Pittman and Friends Podcast
Welcome to Pittman and Friends, the curiously probing, sometimes awkward, but always revealing conversations between your host, Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman - that’s me - and whatever brave and willing public servant, community leader, or elected official I can find who has something to say that you should hear.
This podcast is provided as a public service of Anne Arundel County Government, so don’t expect me to get all partisan here. This is about the age-old art of government - of, by, and for the people.
Pittman and Friends Podcast
Council Chair Julie Hummer on Land Use, Budgets, District 4 and More
Listen in to the incredible journey of Julie Hummer, a dedicated leader who transitioned from her roots in South Carolina to a pivotal role in Anne Arundel County government. With a background as a special education teacher and a mother of five, Julie's commitment to education and community service shines through in her work. From her inspiring shift from the Board of Education to the County Council, to her compassionate efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Julie shares how her passion has fueled significant contributions to her district.
She also shares visionary plans for transit-oriented development and economic revitalization around the Odenton MARC station and Town Center, as well as the transformative potential of the Laurel Racetrack and the surrounding areas.
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Welcome to Pittman and Friends. The curiously probing, sometimes awkward but always revealing conversations between your host, Anne Arundel County Executive Stuart Pittman, that's me, and whatever brave and willing public servant, community leader or elected official I can find who has something to say that you should hear. This podcast is provided as a public service of Anne Arundel County, so don't expect me to get all partisan here. This is about the age-old art of government of, by, and for the people. All right, welcome. I am really pleased to be here today with the District 4 Anne Arundel County Councilwoman and Chair of the Anne Arundel County Council, Julie Hummer. Welcome.
Julie Hummer :Thank you, glad to be here. Happy New Year.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Happy New Year. Happy New Year. So what I like to do in these is talk about the person's background first. So you ran for the County Council just two years ago, got elected, and tell us what you were doing before and what led you to that.
Julie Hummer :So way back.
Julie Hummer :So, I'm originally from South Carolina, came up to Virginia and then to Maryland.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:All right, so that's not a Southern Maryland twang. That's a South Carolina twang.
Julie Hummer :Definitely, that's South Carolina twang and I went to school in Virginia and I was a special education teacher and then I started having a lot of kids. I have five children and I got very involved in the local PTA advocating for our local schools, and that led to the County Council because we can do a lot on the Board of Education but we don't control the funding. And so, I was pleased to get on the County Council where I can have more to say and input into the actual funding for education and all other areas that affect children and families.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Sometimes, I feel like the Board of Education is glad that they don't control the funding. They just ask for money and they don't have to come up with it, right.
Julie Hummer :But, I will share that it is quite frustrating when they ask for the money and don't receive it all because everything that the Board of Education asks is always good. But you can't always get all the money that you want. So it's interesting to have been on both sides and I actually think having served on the Board of Education is very beneficial to then being on the county council side and really understanding the budgets of both branches both parts of government.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And I remember when I first came into office or maybe it was when I was still a candidate and I was trying to educate myself. But I remember calling you because you were the Chair of the Board of Education at the time and I remember hanging up from that call thinking this woman really knows her stuff.
Julie Hummer :It's kind of. The Board of Education was a wonderful experience. It combined my background in education and my life as a parent, and so it was a great way to serve and I loved being on the board, yeah.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And I also remember during COVID, when I guess you were not a candidate yet. Maybe, you had finished up as School Board. I can't remember the timing, but you were with your five children out. It seemed, constantly with food distribution, diapers, all kinds of things to help with that really huge crisis that was going on in your community.
Julie Hummer :We did. My family started running a food pantry out of our garage and we did that for about three months during COVID and provided weekly bags of food to 100-plus families a week.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So, I want to get into your district and what it's like and what some of the issues are. But, let's first talk about just the County Council as an institution and the administration as the other branch of government, the checks and balances between them. And now that you're the Chair of the County Council, I'm sure you're starting to think big picture about how all that works. So what are the responsibilities of the County Council?
