County Executive Debate Takeaways: Analyzing Pittman, Haire's Visions For Anne Arundel

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — The two Anne Arundel County executive candidates outlined their differing plans for police, schools and land development at a Tuesday evening debate. The opponents also explained their contrasting beliefs on business growth and taxes at the Annapolis event.

Incumbent Steuart Pittman, a Democrat, billed himself as an environmentalist who invested in public safety while also boosting the county's savings account.

"I am from this place, I love this place, and I fight like hell to defend it," Pittman told the crowd of a few hundred people at Maryland Hall.

Republican challenger Jessica Haire painted herself as a fiscally conservative candidate who wants to trim wasteful spending and make it easier to do business in the county.

"I am proud of my record of common sense, collaboration, consensus building," said Haire, who represents south county as the District 7 council member.

Both candidates had supporters at the debate, which was hosted by The Capital and the Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce. Pittman had more visible supporters in the auditorium, but Haire has a slight edge over the incumbent in the polls.

Haire holds 33% of the vote to Pittman's 31%, a recent poll from Anne Arundel Community College suggested. Another 36% of respondents were not yet favoring any candidate or were still too unfamiliar with Haire and Pittman.

The poll authors anticipate "a very close race between Haire and Pittman – essentially too close to call."

Police

Both candidates agreed that the county's police body cameras help protect officers and residents alike. The opponents also agreed that policing must be a top priority, but Haire questioned Pittman's dedication to public safety.

Haire argued that Pittman's predecessor, Republican Steve Schuh, added 50 police officer positions over his single term. Patch verified that claim and confirmed that it is true.

The agency had 765 officer positions at the end of fiscal year 2019, which was Schuh's final budget. That was 50 more officer positions than the county employed in fiscal year 2015, which was the last budget passed before Schuh's term.

Pittman had added 11 officer positions through fiscal year 2021, bringing the most recent count to 776. That total only includes Pittman's first two budgets, however.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department's 2022 annual report is not yet available, so this year's officer position count is not yet published on the agency's website. Pittman already passed the 2023 budget, so we won't know how many officer positions his administration created until the police department's report at the end of next year.

Haire, however, alleged that Pittman has added 18 officer positions during his term.

About 27% of residents listed crime as their top local concern in the Anne Arundel Community College poll. Another 19% named the sale and use of drugs as their biggest worry.

Haire said this shows that the county does not feel safe and that it needs more investment in the police force.

Other residents disagreed and protested against the police outside the debate hall.

One attendee shined a spotlight on the outside wall, projecting a message that said "Police cannot police themselves." Another spotlight shined on the main entrance, projecting the words "Defund the police Invest in community."

Major crime has fallen by about 27% since Pittman ousted Schuh in 2018. These offenses, known as Part I crimes, have collectively fallen from 11,182 cases in 2018 to 8,197 in 2021.

Aggravated assaults are up slightly since Pittman took over. All the other Part I crimes are down, however. Those improved categories are homicide, rape, robbery, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Haire said those numbers are encouraging, but they don't include the City of Annapolis.

The Annapolis Police Department has jurisdiction over the state capital, not the Anne Arundel County Police Department. The Annapolis mayor is in charge of the city's budget, not the Anne Arundel County executive.

"Imagine if the governor tried to say that crime in the state of Maryland was behaving a certain way but he wasn't going to include Baltimore City," said Haire, who is an engineer and an attorney. "That wouldn't pass muster. Absolutely not. We have to look at our county as a whole."

Total Part I crimes in Annapolis dropped by 7% from 2018 to 2020, which is the last year that city police posted an annual report on their website. The city's Part I property crimes fell by about 13% in that span, but Part I violent crimes were up 17% in that same stretch.

Pittman pointed to the new 911 call center slated for construction under the county's most recent budget. This facility will house police and fire call-takers under one roof.

Pittman similarly noted that the police officer and firefighter unions endorsed him in both his 2018 and 2022 campaigns.

Schools

Pittman additionally touted his second-straight endorsement from the county teachers union.

Pittman said he's excited to work with Mark Bedell, the new superintendent of Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Bedell took over this July when the Board of Education did not renew the contract of George Arlotto, who was the superintendent since 2014.

