MEET Steuart
Steuart Pittman is continuing the fight to make Anne Arundel The Best Place...For All.
WHERE I COME FROM
Steuart Pittman, Jr. was elected Anne Arundel County Executive after his first campaign for public office in 2018.
Born and raised on his family’s farm in Davidsonville, Steuart graduated from the University of Chicago and then went on to work as a community organizer in Chicago and Des Moines, Iowa. In that role, he built neighborhood organizations, confronted environmental hazards, and attracted private investment to blighted communities.
Once back home, Steuart coordinated national programs for the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) before starting his own business as a farmer and horse trainer. He is best known in the horse industry for creating the Retired Racehorse Project, an award-winning national non-profit responsible for transitioning thousands of racehorses into second careers.
Steuart’s philosophy of government is both conservative and progressive. As a farmer, he worked hard against onerous regulations that had no public benefit and promoted policies to make the industry commercially viable. As a Director of the Anne Arundel County Soil Conservation District, he pushed for compliance with erosion and sediment control standards to protect local waterways.
As County Executive, Steuart has pledged to make Anne Arundel County “the best place…for all” by “putting communities first.” His strategy is to engage communities from every sector and to practice transparency and data-driven policymaking.
“My Dad believed that our purpose on earth is to pass on what we have to the next generation in better condition than we found it. He lived this by preserving nature, fighting in World War II and running the civil defense program for President Kennedy. He could smell conflict from a long way off, and he knew peace when he saw it. I like to think I inherited some of the lessons he learned in life, and maybe some of his instincts.”
– County Executive Steuart Pittman
WhatS BEEN Achieved
As your County Executive, Steuart has:
Putting Communities First
Activated dormant authority in our county charter to create a Permanent Public Improvements fund to finance $250 million in transportation, schools, and public safety infrastructure
Created a workgroup to strengthen county development policies regarding adequate traffic flow
Completed Move Anne Arundel!, the county’s first comprehensive, multi-modal transportation plan that sets forth a strategy to move traffic and get cars off the roads
Passed a workforce housing bill and a fair housing bill
Established a workgroup to plan a new program requiring a percentage of the new housing that developers build to be affordable
Doubled county investment in rental assistance for families transitioning from homelessness, and production of affordable rental housing
Sustainable Communities
Passed the strongest forest conservation bill in the state, until the Howard County Council used our success to pass something even stronger!
Stopped approving modifications that allow developers to bypass environmental regulations
Banned Styrofoam, just weeks before the state ban was passed
Created a new inspection program to enforce erosion and sediment control standards at construction sites
Empowered Communities
Revitalized the budget process with an interactive budget tool and seven town halls to engage residents
Passed charter amendment proposal to expand County Auditor’s investigative powers
Created Arundel Stat office to build Open Arundel portal whereby residents can monitor effectiveness of government programs
Instituted Green Notes and Blue Notes at our land use departments to standardize and publicize new enforcement practices
Announced creation of new Office of Health Equity and Racial Justice
Put Human Relations Commission into code and gave it fair housing enforcement authority
Assigned staff to facilitate the telling of the history of the African American experience in our county, including Four Rivers African American History trail, Smith Price Reburial, financial support for Wiley Bates Legacy Center, and establishment of our Lynchings Memorial with the Equal Justice Initiative
Launched my own Pittman’s Pen blog and put my schedule online
Responded to the increase in racism and bigotry by adding the last two words of our Pledge of Allegiance to our county slogan. It now reads The Best Place – For All and is on every road sign entering the county.
Safe Communities
After four consecutive years of failed promises to solve our police staffing shortage, added 98 sworn officers, bringing us close to national standards
Resolved all police union grievances and settled costly public safety health benefits lawsuit
Won federal grant to add 70 firefighters, most of whom are now on the job and bringing our staffing levels to national standards
Ended divisive 287(g) program with ICE, freeing up our detention center staff to do the jobs we hired them for, and restoring the trust in our immigrant communities that our police officers need to be effective
Convened Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, declared gun violence a health crisis, and launched interagency Gun Violence Intervention Team modeled after our Opioid Intervention Team
Educated Communities
Added 140 new teachers, 35 new counselors, 50 new special ed staff, and raised teacher pay
Integrated work of county health and human service departments with school system through creation of joint task forces on Mental Health and Closing the Achievement Gap
Restored county adherence to the non-political school facility building plan by committing half of our new Permanent Public Improvements fund to schools