Hines: Barry Glassman and his team are to be commended for their successes in fighting the opioid crisis. They are at the forefront of fighting this disease and are a role model for the rest of the country. I think Mr. Glassman inherited a large number of fiscal problems that he has just now been able to turn around. He is actively working to raise the pay of teachers, law enforcement, and other critical Harford County employees. I am a Democrat and I am a fan of Barry Glassman. He is friendly, approachable, has good common sense and is a fiscally smart steward of the finances of this county.

Hines: No. Even though I am a fan of Mr. Glassman’s, I believe, as does he, that we need to do better with our funding of Education. Our teachers are our heroes. They do the most important work that can be done for any of us - they teach our children and provide them with an education that can make or break them the rest of their lives. Yet, our teachers do not make the equivalent of other professional salaries. What is worse, many of the teachers in Harford County are leaving and getting jobs as teachers in neighboring counties. We have to act swiftly to keep our teachers. We must raise their pay, fund their pensions and provide them with the resources they need to do their jobs. Our members of law enforcement have been dealing with low salaries compared to adjoining counties. We must raise their pay to keep them here in Harford County. We can not afford a brain drain from our teachers or our law enforcement officers.

Hines: I am running for the office of Harford County Council President because I have been disappointed with the way Harford County handles zoning and the lack of support it gives is citizens in regards to zoning issues. When David Craig was our County Executive, I had a fight with my next door neighbor who happens to be Jones Subaru. Jones acquired the former Hinder Car dealership that sat dormant for several years. Jones tore down trees between our property (buffer area and part of a utility easement), expanded their building, and tripled the size of their parking lot. All of this was done without filing a single permit. They were “grandfathered in”??? Then they erected stadium lighting that per our lighting expert (used in court) stated the lighting was the equivalent of 3 football/baseball stadiums. We contacted our councilman for District B, Joe Woods, initial concern but then no help. Contacted Harford County Zoning. No help. They are grandfathered in….. Contacted Jones Subaru. No help. They laughed at us. Contacted BG&E - no help. We have a contract with Jones. Contacted David Craig who was driving a brand new Jones truck - no help. It took 2 years and 60k in legal fees to get some of that lighting subdued. I think that Harford County Zoning meetings should be open and transparent and filmed. No decisions should be made behind closed doors. All of the affected community groups must be represented and present for the decision- making process.

Hines: I think the county is doing a superb job of fighting the opioid epidemic. They are activiely training recovery coaches, holding a variety to training seminars, conducting plays, etc. I would like to see more people who are trained in recovery, be required to provide some type of volunteer service to give back to the community. Most of the people who work in this field are just too emotionally drained to give more at the end of their day. So, I encourage training people outside of the field. What else can Harford County do? Provide training to students (do not give this task to teachers) on how to cope with the terrible issues we face in life such as being ugly, called fat, stupid, etc. How to deal with rejection and life’s ills. This is what causes people to turn to drugs. We must teach coping skiils. This will help with addiction and violence. I am going to be self serving here. I was helped with a 40 plus year smokeless tobacco addiction by an online site called http://killthecan.org. I started Quit The Habit to provide the same type of recovery support to help people quitting heroin and opioid addiction. I want my site to be the hub for people in recovery, anywhere in the nation to come and get and give support. We should train more recovery coaches and get them to my site to help the public. It is self funded and free.

Hines: I think that the Sherff’s Office is held in high regard. I met one of the captains in their force at a recent Edgewood town meeting and was quite impressed, even though he was from New York:). My parents are from New York. If other captains visit their local town halls and are open to discussions with members in the community as this captain did, then I believe the county is well served. He said contact him any time for any reason. He agreed to serve as escalation point. I was very impressed. I would like to see less serious treatment of youth with drug offenses. I think sending them to jail or juvenile facilities will make things worse and lead them to a life of crime and drugs. I would like to find opportunities for them to get training, a big brother or sister to guide them to a better path. Many of these youth may have been raised in troubled households…. Let’s see if we can get them an apprenticeship or some other opportunites. We have an opportunity to turn these youth around…

Hines: After seeing this question, I researched this topic. I would encourage Harford County to not move the volunteer fire and emergency medical services out-of-the-way but instead, to incorporate them into their plan. Make these wonderful volunteers who have so nobly served this county full time Harford County employees and phase in the assumption of these fire deparmentments and EMSs in a thoughtful and caring way. Only after including our volunteers, should we then seek to expand and hire new staff. But, we must take care of our volunteers first.