Haire blamed Pittman for the ongoing school bus driver shortage. She has frequently pointed to AACPS's failure to staff every bus route and guarantee timely rides to school.

Haire recently posted a Capital Gazette article on Facebook that said students have missed a combined 3,100 days of school because of bus issues.

"We can't even get our kids to school," Haire said. "We can do better than this. Together, we can change this trajectory."

Pittman responded by pointing to the $5,000 hiring and retention bonuses that he secured for bus drivers. He also reminded voters that Haire was the only council member who voted against this year's bipartisan budget, which included raises for all AACPS teachers and staff.

The school board made some improvements to the bus dilemma this week, restoring at least partial service to these 37 routes.

The problem is still far from resolved. Delayed or canceled buses continue to force families to find alternate school transportation.

Moderators also asked the candidates how much input parents should have in the curriculum and how this affects their views on teaching lessons about race.

Haire said parents should have a say in what their kids learn, but that can also coexist with teaching about diversity. Pittman thinks schools should teach the history of racism and race relations no matter what.

Land Development

Pittman called for more high-density housing. He does not want to overdevelop the county's rural areas. He instead wants to base larger construction projects around town centers and transportation hubs like Odenton, Glen Burnie and Annapolis.

This targeted growth is part of his long-term development strategy, called Plan 2040. That initiative aims to protect green space and funnel construction into designated regions designed to handle growth.

Pittman thinks dense neighborhoods like this will offer more affordable housing to counteract skyrocketing real estate prices.

"We cannot all afford a half an acre lot and a $700,000 house," said Pittman, who was a farmer and a horse trainer. "If we are going to support our community and move forward, we've got to say we're going to support smart growth."

Haire countered and said the current construction across from the Annapolis Town Center will not offer affordable housing.

Crews are building a mixed-use development on Riva Road. This complex, called Beacon Square, will feature 508 luxurious multi-family units when housing construction finishes in 2024. The community will include 339 units available to anybody and 169 reserved for residents 55 and up.

The neighborhood will also have a 43,000-square-foot grocery store as well as 52,000 square feet of retail and office space. This phase will open next year.

Haire predicted that this project will bring more traffic to an already-congested area.

"The traffic has been horrendous," Haire said. "I drive down Riva Road every day and pass that traffic."

In other land development news, both candidates opposed building a Naval Academy golf course on Greenbury Point. The Navy withdrew that proposal in August, so the waterfront property in Annapolis will remain undeveloped for now.

Pittman and Haire each supported building a reflective park at the Crownsville Hospital Center and finding respectful ways to restore the property. The county recently acquired the 544-acre site that was a psychiatric hospital until 2004.

Business Growth

Pittman acknowledged that it can be hard to do business in Anne Arundel County. He wants a consultant to examine why it's difficult to get county permits.

The incumbent admitted that local businesses suffered through capacity restrictions and mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I don't know whether those were the right decisions in retrospect," Pittman said, noting that he had had to choose between protecting the county's health and its economy. "I can sleep at night. I hope we never have to go through this again."

Pittman highlighted initiatives to help businesses bounce back like the Inclusive Ventures Program to train entrepreneurs on growing their companies. He additionally spotlighted an effort where the county gave $500 gift cards to dozens of workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Haire said this was not enough to save the economy.

Haire also referenced a restaurateur's lawsuit against the county in December 2020. The county executive had previously halted indoor and outdoor dining for five weeks during a COVID-19 surge. After the lawsuit was settled, the county agreed to let eateries stay open at a quarter capacity.

"I'm amazed that you brought up restaurants, considering they all had to get together and actually sue the county ... for the restrictions that you put on the restaurants," Haire said. "You then gave out $500 gift cards and live streamed the video on Facebook to try and pretend like that was going to make up for it."

Haire claimed Pittman "abdicated his authority to the health officer" and let the county's top doctor set the pandemic regulations.

The challenger later promised to fight for small businesses. Haire mentioned a bill that she sponsored this summer that helped a nursery overcome a zoning overreach.

The county's previous code only allowed nurseries to grow their plants in the ground, but Haire's legislation now lets nurseries cultivate their crops in pots as well.

Haire also envisions more tax credits to draw small businesses to the area.

