(3/2019) There are a lot of good things happening in county government! It’s a busy time with the state legislature in session and work gearing up on the county budget.

Veterans Advisory Council

First, I am excited to share that our Veterans Advisory Council is taking shape after their first-ever meeting at the end of January. Frederick County is home to more than 17,000 veterans. The Veterans Advisory Council was created to connect our veterans to the services and support that they need, like education, job opportunities, and other resources. For years, traditional veteran organizations like the American Legion and VFW have provided support to service members, but we know that fewer of our young people are joining these organizations.

When I considered applicants for the Veterans Advisory Council, I did so with an eye to making sure that every geographic part of the county was represented as well making sure members were from all the different branches of the military. The council also includes representatives of veterans’ organizations and agencies, higher education, Workforce Services, healthcare providers, and officials at the local, state and federal levels.

At their first meeting, members selected Fred Schumacher to serve as chair of the council. Fred brings a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the job as well as a stellar military career. I am confident Fred will do an outstanding job! The group brings years of experience, knowledge and commitment to make life better for our veterans. The Veterans Advisory Council will meet on the third Wednesday of every month in Winchester Hall at 6:30 p.m.

If you are a veteran, want to get involved or have your voice be heard, please attend the next Veterans Advisory Council meeting and let them know what you think. It’s up to you to make a difference to our veterans and to the future of Frederick County.

State Legislature

We are halfway through this year’s General Assembly session in Annapolis. As County Executive, it’s my job to advocate for funding and for legislation that would help the citizens and businesses of Frederick County. It is also important to bring attention to bills that need changes or must be opposed because they might be detrimental to county government or local interests.

Some of the key priorities this year for the county are Next Generation 9-1-1, school construction and education funding, and paratransit.

Next Generation 9-1-1

You may have heard a little bit about Next Generation 9-1-1 and wondered just what it is. Our 9-1-1 emergency call centers were based on landline telephones. Now that most people use cell phones, we need to upgrade and modernize the technology. Next Generation 9-1-1 will allow our 9-1-1 call center to locate people who are calling from a cell phone almost instantly. It will accommodate text-to-911, which we already use, and allow callers to send video of an incident to the 9-1-1 center.

How we implement and pay for Next Generation 9-1-1 is under discussion in Annapolis. Frederick County is recognized as a leader in Maryland for the work we are doing to bring Next Generation 9-1-1 to our citizens; we are leading the way on its implementation. Citizens deserve the best technology and 9-1-1 emergency services that are reliable and efficient. It is critically important that all 9-1-1 centers in Maryland work together to implement the same systems so we can communicate with each other and with surrounding jurisdictions in nearby states. Legislation has been introduced in Annapolis that will allow counties to make essential upgrades, coordinate our efforts, identify funding, and make sure we deliver the best technology has to offer. It’s all about keeping our community safe.

Education Funding

Education is a hot topic in Frederick County and around our state. There are several bills under consideration to jump start school construction using dedicated revenue from state casino or gambling revenue. How this will work and how local governments can come up with their local match is under discussion. It is my intent to seize the opportunity and take advantage of new funding to help eliminate school overcrowding and modernize some of our older schools.

At the same time, a two-year Kirwan Commission just completed its work and made recommendations on how to improve education across the state by implementing early childhood education, improving the career ladder for teachers, allowing more classroom time for teaching, and addressing special needs and students in poverty. While these recommendations are inspirational and would no doubt improve education outcomes, it comes with a huge estimated price tag of $3.8 billion over ten years which would need to be cost shared by state and local governments. Depending on how this advances, it could have significant implications to the county budget. I’ve been actively monitoring the discussion about how state education funding may be determined and distributed to the counties in the future.

Paratransit

One of the many services Frederick County’s TransIT provides is Paratransit. Paratransit provides essential transportation to seniors and people with disabilities to medical appointments. More than a quarter of the Paratransit trips in Frederick County are to dialysis centers. Dialysis trips account for nearly $350,000 of the Paratransit budget in our county. The demand for dialysis transport has increased almost 10 percent over the last five years. With a growing senior population in our community, we can expect demand to continue to rise.

The County currently pays 70 percent of Paratransit costs. The State funds the remaining 30 percent. Dialysis providers, who are part of a billion-dollar, for-profit industry, do not pay anything. That’s why I am supporting legislation in Annapolis that would set up a commission to study ways to share the costs for non-emergency medical transportation with medical providers. I testified last month before the House Health and Government Operations Committee along with Delegation Chairwoman Carol Krimm, urging them to approve the legislation. This bill has passed out of the sub-committee.

Budget

It is budget season and I want to hear your ideas about how to shape Frederick County’s budget for the coming fiscal year. I believe the budget is my most important responsibility. How we allocate our communities dollars should reflect our values and priorities. For example, last spring residents from Brunswick and Jefferson packed the public hearing room to advocate for a regional park in the southwest part of the county. We have since broken ground on the new Othello Regional Park.

I always hear advocacy for public education, public safety, and for our libraries and parks. I would like to hear from you. Stay tuned for an online survey that will allow you to identify your priorities.

This year’s public hearing on budget priorities is scheduled for Thursday, March 14, at 7 p.m. in Winchester Hall. Come share your thoughts on the county’s budget. If you are unable to attend, you can watch the discussion on FCG TV, cable channel 19 or online at www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/FCGTV.

If you have questions or concerns about any topic, please feel free to email me at jgardner@frederickcountymd.gov or call my office at 301-600-3190.