Julie Hummer :The County Council is the legislative branch of government, just like the Senate and the House of Representatives on the national level, the county council. We, like the Senate and the House of Representatives on the national level, the county council we write the laws, we're the ones who pass the laws and that come through, and so we work just like on the national level. Government works best when the different branches work together and that there's some give and take there, but they are independent branches. So you know, you may have gotten this too, but I have gotten emails from people saying why don't you tell Steuart to do this?
Julie Hummer :And it's like well, because that's not my job and Steuart's not my boss either, so we have to. We're independent branches, we're not telling each other what to do, but we, hopefully, are working together to get the best outcome for the county.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah, and a lot of the work that you do. Constituent service work is really getting people to the right department that is under me, and hopefully that department is responding.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:But then there are times where you and I have to communicate, or you and some of our constituent services, or your constituent services folks and ours, so it's it's um, it's really important when we're dealing with the shared constituents.
Julie Hummer :Oh, exactly, it's kind of because you will find out things from constituents that my office won't necessarily know, and vice versa. So that when we're communicating with the departments, we are making sure that all of our residents are getting the best service they can.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So, you can tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel pretty good about the last six years. I know you were only there for the last two of those six. The relationship between the administration and the seven people on the county councils, so one from each district, especially when I look around the state and I hear stories from other counties or I look at legislative bodies at the state level. Even under the last administration with Governor Hogan and the legislature there was very little communication and the two sides would blame each other for things. But they didn't always talk to each other and collaborate. And I think had I not had good staff when I came in who had done, had worked in other counties and had done this before, I think I would have blown it. I think I wouldn't have got how, how important it is to treat each of the seven people in the council like an equal partner.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And and when I look back on the last administration of this county, there were seven. It was four, three, four Republican, three Democrat at that point. Now it's flipped so it's four Democrats, three Republicans. That administration had a lot of trouble getting four votes on anything because of the dynamics and I mean I don't know who's to blame? Probably everybody in that case. Dynamics, and I mean, I don't know who's to blame, probably everybody in that case, but we managed, I think, to at least get four votes. Sometimes we got seven votes, sometimes we got six votes on the really important stuff, including the budget, but it's hard work.
Julie Hummer :It is. But, like I said, I think the best service, the best government that you have is when everybody's working together, that we truly look at it as that. Why are we here? We're here for public service, which is to take care of our residents, and so if the different sides aren't talking to each other, there's no way that you're going to come up with the best outcomes for everything. But I do think we've had a good relationship with the administration and with all the different departments and within the council itself. I mean close to 90% of our votes are unanimous, because most of them are. Some are pro forma things that we have to do, but we really try to do legislation that's beneficial for everybody. And beyond that unanimous, the vast majority are bipartisan to some extent. And so, we really try to work because good legislation is good no matter what party you're in.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Absolutely, yeah, and it and it's, it's um.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:I've watched every single council member struggle with every single issue, both first trying to understand it and all the impacts of it. I have to do the same, but it is really hard work and it's a part-time job, so at least it's paid as a part-time job.
Julie Hummer :It is paid probably less than a part-time job and, yes, we're considered part-time people, but it really is a full-time job. It's a continuous process. People are reaching out to you Christmas Eve. It doesn't matter, they're going to be there and we're present for them. We want to be there and respond.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So let's talk about District 4. You've got the westernmost western part of the county with Laurel and Russett where you live right right, and Maryland City, and you've got some big institutions. You've got Fort Meade. You've got the Smithsonian Environmental. I'm not the Smithsonian- I'm sorry, the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge, Right, right. I'm getting mixed up. There are two huge ones in the county that we often sort of forget, because they're, they're, they're really preserved land and you've got Odenton and Two Rivers and Piney Orchard and a lot of folks live there.
Julie Hummer :It is. But the last census, District 4 grew more than any other district in the county in fact. So with redistricting, I actually had to move a lot of people out of District 4 because it had grown so much larger than the other districts. So it is the western part of the county. As someone who lives in Laurel, the westernmost part, I can say that historically that's been an area that's often been a little forgotten in the county because people believe it's.