Taxes

Pittman's latest budget gave Anne Arundel County residents a tax cut on their first $50,000 of taxable income. The Council trimmed that income tax rate from 2.81% to 2.7%. The tax rate did not increase for any other bracket.

The property tax rate wasn't changed either. It is still $0.933 per $100 in assessed value. That is the 7th lowest of Maryland's 24 jurisdictions, and it is the best in the region.

Haire challenged Pittman's tax policy, saying taxes have risen over the course of his term. In particular, she called out the county's $110.8 million surplus in this year's budget.

"That means in FY 22 the Anne Arundel County government took $110.8 million of taxpayer funds and didn't use them," Haire said. "There is a lot of waste in the budget, and I am confident that we can find it. We can eliminate it."

Pittman said he put this extra money in the county's rainy day fund. He speculated that this deposit is what earned the county its first triple-A bond rating from Moody's, a credit rating company.

Haire pointed to a bill that she passed that supported the rainy day fund. Her legislation let the county increase the amount of budget set aside for the rainy day fund from 5% to 6%.

"Moody's did not raise our bond rating because we had the authority to put money in our rainy day fund. They did it because we put the money in the rainy day fund," Pittman said, again mentioning that Haire voted against this year's budget and rainy day deposit.

Pittman hoped to create a public campaign financing system where tax dollars would fund the election bids for county government candidates who didn't want to rely on corporate donors. He estimated that the system would have cost $2 million, but Haire alleged that it would need $8 million.

This campaign financing system needed five votes from the County Council to appear as a referendum on this year's ballot. The resolution fell short with four yes's and three no's. Haire voted against this proposal.

Maryland already has several other public campaign financing systems similar to the one that Pittman suggested.

Gov. Larry Hogan used the public campaign financing system for statewide elections to win office in 2014. These jurisdictions also have similar systems: Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, Montgomery County and Prince George's County.

Pittman thought his system would help remove big money from politics.

Pittman has accused Haire of accepting $250,000 in campaign contributions from donors related to a company seeking to build a rubble landfill in a quiet Odenton community. Pittman opposes the landfill, and Haire said she is also against it.

"Let me be clear one more time, I am opposed to the landfill," Haire said.

Haire also said a public information review found that she did not have any documents about the landfill in her county computer, phone, email or office files.

The landfill plans are currently on hold. The County Council, including Haire, voted unanimously to buy the land that developers needed to access the proposed landfill site. The county is now building an elementary school on that plot.

Haire also noted that Pittman never passed his promised legislation to ban campaign donations from developers who had business before the County Council. Pittman said he floated the idea to a few council members and realized he didn't have the votes for the bill, so he never pushed it forward. Haire alleged that Pittman never asked for her thoughts on the potential legislation.

First-Time Voter Reacts

First-time voter Joseph Kluckowski stayed after the debate to personally ask questions to both candidates.

"I think playing an active role in the forces that kind of dictate my life is really important," the 18-year-old told Patch. "A lot of people will focus on national-level politics ... But what do you think is going to impact you the most at a local level? And that's local government."

Kluckowski disliked the "petty back-and-forth" comments, but he applauded the candidates' other approaches.

The high school senior said Haire was prepared with data and tactful with her language. He thought Pittman relied more on emotional statements.

Kluckowski is a registered Democrat. He said he currently plans to vote for Pittman, but he wants to read up on each candidate before officially deciding.

"I'm probably 98% sure with Steuart Pittman," Kluckowski said. "It's one of those things where I don't want to just take it at face value. I want to then do my own research and come to my conclusions."

To learn more about Pittman, visit PittmanForPeople.com. More details on Haire are available at JessicaHaire.com. A recording of the full debate is posted at this link.

Click here to read Patch's preview of the key races and referendums in the Anne Arundel County election, which is on Nov. 8.

Editor's Note: The Anne Arundel Community College poll surveyed 468 random county adults from Sept. 23 through Oct. 1. Interviews were conducted online.

The sample was weighted to match the local trends in gender, political party affiliation, age, race, council district of residency and educational attainment. The sample was not weighted for income.

The poll had a margin of error of +/- 4.5 percentage points. That means there is a 95% chance that the actual portion of residents who share those beliefs falls within 4.5 percentage points in either direction of the values listed in the survey.

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