Months before Tuesday's general election, Barry Glassman was getting ready to be Harford's next county executive.
The state senator, who defeated Democrat Joseph Werner by a wide margin as expected, had used phrases such as "culture change" and "rightsize" when he talked about plans to change Harford County government. Now he said he's ready to "hit the ground running."
Riding the GOP wave that swept Larry Hogan to the governor's mansion, Glassman is one of three new county executives in the Baltimore region — all Republican — who won election Tuesday. On Wednesday, they set about the task of forming transition teams and charting a course for their administrations.
Along with Glassman in Harford, state Del. Steve Schuh won the Anne Arundel executive race over Democrat George Johnson, and state Sen. Alan H. Kittleman narrowly defeated Democrat Courtney Watson in Howard County.
All three were vying for vacant seats. The lone Democratic executive up for re-election in the region, Baltimore County's Kevin Kamenetz, won by a comfortable margin.
Kittleman, 56, said his priority is education and implementing a "campaign to strengthen schools and families." He also wants to implement a program to audit county government to increase transparency and accountability.
"People want to have a government that they can trust and that will trust them," he said.
Both Kittleman and Hogan had protested the state-mandated stormwater remediation fee, derided by critics as the "rain tax." Kittleman said he would support any effort by Hogan to roll it back.
"I certainly would support that effort if it comes back in Annapolis again," Kittleman said. "It's certainly something we can work on locally."
Glassman, 52, a critic of debt taken on by the previous Harford administration of David Craig, focused Wednesday on the size of government. He sent an email alerting county employees that his transition team would look for ways to restructure departments to find efficiencies and "potential savings."
"Harford County's fiscal pressures have not subsided," he wrote. "Some employees may receive ... communication outlining potential impacts of the transition on your employment status with the county."
Schuh, 54, took a different approach. He said he'll assemble hundreds of Anne Arundel citizens — in teams of 10 to 20 — to help him decide political appointments.
Schuh said he wanted to keep some of outgoing County Executive Laura Neuman's appointees for consistency, but many are considered temporary department heads. Neuman was appointed in February 2013, after the resignation of John R. Leopold, who had been convicted of misconduct in office.
"Our county has been through a lot of trauma over the last several years," Schuh said. "Stability is important — institutional memory is important."
Schuh ran on a campaign of lower taxes and more schools, but said his first order of business is to form a transition team and recruit residents with broad knowledge and expertise. He wants architects and engineers, for instance, to help assess the Department of Inspections and Permits, and health care professionals to look at the county's Department of Health.
It's a process, he said, that speaks to a priority for his administration: "Our citizens are the customer."
Schuh, Kittleman and Glassman each come from counties that tipped for Hogan. Kittleman said coming in on the governor-elect's wave was gratifying, and comes with built-in common ground.
"I always felt like I would be able to work with a Democratic administration as well, but having a Hogan administration might even be better for Howard County, because now I will have that relationship," he said.
All three will be sworn in on the first Monday in December, which this year falls on Dec. 1.
"Basically, we have about 21 [working] days to be ready," Glassman said.