Julie Hummer :When you say Laurel, they believe it's Prince George's County. And so, I've really been trying to put an emphasis over there about some of the needs in the Laurel area, which are coming through and we've got some good projects going on over there. But we also include all of Odenton, where we're going to be bringing in the new Mark Station parking garage, which is really exciting, and a park at the Odenton Library extends all the way out to two rivers where we just opened a brand new elementary school. And, um, you know, have some other possibilities for out that way and then includes all of Fort Meade, which is, what are we now, currently the second largest military installation in the country and the largest employer and largest employer in the state.
Julie Hummer :And that is all on in District 4. And so again, lots going on.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah, yeah, definitely so. Odenton, the MARC station. I think a lot of people don't realize that's the most heavily used MARC train station in the county and people can connect to DC and Baltimore. And the idea of that, that structured parking, that parking garage, is to free up some surface parking, correct, to do some housing and mixed use development. Is that right?
Julie Hummer :That is the hope. So they have just announced putting out for plan ideas for what we could do there as mixed use. And then, around the Mark Station and the Odenton Town Center boundaries, we have multiple great projects coming up that will be some mixed use, some affordable housing for more moderate means. Really exciting things that will be within walking distance of the transit and really promote some economic growth around there. So the next few years are going to be exciting right around there.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So the idea is we talk about sometimes transit-oriented development, where people do not have to get in a car every day. They can actually get on a train or work right near where they live.
Julie Hummer :Exactly so. That's what we're hoping for there and, like I said, incentivizing some more small businesses to come around there so that people who live there can walk to everywhere they go. They won't have to be. Not only will they have the train station, but they might have grocery stores or other things all nearby restaurants that they can walk to and have a little. Some fewer cars on the road would be great.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah, so I have also felt like West County was somewhat neglected, probably because there were a lot of jobs created from Fort Meade and then eventually housing. Although not enough for the jobs, which creates a lot of traffic with people coming in and out. So it would be better if there was more housing close to those jobs in and out. But it just it's an area where when it grows fast, it's hard to keep up with the public infrastructure and have enough parks and have enough schools and have enough of those things. So do you feel like we're catching up? Do you feel like you're still neglected? What's needed in terms of public?
Julie Hummer :Well, the good news is there's been a lot of housing that is coming in that area. We have a large development called Watershed that is still expanding, that's coming in there and there's multiple other ones in the works. And another big thing that will be coming down the pike in the next couple of years is the Laurel Racetrack is going to no longer be the Laurel Racetrack and that whole plot of land, which is 287 acres, is going to be available to be reused for something else. And my hope is, with a lot of community impact, we can input, we can really create, share a vision of what people in that area would like to see. That could bring in more of the economic development and housing again right near a train station, so we can get that transit-oriented development and will really be a boon for that part of the county.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So for people who don't know, who haven't heard, Laurel Racetrack is going to no longer be a racetrack after they run the Preakness there in '26. So they're going to do one more Preakness up at Pimlico, then they're going to tear everything down up there and start rebuilding the new big race. That'll be all of Maryland racing really, mostly other than Timonium, and then they'll run the Preakness at Laurel for one year, just one year. And then, I guess, they'll tear that down and it'll be redeveloped and become something else. And it's owned by the Stronach Group, the Canadian company that has been running horse racing in Maryland. They're leaving Maryland horse racing and they have promised to engage with.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:They're already talking to our economic development team and I know they've hired a consultant to do some visioning and we've really encouraged them and I know you've encouraged them to engage with the community because it could be transit oriented. It is right off of a train station. There's a lot of natural space there. There are a lot of wetlands, it's on the Patuxent River. It could be beautiful. You know both public space and you know mixed use development, so lots to come there.
