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 Eileen was
elected Harford County Executive in 1990 and re-elected in 1994 at a time when Democrats
were being swept aside by a Republican tide. Having previously represented Harford
County’s 34th district in the House of Delegates where she sat on the
House Appropriations Committee, and having been elected as a Bel Air Town Commissioner,
she was well prepared to take on the challenges which lay ahead.EDUCATION Eileen has had a great deal of experience in education. It was through her local PTA that she began her career in public service. Additionally, she has been an elementary school teacher, chaired the Harford County Council of PTA’s, served on the Maryland League of Women Voters Funding of Education Committee, and on the Governors Task Force on School Construction. Harford County schools have become some of the best in the state. For the second year in a row they have scored in the top five counties in the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. "Being fourth in the state for a second year in a row is a significant achievement," says Jeffrey N. Grotsky, Harford County School Superintendent. "None of us will be satisfied until we reach number one." In Harford County, under the Rehrmann administration, funding for the Board of Education has remained at 54 to 56% of the general funds, while still adding new teachers, building new schools and renovating older ones. FISCAL MANAGEMENT Eileen has made tough fiscal management a hallmark of her administration. "If financial management is the mark of a successful chief executive, and to a great degree we believe it is, then Harford county Executive Eileen Rehrmann has proved over and over again in the last eight years she deserves to be considered among the state’s best managers." (The Aegis, Wednesday, April 8, 1998) Eileen’s eight years on the Appropriations Committee prepared her to effectively handle the fiscal realities of the Nineties. Shortly after becoming County Executive in December 1990 the economy took a severe downturn. This sharp slowing of revenue growth was accompanied by an overburdened infrastructure as a result of nearly a decade of growth in the Eighties. Eileen immediately set about to control spending, prepare more accurate revenue projections, and began the process of adding capacity to the water and sewer systems and building new schools to accommodate the boom in population. She did this all without raising the tax rates, without laying off personnel, and still maintaining public services. She has established a spending affordability committee to make recommendations on fund allocations in each year’s hedge against catastrophic economic downturns, created a business plan and a five year capital improvement program as a guide for her operating budget. One of Eileen’s highest priorities was to create a five percent unallocated fund balance to guard against future catastrophic downturns. GROWTH MANAGEMENT Faced with the county’s difficulty providing the infrastructure necessary to support the massive growth of the Eighties, Eileen created an Adequate Public Facilities Program. Also as part of this plan, she spearheaded the Rural Plan, which includes a Purchase of Development Rights Program to preserve the agriculture and rural atmosphere in the county. It has since become a model for the rest of the state. Eileen has prepared Harford County for it’s future by establishing a Future Growth Task Force to study the county’s development into the next century and recommend sound growth management strategies. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT Eileen streamlined the budget process to make the budget itself a management tool for the executive and department managers. During this process she developed a Performance Measurement Program, the first in the state to include all aspects of government, to assure the citizens that their tax dollars are being spent wisely and that the county government is working efficiently. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Recognizing that a county needs business to provide jobs for its citizens and revenues
for necessary services, Eileen put greater emphasis on economic development right from the
start of her administration.
AGRICULTURE To enhance the agricultural community, Harford County has created the state’s first county agricultural economic development plan, the Agricultural Economic Development Initiative is administered by The Harford County Office of Economic Development. With the assistance of the University of Maryland, the county conducted a study to identify and analyze high value agricultural enterprises suitable for Harford County. The end result enables the county to compare the value, cost and potential market of agricultural enterprise in Harford County. |
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Date last modified:Monday, February 26, 2001 |
Copyright�1998 | Eileen Rehrmann for Governor |