Maryland Municipal League Annual Report July 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003 Mentoring Municipal Leaders By Scott A. Hancock, Executive Director MML s 2002-2003 President Lynn Raufaste, Mayor of Kensington, began her term in June with the announcement that the focus of her presidency would be on municipal official mentoring. Borrowing ideas from a mentorship program already existing in Mississippi, MML began what has turned out to be a highly successful and well respected mentorship program. To introduce MML s new program, two accomplished mayors from the state of Mississippi were invited to attend the Board of Directors meeting in Gaithersburg in mid-september to offer a firsthand account of their mentoring program. At the end of President Raufaste s term, MML would boast of over 50 mentoring teams consisting of elected and appointed Maryland municipal officials.
Getting To Know You MML s 2002 fall conference was held in the Capital City of Annapolis and focused attention on the upcoming gubernatorial election. There were only two occasions during the campaign for Governor that both major party candidates, along with their running mates, were present on the same stage at the same time. MML s conference was one of those occasions. Two hundred and thirty registered municipal officials representing 76 municipalities had the opportunity to hear the candidates for Governor outline their vision for Maryland and how cities and towns would play a significant role in that plan. On November 5, 2002 Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. was elected Maryland s sixtieth governor and MML began the process of meeting and greeting a whole new group of cabinet secretaries, their respective staffs and a new regime on the second floor of the State House. It was the first time in 36 years that a Republican governor would occupy government House and there were a lot of new people for us to get to know before the 2003 Maryland General Assembly and new governor were sworn in on January 15. Building Relationships 2
One of MML s major legislative initiatives for 2003 was building relationships with the new state legislators, the new administration and their staffs. The MML leadership and staff scheduled meetings with various key state players during the transition period and the early days of the 2003 legislative session. A brand new Speaker of the House of Delegates was elected and Michael Busch graciously met with MML representatives and the Legislative Committee on three separate occasions early in the legislative session. Longtime Senate President Mike Miller also participated at a roundtable discussion with the MML Legislative Committee as did Governor Ehrlich and various representatives from his staff. MML s membership had adopted two other broad legislative initiatives during the October fall conference that were key to the continued growth and prosperity in Maryland s municipalities: Protecting Municipal Resources and Public Safety and Security. Maryland was facing a multi-million dollar budget deficit and municipalities feared a reduction in state aid when the Governor s fiscal year 2004 budget was released. Shortly before Maryland s mayors convened their annual conference in Annapolis in January, the Governor announced a devastating reduction of $12.3 million in highway user revenues to Maryland s cities and towns in an effort to help balance the state budget. Municipal leaders from across the state would spend the entire 90 day General Assembly session trying to convince the legislative leaders of the damage the loss of state revenue would inflict on Maryland s 157 cities and towns. MML secured the services of a longtime Maryland media consultant, Chuck Porcari, to aid us in our legislative initiatives and other municipal projects. 3
Public Safety and Security Following the horrid events of September 11, 2001, MML worked closely with Administration staff in the Maryland Homeland Security Agency this past year to advocate for direct federal funding of Maryland s first responders. MML also sought to have funds directed to cities and towns for reimbursement for local dollars spent to aid in the homeland security efforts. This included the widely publicized sniper attacks in the metropolitan Washington area in October. The MML Legislative Committee joined its sister organization, the Maryland Association of Counties, in introducing legislation to permit speed monitoring cameras in local government jurisdictions across the state. MML staff would spend numerous hours in public hearings and on-floor debates during the 90 day Session to secure passage of the legislation only to see the bill vetoed by Governor Ehrlich in May. 4
Information Technology (IT) MML implemented the first year of a three-year work plan to carry out the goals and objectives of a new strategic plan in 2002-2003. A huge portion of the first year initiatives involved the enhancement of technology to serve the needs of Maryland s municipal governments. MML hired its first full-time IT Manager in January when Carol Dowling joined the MML team. Ms. Dowling s first focus was the enhancement of the MML website. Based upon direction from the MML Board, MML has seen the creation of a new, user-friendly homepage, the addition of a members-only section and the establishment of a secure on-line registration form for MML s conferences. MML s website was also used to announce and publicize the third annual If I Were Mayor, I Would essay contest. This year, over 1,750 fourth graders from across Maryland participated in the contest and nine (9) winners were chosen by mayors from each region of the state. The If I Were Mayor contest was again supervised by MML s Communications Committee. 5