Julie Hummer :Lots of work to do, right. It's exciting. That will be a great addition for over in that part of the county and we have a lot of great things there. As you said, we've got the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge. There's an entrance right there off 198 that goes right there, and the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge is actually doing some visioning now. They have some land right on at the entrance way that used to be ball fields that they're going to be repurposing and they're doing some community visioning right now of what to turn that space into it used to be ball fields.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Really?
Julie Hummer :It was. They had, years ago, um, Fort Meade gave a large portion of land to the wildlife refuge. But part of that land had some ball fields on it because they had like a league, a softball league or something, and so they were grandfathered that they could continue using those fields. And then just about a year, year and a half ago, they, Fort Meade let them know that they no longer, that the league was no longer working and they didn't need the fields anymore. So they gave it back. They ended the MOU and so now they're looking for how they can better repurpose that land for public use.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Are they open to ball fields?
Julie Hummer :No, I asked about that. I tried that.
Julie Hummer :They have within their mandate under Fish and Wildlife. There's certain parameters that it has to be, but there are some options for trails or archery or some other things like that. So butterfly gardens, community gardens, that type of thing, so they're really reaching out to the community. So that'll be a great asset that's added in that community. And we just did. We're doing some investment in the um, Bacontown Park, which is right over um near the Racetrack. It's an old, um, descendant community from founded by former enslaved residents and we have a nice little park there and it's getting some upgrades. So we're investing over there. It's, it's you some attention.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah, we were out there for the ribbon cutting with the new Tunnel Vision team had done the painting of the basketball courts and more to come. Yep, good, good. Well, hopefully we are keeping up, and I know that ball fields are a big part of it, park facilities are a big part for everybody, and then traffic is, of course, the big concern, yeah.
Julie Hummer :Always traffic. It doesn't matter.
Julie Hummer :I find that it doesn't matter what community is where it is. In my district, the number one complaint from people is traffic, and that's just everywhere. And unfortunately, we can't make people slow down and be better drivers, but we can put up speed cameras and sometimes maybe that will incentivize them.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah. Yeah, do we want to talk about speed cameras here? It's actually not been as controversial when when? Um in Maryland, for people who don't know, you cannot put up speed cameras unless it's at schools, unless you get state authorization to do so. So we had a lot of neighborhood associations that were saying we got speeding on this or that road and do something besides just speed bumps were one option, but there are problems with that. So we decided to go to the General Assembly and get a bill passed to allow Anne Arundel County to put speed cameras in communities and schools. And now we've got a contract where it's finally happening in some locations where it's long overdue, and we let people know it's coming.
Julie Hummer :Sure, and I'll say that I haven't really heard any complaints about it because it has been in school zones where people are very concerned about the safety and they see it as a plus to come through, and because we try other traffic calming things. But sometimes people need a financial incentive.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Yeah, and there is a way online to actually apply as a community for a specific spot and they'll come out and do it as part of the traffic study and determine whether there should be a camera temporarily, usually, and that hopefully takes care of it. So, let's see. So we've talked about your district. When you look at the whole county, obviously there's budgeting issues and there's land use issues. That seems to be those two things. Seem to be a lot of it. Is there, you? I mean you've been a big, a big advocate for housing. Do you want to talk more about strategies for affordable housing?
Julie Hummer :Sure, we've, I mean, we've made some great progress on with housing legislation and some changes that we've made that will incentivize more smart housing, you know, in priority areas, like we talked about transportation, or in development areas to really have multifamily there. We have actually coming down the pike. There's a redevelopment bill that's coming that will also allow more economic and housing development. All of those things we need.
Julie Hummer :My district, as I said, is the fastest growing.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So redevelopment would be then on parcels where there's been development and they're switching from something that's no longer really working.
Julie Hummer :Correct, correct?
Julie Hummer :So, for instance, some of the blighted things that we see. Nobody wants to see boarded up buildings, or a strip mall that only has two tenants and five empty ones. And so this is a way the redevelopment will allow us to do more smart redevelopment to really use it in a better way and, as I said, my district is the fastest growing in the area.
