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You've
grown up in Anne Arundel County. How has traffic changed here since you
were a boy? |
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"I remember as a kid
growing up on the Mayo peninsula in the mid-to-late '60s, my brother
Tommy and I could ride our bikes out of my parents' driveway and ride
right into Annapolis – right down the center of the road. All we had to
worry about was our tires getting caught in the drainage grates and what
we were going to do once we got into town.
"Needless to say, this experience is something today's children cannot
experience.
"Roadways that once were quiet are now clogged with traffic. There's
nothing more frustrating to me than going to visit my mother and trying
to pull out of her driveway onto Central Avenue and succeeding
half-an-hour later."
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What's the
impetus behind your Gridlock Free Zones initiative?
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""My goal is
simply to give the citizens and taxpayers of Anne Arundel County
more control over their own lives.
"According to a recent study, 17 gallons of fuel per person were
wasted in the Baltimore region due to gridlock in 2003 – and
each person stuck in that gridlock lost 27 hours of time.
"I want the parents of Anne Arundel County to be able to attend
their children's entire soccer game or band performance – not
just the second half. Or to be able to get home in time to take
a walk with their spouse after dinner.
"If I can give people back even an hour, we've made a
substantial improvement in their quality of life.
"But it's not just the time and fuel savings. We know pollution
from automobiles has a detrimental impact on our waterways, and
we have a shared responsibility to be good stewards of our
environment. Reducing traffic and gridlock are ways we can make
a difference.
"The question is, what policies can we put in place to make it
happen? No single policy will be a panacea, but through time,
political leadership, funding support, and a shared vision, I
believe we can achieve our goals sooner than later."
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Anne Arundel
County is a highly desirable place to live. Is it unrealistic to
think we can ever manage growth and traffic successfully? |
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"It is not unrealistic. I believe it is doable if we do it
incrementally over a period of budget cycles -- keeping in mind
the parameters of our tax cap. It requires long-term visioning.
In fact, it requires a kind of double vision – what do we know
about today's realities, and how do we want to make positive
changes for a better future?"
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What about your
background gives you the knowledge and insights needed to make
improvements in this area? |
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"Number one is the
longevity of my ties to this area – going back to the mid '60s
when I saw our roadways from behind the handlebars of my bike.
That historical knowledge of the county and how things have
changed for us as residents is invaluable in helping me
understand the context for making needed improvements.
"I've never lived in an ivory tower. Being an active member of
my community all my life – from the schools to the soccer fields
-- has added to that base of knowledge not only about growth and
transportation issues, but in a thousand other areas.
"When you boil it down, I'm a regular guy who was raised here,
is raising children here, and has a deeply rooted commitment to
Anne Arundel County. I understand the value of common sense and
communicating at the community level. I'm fortunate to have had
the benefit of legislative experience and of leading our county
delegation to the State House. Capping it off, serving as a
member of Gov. Ehrlich's transportation team as director of MARC
trains deepened my understanding of local and regional
transportation issues and opportunities for improvement."
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If you could look
down the road to when your sons are grown, how do you hope local
growth and transportation will have changed for the better? |
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"While I don't
expect to see children riding bikes again down the middle of the
road, I do hope we can lay the groundwork today so that citizens
tomorrow will have more opportunities and choices when it comes
to moving around the county.
"Instead of having to rely on the car to get to the neighborhood
park or shopping center, I hope our children in the future can
walk or bike there. And our seniors can do the same – or hop on
a shuttle bus.
"I'm hoping employers will offer more flextime options to meet
the needs of working parents and reduce the intensity of our
morning and evening rush hours.
"I'm hoping that running errands will mean booting up the
computer instead of starting up the engine.
"And I hope we all reach and return from the beach in record
time without sweating it out on either side of the Bay Bridge.
"Once we get there, we'll have to rely on double vision again in
asking ourselves how things were before, and how have we made
life better today?
"If citizens in the future have more time for things like family
and community service, that will be our measure of success."
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Check back soon for the next in
the series "Talking with Phil" -- his candid comments on the issues facing our county
and his goals as county executive. |
More Talking with Phil:
