A long-time reader passed along two recent “First 100 Days”
news articles. One was focused on Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman, the
other on Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner. While the former presented a list of hits and
misses, the latter tended to be a rather glowing review. Captain Incremental vs. Action Executive.
Recognizing that media coverage and reality don’t always
align perfectly, and that the pieces were quite different in structure, length,
and tone, there were some notable themes that emerged in the Kittleman piece:
Thus far, Kittleman seems to be practicing the politics of
articulation. He recognizes the
fundamental resiliency of the Ulman Administration, and the electoral realities
of Howard County. This means tempering
conservative instincts with moves with populist appeal (the sugar water order)
and/or “good-government” technocratic initiatives (flood mitigation program
funding).*
Of course, there have been missteps.
Kittleman appears to be engaged in a modified waffle when it
comes to his communications efforts relating to the storm-water fee…vocal in
opposition to it when in Annapolis, more willing to articulate a nuanced wait-and-see-what-can-be-done-about-it
stance when in HoCo. Perhaps it is a question
of time, place, and manner but he isn’t exactly elevating his leadership
profile on this issue.
And while every CE is, and should be, empowered to bring in
their own team, he might have ousted too much institutional memory and experienced
talent from the previous Administration too quickly.
His proposed reorganization of the Human Rights Commission
seems to have been handled clumsily, as a rush to act resulted in the failure to obtain input from some key
stakeholders. This, in turn, led to
the County Council tabling his bill. Not a shining moment for a new
Administration that pledged to emphasize collaboration.
Over the next four years (minus @ 120 days), it will be
interesting to see how his right-of-center ideological predilections manifest
themselves in terms of policy. Will he
attempt to shift to the center and triangulate between a Democratic-majority
Council and his Tea Party friends? Would voters perceive such an approach as
Authentic Kittleman or merely calculated political positioning? Will his support of
Governor Hogan tarnish his brand? Where
is La Isla Bonita?
Too many unknowns at this point, but we will all have a much
better sense of the answer to the question, “Who is the Real Allan Kittleman?” by
2018.
Stay tuned, as more will follow.
* In a conciliatory state of mind, this author feels compelled
to acknowledge that he supports the two specific actions mentioned in that
sentence. The time is now 4:33 in the
a.m. and you are watching “Perspectives” with your host, Lionel Osbourne.
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