Convention, 2003 In line with President Raufaste year-long initiative, the theme of the MML 2003 annual convention was MML Mentoring Municipal Leaders. Representatives from 117 of Maryland s cities and towns converged on Ocean City from June 22-25 for the annual gathering of Maryland s municipal leaders. A record breaking 176 exhibitors displayed goods and services to over 1,500 convention attendees. Awards for Excellence were given to the cities of Greenbelt and Cheverly and Jimmy Frazier-Bey of Gaithersburg received the annual Roland B. Sweitzer Employee of the Year Award. In keeping with the enhancement of technology mandated by the MML Strategic Plan, the League utilized electronic voting machines to conduct the annual election of officers during the convention. Representatives from Diebold Election Systems were on hand to assist municipal officials with their first use of state-of-the-art election technology. 6
New Publications and Programs 2002-2003 saw the revamping of one of MML s signature programs and the introduction of a new member publication. Following the tenants of the MML Strategic Plan, President Raufaste appointed MML First Vice President Mark Frazer to chair a committee charged to review the longtime MML Scholarship Program. The committee consisted entirely of Board members and met throughout the year, subsequently proposing several changes to the program. Those changes were adopted by the Board in June, 2003. The revised scholarship program criteria establishes a partnership with the University of Maryland School of Public Affairs on an academic fellowship/intern program. Next spring, MML will fund partial fellowships to two incoming Master s Degree students who are pursuing studies in local government. MML will maximize its limited resources as our contribution will be matched dollar for dollar from the William Donald Schaefer Intern Program to fund internship programs for the two 7 students. The new scholarship criteria encourages individual MML chapters to continue their own self-funded scholarship programs and to develop scholarship program criteria that best fit the needs and desires of the respective chapter. In conjunction with the revision of the MML Scholarship Program, the Board of Directors set aside new funding in the fiscal 2004 budget for a training grant program that will finance attendance to the MML convention for two municipal officials annually. Grants are limited to first-time attendees from municipalities that have not sent a delegate to the MML convention in the last three years. Preference is also given to municipal officials in those cities and towns that are active in their chapters and who have received a chapter endorsement. New Publications and Programs cont.
In August, 2003 MML introduced a brand new publication on charter amendment procedures. This document was sent, as a member benefit, to each of Maryland s 157 cities and towns. Additional copies were mailed as requested to member municipalities. The award winning Municipal Maryland magazine continues to provide up-to-date information to member municipalities and other Staffing Notes interested parties on numerous topics each month including news about the establishment of Arts and Entertainment districts in Maryland, local government employment issues, sidewalk maintenance programs and restrictions regarding dual offices of profit. A special article on mutual aid agreements was featured in the December, 2002 edition of the magazine which received high accolades. In February, Karen Liskey began her 33 rd year of employment with the Maryland Municipal League. Other anniversary milestones were reached by Jim Peck who celebrated his 19 th year, Sharon Easton with 18 years, and Linda Burrell with 11 years. In December, MML had a tearful sendoff for long-time executive secretary Johanne Lee who retired after 19 years of service to the Maryland Municipal League. 2003 convention attendees and MML staff were pleased to have Johanne return to assist with the annual gathering of municipal officials in Ocean City, if only for a week in June. Seven-year employee Kevin Best completed the curriculum for his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree and is, at the time of this report, awaiting the results of his Bar entrance examination. 8
Summary The submission of the 2002-2003 annual report marks another first for MML. It is being transmitted to the MML membership via electronic technology. It is my sincere hope that this medium will allow for wider and more efficient distribution of the report to the MML membership and other interested parties. 2002-2003 was another year of firsts for MML but also a year of extreme challenges for the membership particularly as cities and towns shared the pain of an unprecedented state budget deficit. If there was ever a need for municipal governments to come together for the common good, this was the year. We are joyous in our accomplishments and we grow stronger with each and every challenge that we face. Speaking with one voice as one Maryland, we will succeed no matter what the future holds. Thanks for your continued commitment to your association. It is a pleasure to be of service to Maryland s municipal governments. 9