Public comments delivered by Henry S. “Sandy” Gibbons, chair of the Harford County Democratic Central Committee, to the Harford County Council on Dec. 13, 2022.
President Vincenti, Vice-president Giangiordano, Councilman Guthrie, Councilman Penman, Councilman Reilly, Councilwoman Boyle-Tsottles, and Councilman Bennett,
On behalf of the Harford Democratic Central Committee (or Loyal Opposition), I congratulate you on your assumption of the office that you now hold. Each of you was elected by the citizens of your district, or by the citizens of the county, who entrusted you with the slice of the future of this county that you now have the opportunity and responsibility to influence. I trust that you will take that task seriously, that you will look out for the interests of all of the voters of the county — not just the ones who voted for you. We entrust you with the sacred duty of exemplifying the representative democratic process in this chamber.
In electing you, we entrust you with preserving, protecting, and building the institutions of our county. We trust that you will continue to model civility in this chamber, as President Vincenti has ably done during some very trying times! We trust that you will utilize the best available knowledge, data, and information resources to make responsible decisions on behalf of the people you represent, and that you will add to the rational enlightenment of the decision making process a moral sensibility born of the principle of what you do for the least of these, you do for all. With this principle in mind, I will enumerate a few of our charges to you:
- We charge you with crafting legislation that benefits all of the people of Harford County, and ask that you pay particular heed to those voices in our communities who call for the rectification of wrongs, for greater justice, and for their humanity to be fully respected.
- We charge you to address transportation infrastructure in a manner that looks forward rather than into the car-besotted past, to expand public transit options, expanding access for our seniors, students, and those who currently have no other option.
- We charge you to fully resource our school system, to ensure that the opportunities it confers are spread evenly across the county.
- We charge you to achieve a balance of economic activity with the protection of the undeveloped spaces — the “Green Infrastructure” — of this county, in all of its districts, so that all of the citizens of the county can continue to enjoy the natural beauty that makes our County a desirable place to live.
We thank you for taking on this responsibility, and wish you all the best in the coming term.
Sign up for our email newsletter to stay up to date on the latest events and news from the HCDCC.