Harford State of the County Address 2015: FULL TEXT

County Executive Barry Glassman delivered his first “State of the County” address, outlining his vision for the future and reflecting on his two months in office so far, a job he said was “the most challenging in my 30 years of public service.”

In a shift from his predecessor, who described the state of the county as “strong” in 2014, Glassman took a step back Tuesday night and said the state of Harford County was “stable“ in a time of transition.

“As an avid runner who thought about this speech on a cold run along the Deer Creek, I can say that the current state of Harford County is stable,” Glassman said, “but we cannot maintain our existing pace without an adjustment of our stride in several areas.”

He mentioned the need to find efficiencies and curb spending as well as increase customer service through online access to government as “the new normal of shrinking enrollments, flat revenues and fewer capital dollars require a fundamental realignment of budgeting, and how services are delivered.”

His focus was on strengthening the county’s economy, which he said his administration has worked toward already in moving its Office of Economic Development from Bel Air to the Route 40 corridor, closer to Aberdeen Proving Ground.

“I am content with building good fiscal policy and being judged on the number of Harford lives I‘ve touched, and not the number of ribbons I’ve cut,” Glassman said.

He also proposed creating a “Center of Excellence for Heroin Addiction and Overdose Prevention” to combat what he called the “heroin epidemic in our communities.”

See the full text of the Harford State of County 2015.