Elected officials from counties all over Maryland are attending, including Frederick County.
Frederick County Council President Brad Young
Ocean City, Md (KM) County elected officials from all across the state and many of their staffs are in Ocean City this week, but it’s not a day at the beach. They’re attending the Maryland Association of Counties Summer Conference.
One of them is Frederick County Council President Brad Young. He says he and other local elected officials benefit mostly by networking with elected officials from other counties, and learn how they are handling many of the same challenges facing Frederick County. “Having the opportunity to be exposed to so many other governments and folks, and the connections that that brings,” he says.
Young says one seminar he attended had to do with artificial intelligence. There was important message from that session. “Governments, you need to start looking at it and figuring out ways you may want to implement it in your practices. So there have been some towns that are using it, certainly putting chat boxes on their websites so that it’s a little bit more easier for folks to navigate and get to the information they want,” he says.
There’s another session called “Turning the Tide.” It provide information to local governments as they cope with the loss of federal funds that resulted from the COVID 19 pandemic. That money dried up when the virus was brought under control. “A lot of the governments are facing the end of the COVID funding that was there. Many programs were started with grants from funds that came from COVID. Now that those are ending, they’re facing issues of how to continue those services because now they have to pay for them through their budget,” says Young.
In its background material, MACO says the Summer 2024 Conference will have presenters who will discuss new avenues for resources and partnerships. They will talk about bringing all levels of government together along with the private sector to help turn the tide with innovative solutions.
During the conference, Young says local elected officials heard from Paul Wiedefeld, Maryland’s Secretary of Transportation. The discussion included the future of funding to widen US 15 in Frederick. “We had an opportunity to ask him about, again, the governor’s commitment and priority to widening Route 15,” he says. “As the budget cuts last year, that looks less likely to happen anytime soon. But we’ve expressed our priorities and need for that.”
Governor Wes Moore is scheduled to speak at the MACO Summer Conference on Saturday.
By Kevin McManus