Julie Hummer :People need housing, and they need housing that they can afford. So when we say affordable housing, I don't mean for the lowest income people, I mean for working people, income people, I mean for working people who are out there. It's hard to afford to buy something. So we need more housing at all price points to come through and I think we're really making some good strides toward that. There's some really great ones coming through in my district that I'm excited about that are serving everyone, from elderly folks of moderate means on up, and so there's going to be more options for everyone and anything we can do to move that along. One thing we run into it's not something on the county level we can address as much, but anything we can try to do is some of the red tape that comes through for more affordable housing projects projects, the financing and things take a long time and are complicated. And so, any way that we as a county can expedite some of those things, I think would be a real plus.
Julie Hummer :Um, one of my biggest frustrations being in elected office is how long everything takes.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Oh yeah, you know, me too.
Julie Hummer :Yeah, so you start something and everybody agrees it's a great idea, and three years later you cut the ribbon on it and so anything we can do to um speed things up.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And I've got to say that you know people thought of me as like South County tree hugger that comes into office- stop- development any way that you can stop it kind of thing, which was never my agenda.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:It was more of a smart growth agenda. But the bureaucracy and the time that it takes, not just for government projects to be like our capital projects, our parks, all those things is, of course, frustrating, and we've had all kinds of work groups to try to expedite things and made some progress. But I can't imagine being a private developer working for five, six, sometimes 10 years on one project and having the patience to carry it through. Now, in some cases, it's appropriate because there's a real question about whether what they want should be developed on that land. But in the cases where we're pretty clear now, I think we've made the development community understands what we mean by smart growth and greener, more equitable growth, and I think they're getting better about what they're proposing. And so if somebody's proposing to build something that everybody wants, let's try to move it through quickly, because time is money.
Julie Hummer :Yes, let's get it through. So I'm paying extra close attention to the ones in my district that are underway, that are specifically for, you know, our elderly with moderate means or our lower income folks, to see what I can do to help expedite and get those things through. One thing I would bring up, because this is pertinent, you know, with the death of President Carter recently. There's a Habitat for Humanity project that's coming in in my district that I'm really excited about. It's the first time Habitat's done a project in Anne Arundel for a number of years and they have a project in the Severn right near Fort Meade of about I think it's six houses that'll be coming in.
Julie Hummer :I would love to see them do more projects throughout the county.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Well, we were both at the Anne Arundel Affordable Housing Coalition's annual Christmas dinner whatever it was called or event and I saw the Habitat Humanity folks there. And I said," great, are you guys gonna come into the county and do some things? So glad to see that. Yeah, I'm a huge advocate for trying to do some things that are not just the public subsidy, the low-income housing tax credits because they're limited and there's just only so much that can go around and we need to go beyond it. But getting both developers and home buyers and renters comfortable with the idea of living in smaller, which is more sustainable housing units. And if they're smaller then they'd cost less to build. And it just seems to me that, especially where I live in South County, they did this 20-acre zoning thing, literally five acres.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Sometimes for 20 acres lots that are mowed grass with chemicals put on it and I'm thinking, "why isn't there any livestock out there? And and um, and it's really the ultimate sprawl development. And then they build these houses so big. I don't know why. I mean, I don't want a house that big, but, um, it's, there's a market for it and and so that's. You know, the developers build where there's a market, where there's a profit. So, um. Let's build smaller and more sustainable. I hope.
Julie Hummer :Yes, I mean, it's kind of, you know, you need something at everything of what people want, but I think an aging population and young people just starting out would really want smaller, yeah, and so the more of that we can have, the better.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Maybe we can get some of these accessory dwelling units built.
Julie Hummer :That's right.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:We passed the bill with almost no opposition. I don't think that I heard.
Julie Hummer :No, it was unanimous, yeah.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And now we've got to get people building those. More on that to come.
Julie Hummer :Right.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So, should we talk budgets and money?
Julie Hummer :Sure.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And, the budget process.
Julie Hummer :Sure.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:So you've now been through two. This will be your third, right?
