle, who has owned Ridgely and Ferrens for 11 years and is known in downtown Towson for a tasty pulled pork sandwich, credits Mr. Smith's administration for willingly closing the street and otherwise working with the business community to make the Towson event a success.
So much of a success, in fact, that other Baltimore County communities have begun their own "Feet on the Street" programs.
"I don't even know [the renaissance] plan, but I can see the plan," Mr. Hyle said. "The community, the government, and business all work really well together."
Towson is undergoing $500 million in development projects - including new restaurants, large retailers, and housing - much of it funded through private investment.
In Essex and Middle River, two sparkling community parks totaling $11.5 million have replaced crime-ridden and dilapidated properties.
Five new schools, three new or renovated libraries, eight new fitness centers for seniors, five new police stations, and four new or renovated fire stations also have emerged countywide.
Mr. Smith and his staff held or joined renaissance meetings in most of Baltimore County's communities to gauge what improvements residents wanted, then committed county resources toward those projects.
Even in Dundalk, where redevelopment and renaissance have been slower to take hold, residents there do not feel left out or abandoned by the county executive.
"I think there's a lot of hope," said Amy Menzer, who oversees the Dundalk Renaissance Corp. The county has committed to building two new schools and hopes to redevelop an area of neglected properties it acquired in Dundalk, among other planned projects there.
"The fact that Dundalk has been able to benefit from the county's tax revenue as a whole, that the county would help reinvest in Dundalk, has made a big difference," Ms. Menzer said.
County governments in Maryland are responsible for funding school districts. Mr. Sanderson, the lead spokesman for Maryland's counties association, said there is one school district in each county, and about 55 cents of every dollar in a county's general fund goes toward education.
Mr. Sanderson said many social services are managed and funded by state government, but Maryland county governments spend more on parks, recreation, and police than counties in many other states.
As county executive, Mr. Smith is chiefly responsible for crafting Baltimore County's $2.6 billion budget and for the supervision of all county departments.
While governments across the country have struggled financially as tax revenues and aid from the state have been cut because of a struggling economy, Baltimore County has maintained a Triple-A debt bond rating and has spent billions on renaissance construction without income or property tax increases in about two decades.
"Baltimore County gets generally high marks for how they run their government," said Mr. Sanderson, who added: "The counties in Maryland that have adopted the charter form of government and have split its administration into executive and legislative functions, I think they would say that structure is a better policy-making apparatus."
Mr. Smith, who is term-limited and is in the final months of his second term as Baltimore County's executive, is a natural proponent of the executive-council format who once served as a county councilman before seeking a judgeship. He favors the budgetary authority he has and notes that while council can trim the budget, it cannot move funds from one area to another.
To Mr. Smith, Baltimore County's government structure has allowed him to achieve his renaissance goals without busting the budget - he's counting on a $165 million general fund balance at the end of 2011 - and squeeze huge savings out of county police and fire departments by negotiating union pension pickups.
To the county's business community, Baltimore County's government structure has simply been a way forward.
"I don't see how any other form of [county] government can work," Ms. Hafford said.
"I don't see how government can be successful unless they worked in that way," she said.
Contact Joe Vardon at:
jvardon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6559.
Guidelines: Please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. If a comment violates these standards or our privacy statement or visitor's agreement, click the "X" in the upper right corner of the comment box to report abuse. To post comments, you must be a Facebook member. To find out more, please visit the FAQ.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Alerts