Pickard: The General Development Plan process must include small area plans. In fact, it would beneficial to perform an audit of the Small Area Plan recommendations from our GDP of over a decade ago. As I study the Glen Burnie Small Area Plan of 2004, it is clear that many of the recommendations have never materialized. Convening a group of community members to work on a new vision for the Greater Glen Burnie area is a must.

Pickard: I am a strong advocate for increased compensation for our Teachers in Anne Arundel. I am also a strong advocate for reducing our class size issues which will require hundreds of additional teachers. The budget process for funding our school system requires the Board of Education to make a formal budget request, the County Executive to allocate funds, and then County Council can only add additional funds by taking from other categories. Any County dollars allocated for Instructional staff in the school system budget then go through a collective bargaining process between Board of Education and Teachers Association of Anne Arundel County. The County Council does not have the authority to dictate how budget increases for teachers are dispersed. Those details must be negotiated.

Pickard: I believe we can meet our needs within the county by maximizing revenue within the legal confines of our county tax revenue cap as well as leveraging opportunities for public/private partnerships and state/federal grant opportunities.