Julie Hummer :This will be my third, but I also did five on the school board, maybe six on the school board. I can't remember. Five or six on the school board budget side. So yes, I know the budgets well.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:I don't like the process, do you? I don't like doing it.
Julie Hummer :Well, that's because you have to say no. Exactly, yeah, exactly. It's hard, you know. You want to be able to say yes, because it's rare that people ask for things that aren't good things, right.
Julie Hummer :You know, there's lots of good.
Julie Hummer :We just, but the money, the pot is limited.
Julie Hummer :So it's determining what is the most important and how we move forward.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:The best part of the process for me has been when, especially when we get near the end and we have the things that are maybes that we might be able to afford. And there's usually a few that I really want badly and when we get to, yes, that's really that really feels good.
Julie Hummer :It is great.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Some of them are, I mean, I won't make a list because then somebody will get left out but it really feels good to be able to fund something that you know is going to help a lot of people who could really use the help. Well, let me ask you one last question, and this is probably the hardest one. This might have something to do with what got you into doing this work, but what do you see as success? What do you think, either at the end of this four-year term or if you were to do another term, how do you measure success in this job?
Julie Hummer :It's hard. As I was saying, one of the frustrations is how long things take. So it very well could be that you can serve for a term or more and the projects and things you get started you will not see come into fruition until the end. But I'm you know for me that there will be progress for that, that we, I will see within my district that there's increased parks but park properties and economic development and housing for all people. And that our schools, schools within my district, residents of District 4 feed into 23 different schools in our county to have that and so making sure that all of those schools have the same resources and opportunities.
Julie Hummer :So that some are not getting, you know, that there's not a disparity between our schools to have that, and that's an ongoing battle.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:And you have a very diverse district, right?
Julie Hummer :Very diverse.
Julie Hummer :You know, probably racially and ethnically, we're probably close to the most diverse in the whole county.
Julie Hummer :And so making sure that we're meeting the needs with the funding and the resources that are available to have all that. So it's long-term, there's not short-term things. But yes, I'd love going to ribbon cutting, so I'll celebrate every ribbon cutting we have. But knowing that things are moving forward. One of my top priorities we talked about it earlier was Bacont own, bringing more attention to Bacont own. And we've already taken some real steps to that, and that community is feeling seen for the first time. And we just recently unveiled the history storyboard to put out there, and so that's one that I'm really proud of and really happy for that community. So that's one that's a tangible thing to put forward. But a lot of the projects will be longer term, coming down the pike.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Well, I will just say that your residents are really lucky to have you, I think. And I'm not just saying that. It's always been very clear to me that you are a representative that does your homework and has a certain kind of wisdom that some people in politics don't like. You understand that it's a long game, and we're just temporarily in these seats trying to push the agenda forward and not asking for the world, but hoping for it.
Julie Hummer :Well, it's really important that people remember that there's nothing that you can do right now that isn't because of what all the people before you did. So you're able to go farther, because they already laid some groundwork. And that was really clear when I was on the Board of Education. People would say, well, why haven't you done x, y, z? Well, because all these other things had to happen first and because the people before me laid that groundwork, now we are able to take these next steps.
Julie Hummer :So, none of it is.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Before you and around you, right, right. There's nothing you can do alone.
Julie Hummer :Yes, so people that think I'm going to come in and I'm going to just make everything happen and it was all terrible before me. There may have been some people that weren't the best in their jobs, but it all builds on each other. And then we have to have you know, we have to understand that and know that it is a long game and each cog in the wheel builds it. And, hopefully we keep moving forward.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:All right. Well, thank you so much for sharing your wisdom, your priorities. We have a lot of work to do for your district and the whole county. And I hope, if you're listening, that you join us next week. I can't tell you yet who the guest is going to be, but if there's a subscribe button somewhere on your screen, punch it and then you'll get notified.
County Executive Steuart Pittman:Thanks, everybody.
Julie Hummer :Goodbye.
