Harford County Executive Barry Glassman has revived the Office of Governmental and Community Relations, which had been allowed to expire by his predecessor, sharpening the agency's focus as part of his reorganization efforts in his first month in office.
Much of that new focus is on governmental relations – with the County Council, municipal, county, state and federal governments – but also with the education and farming and business communities.
To arrive at the new setup, however, money and positions have been shifted in the operating budget, which hasn't necessarily produced any immediate net savings.
During a recent presentation before the County Council, Bert Schreiber, the office's new director, encouraged council members to "please think of us as a resource" on legislative matters.
Schreiber also said his office will also seek public input by encouraging residents to volunteer for the county's various boards and commissions.
"County Executive Glassman and all members of his administration really believe that public input is so vital to government," he said.
The new, old agency is being funded with money that had been allocated to the now-abolished Office of Chief of Staff in the current fiscal 2015 budget, along with money from the Office of Economic Development budget, according to the county administration. And, there are some differences between the new iteration and its predecessors.
Among its duties are lobbying on the county's behalf in Annapolis and Washington, D.C., dissemination of information to the public, relations with the local agricultural community, relations with the local education community and marshaling resources to battle heroin addiction in Harford, Glassman explained.
Schreiber, whose annual salary is $128,000, previously worked for the Maryland Independent College and University Association and as an assistant director for state relations for Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University.
No outside lobbyists
Glassman said Schreiber will be the chief legislative lobbyist for Harford County, a job that had shifted around in previous administrations among county government lawyers, executive staff and outside lobbyists.
"I would expect my director to do the state and federal lobbying for the county, also," he said.
Glassman did not renew the county's contract with the Annapolis lobbying firm G.S. Proctor Associates, a move the county executive said should save the county around $50,000 annually.
The lobbying firm was paid $39,544.98 by Harford County during the 2014 fiscal year and $25,544.98 for the first six months of the 2015 fiscal year, Cindy Mumby, the new deputy director of governmental and community relations and the administration's chief media spokesperson, said.
Glassman noted former county executives Jim Harkins and Eileen Rehrmann had a division of governmental and community relations in their administrations. His immediate predecessor, David Craig, also funded and continued the agency, but later abolished it during his final term, after its then-director left for a private sector position.
"It was already in the pay and classification plan as a department with positions," Glassman noted.
Ending a 'disconnect'
Craig created the Office of Chief of Staff early in his nine and a half year administration. Its functions included media relations, lobbying and agricultural relations.
The chief of staff position had been vacant since June when Aaron Tomarchio, who was paid approximately $115,000 annually, left for a job in private industry. Under Glassman's changes, the position no longer exists.
The county charter designates the director of administration as the person supervising the agencies of the executive branch, but Glassman noted"there seemed to be a disconnect between having a director of administration and a chief of staff," when it came to department heads trying to decide to whom they should report to on policy and constituent matters.
Glassman said Schreiber also will work with the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University to develop a heroin task force and will be "a lead person" for bringing business and business incubation to the University Center in Aberdeen.
There are five positions in the government and community affairs office: director, deputy director, administrative secretary, agricultural marketing specialist and marketing/graphics specialist.
The first three are funded with money from former office of chief of staff, the other two from economic development office money.
Positions, roles shifted
Glassman noted he has abolished the position of deputy chief of staff for agricultural affairs.
"We have a close relationship with the farm community, and I didn't think we needed a deputy chief of staff for agriculture or a division when most farmers know they can call the county executive direct," said Glassman, who also operates a small sheep farm in Darlington.
While the position went away, the person who formerly held it, C. John Sullivan III, was transferred to a new position of business navigator at the same salary, $85,072, Mumby confirmed.
"It's a new position here, but many counties have it," she said, explaining that Sullivan is working directly with small businesses to assist them "from concept through start up" and in particular facilitating their contact with available resources at the county and state level. She noted that assisting small businesses is part of Glassman's pledge to improve Harford's economy.
A second deputy chief of staff position under Craig, which was held by Ben Lloyd, has been shifted to Director of Administration Billy Boniface's office, where Lloyd has become the point man for constituent services in charge of a newly-created Division of Citizens Affairs and Administrative Services.
"They handle all the pothole calls, all the constituents' complaints, questions and so forth," Glassman said.
Lloyd's division will also serve as a liaison to the local community councils, which Glassman plans to continue. The councils went dormant with the end of the Craig administration.
"We do anticipate continuing the community councils," Glassman said. "We are looking at changing their role and improving the way they operate to some extent."
Glassman said Lloyd, whose salary is $85,280, is developing a plan for the community councils and is expected to introduce it in about a month.
In addition to heading media relations for the new administration Mumby is Glassman's liaison to the Harford County school system and Board of Education. Her salary is $86,000.
"She's really the first person that has an assigned task to cover the Board of Education and to work closely as a liaison with them," Glassman said.
Mumby's position as head of public information for the county government was previously held by Sherrie Johnson, who was transferred to a similar position with the County Council in December, at a salary of $75,000. Johnson left the post last week, however, to take a new job in Virginia, several council members confirmed.