Anthony Jordan ideas for 2010

Anthony Jordan for County Council

7504 Cove Point Way

Elkridge, Maryland 21075

VoteAnthonyJordan.com or Jordan2010.wordpress.com

Dear fellow Howard County Residents,

I am Anthony Jordan, a resident of Howard County, and I will be running for County Councilman, District 2, in 2010. I am pledging to serve the community with integrity and honesty and also to make choices beneficial to all the people of Howard County. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself and let you know the four priorities that I will be focusing on during my campaign.

I was raised in a suburb of Flint, Michigan, by my Father, a General Motors autoworker and my Mother, a nurse at a local Doctors office. Soon after graduation I attended Eastern Michigan University where I felt a yearning to help others, especially children. I was blessed that a local Boys and Girls Club of America was gracious enough to let me help children there for the next three years. I then moved to Naples, Florida with the intentions of running a condo association owned by a family friend; however things don’t always go according to plan. This was God’s way of showing me the importance of having a plan B.
My plan B was to continue to serve the people, but on a much broader spectrum. I enlisted in the United States Air Force, and never looked back.  The Air Force was where I met my beautiful wife, Amber, and paved the way for me to come to Maryland. I have lived in Howard County for the past five years and have begun to raise, what I think are the two most beautiful girls, Trinity and Faith. My family is the reason I have chosen to pursue a seat as County Councilman as I believe that I can make a positive impact on decisions that will affect my family and my community..

* My first priority is education. Over 60% of the County budget goes toward the schools, $686 million, yet we are still falling behind. Did you know that Howard County no longer has any schools is the Nations top 200 school listing? I believe that this can be fixed easily not by any tax increases, but by using money from the States speed cameras to fund an English as a Second Language (ESL) summer course.
I believe that having this course available to all incoming students with a requirement to pass the course prior to starting class in the fall would be a good first start our schools. Like the saying goes “you are only as strong as your weakest link” and when schools have children struggling to understand basic instructions, it hinders the progression and advancement of others in the class. Let all speed camera proceeds go toward educating our County school children, and bring Howard County Schools back to being the best, not only in the State, but the Nation.

* My second priority is the safety of Howard County drivers and residents.  Port Capitol Drive, off Rt 1, serves as the Delta for all incoming and outgoing traffic to roughly 3000 households, yet there is no traffic light to control the chaos.  I propose to add a traffic light in this location to increase the safety for all 3000 households.

* My third priority is Local businesses. I believe that in order for the economy of Howard County to thrive, changes are inevitable. Howard County has some of the most stringent advertising laws in the State. I have spoken with several District 2 business owners, and the unified complaint is the inability to advertise who they are and what services the can provide. Currently the advertising signs must be placed off the road, which most of the time takes away from visible traffic, preventing the ability to impact. I propose that all businesses, be allowed to advertise with a sign that matches their building, to keep uniformity. In the cases of strip-mall style business, a matching building sign with all tenants be allowed just off the road.

* My fourth priority is the beautification of the County. My proposal is to use the county inmates to do minor road work, litter pick-up, and tedious parks and recreation tasks that are costing the County millions of dollars. These tasks may serve as a dual purpose, it will help to beautify our community, and put our tax dollars to good use.

I ask for your support in the efforts to change the policies and laws to more positively effect Howard County growth and prosperity. Both time and financial support are needed for these efforts to become a reality, so any assistance is greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss these issues.

Sincerely,

Anthony Jordan

Checks can be made out to: Anthony Jordan for County Council.
Send to: 7504 Cove Point Way, Elkridge MD, 21075