"Conti, a Democrat, is extremely bright, speaks knowledgeably about issues facing
the county and convincingly touts herself as a leader with business experience
that sets her apart from the typical county executive candidate."

Eric Hartley, The Capital, 4/8/10            

Conti Running for Anne Arundel County Executive

Democratic businesswoman Joanna Conti officially kicked off her campaign to become the next Anne Arundel County Executive on Tuesday, March 23rd in front of a cheering crowd at the Annapolis Loew's Hotel.  

These tough economic times call for a leader with both vision and managerial skills to run Anne Arundel County.  Our current county executive is missing crucial opportunities to strengthen the county for the future:

Preparing for BRAC:  As a result of Anne Arundel's talented workforce and proximity to Washington, D.C., Fort Meade has been a major beneficiary of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.  As this area becomes the country's leading center for cyber-security and defense-related information technology, it is expected that 22,000 highly-paid jobs will move to the Fort Meade area over the next five years.  Every business that locates in Anne Arundel County will create additional well-paying jobs for our residents as well as strengthening the county's tax base for years to come, and families who move here will increase real estate values and help local businesses thrive.  Unfortunately, we are making little progress either preparing for this influx or recruiting workers to the county.  Roads aren't being widened, crucial projects like Odenton Town Center remain bogged down, and Howard County has been awarded the state's contract to encourage workers to relocate to Maryland.  

Public Safety:  Many Anne Arundel County residents are worried about crime, including how long it can take for the police to respond to a call for help.  This is not surprising, because we have only half the number of police officers per 1,000 residents as the national average.  Despite this, Mr. Leopold cut 37 full-time police officer positions (5% of the total force) this fiscal year.  Even more upsetting, Anne Arundel County didn't even bother to apply to President Obama's COPS Hiring Recovery Program in which the federal government pays full salaries and benefits for three years for newly-hired or rehired officers.  71 other Maryland jurisdictions did apply, and both Prince George's County and Baltimore City received federal funding for 50 additional full-time officers each. 

Cleaning Up The Chesapeake Bay:  Nitrogen leaching out of older septic systems is one of the major contributors to dead zones in the Bay.  It has been estimated, for example, that septic systems account for as much as 30% of the nitrogen polluting the Severn River.   The State of Maryland has a fund to pay the full cost of upgrading selected septic systems to the latest technology.  However, Anne Arundel County took so long to spend the money they had been allocated in early 2007 that the state refused their second extension request and asked for the remaining funding back in 2009.  Additionally, very little progress has been made cleaning up stormwater runoff problems.  At the current rate of funding, it will take four centuries to fix the stormwater problems identified in 2006.

Anne Arundel County deserves better management.  In contrast to the current county executive who rarely meets with elected officials or business leaders, Joanna is already reaching out to the most innovative thinkers, regardless of political party, to determine what we can do to strengthen Anne Arundel County for the future. 

Joanna will also use the knowledge she's gained running businesses for 20+ years to make the county more efficient so we get more for our tax dollars.  She will reward employees of departments that find ways to permanently cut their administrative overhead costs with year-end bonuses tied to the savings they achieve. 

Finally, Joanna will use her managerial skills to restructure the county's development review departments that remain nightmarish for residents and businesses alike to deal with.