I am running for County Council to work to make life better for the residents of District 4 and the entire county. From my time as a special education teacher to my service on the Board of Education to my current position on the Council, I have worked my entire life to serve children and families, especially the most vulnerable. I have voted and passed legislation to strengthen public safety, increase housing attainability, and invest in our schools. I want to continue that work.

I believe in listening to all constituencies and weighing the benefits and challenges of every policy. Often when we listen with an ear for solutions, we can find a compromise that can benefit the whole while addressing specific concerns. Finding that sweet spot is not always possible, but commitment to listening and studying issues from all perspectives leads to better legislation.

Listening to all constituencies and carefully studying possible impacts of legislation is particularly important around land use. I will continue to weigh housing needs, economic development, environmental protections, and traffic and infrastructure concerns for any potential legislation. My outreach for input will continue to include newsletters, social media, town halls, and community meetings.

Our economic development office has a full array of offerings for new and existing businesses to assist in startups and expansion. I will continue to fund those programs to expand our small businesses and employment opportunities. I also support our local labor unions in providing training and long term, well paying job opportunities.

As a Council member, I have co-sponsored legislation to increase housing attainability for all income levels, from requiring moderately priced housing units in new developments to allowing auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs) to expanding our workforce housing incentives. In the next term, I plan to work on legislation for missing middle housing and increasing our programs for affordable housing for our lowest income residents.

The greatest challenge facing Anne Arundel County is uncertainty of the current national outlook. Our county residents have been hit hard by the federal downsizing and the unpredictable edicts coming out of Washington. Soaring gas, housing, and food costs are leaving people feeling anxious and uncertain about the future. I am committed to being a good steward of every county dollar and service so that our residents can trust in our county even when the national picture is unsettling.

Anne Arundel County residents are one of the most highly paid in the state there by the state/county collects should have enough taxes to provide for sidewalks for kids to walk to school, improved roads to avoid traffic congestion and class room sizes within reason, but instead we are a mess. We are hundreds of police and fireman short of the nation average, our roads are parking lots, and schools are overwhelmed. I run my own successful business, and am the treasurer for 3 organizations.

Improvements for all constitiuents start with a budget that answers the needs of the constituents. Wastefull spending on studies, trips abroad, reduced commercial property taxes for billion $ companies, increased salaries for elected officials like the 27% increase in salary for the county executive [...] does not serve any of the current residents of Dist. 4

I would put forth legislation that no more housing units can be put in a school zone where the school is already 90% full. No zoning for commercial uses in areas zoned as residential. No more zoning for commercial properties on roads already overhelmed with traffic. Any zoning to be done will be subject to meeting with the residents in that area.

According to Google "small businesses are the major employers in Maryland, constituting over 99% of all state businesses and employing roughly half of the private workforce. With over 600,000 small businesses, they provide more than 1 million jobs and are key drivers of employment in sectors like healthcare, professional services, and hospitality. Office of Advocacy (.gov)" . Not billion $ corporations. Grants and start up tax breaks for small bussinesses.

Instead of "giving" vacant properties to billion dollar corporations for building huge corporate buildings via tax breaks. Allow builders to use it for affordable housing without overwhelming the present schools or roads and reduce to cost of regulations that account for 25% of the cost of housing in AAC.

The greatest issue in AAC is the cost of living. All parties agree on this, Question is, who can make a pathway to affordable living. So many things can be done. Lower the property taxs that go up due to increase property value. Decrease property taxs for our older retired citizens. Work with Md. State Government to decrease silly fees and fight to stop any attempt to increase sales tax. Push AAC and State officials to promote gas powered energy plants here in Md instead of importing it from Pa