Education:            204 college credits and a graduate of Antioch University with a BA degree.  Earned BA and AA degrees from McKendree School of Religion, and AA degree from Dundalk Community College.  Graduate of the Harford Leadership Academy in 2000.

Work Experience:            

1969-2002   Business Manager/President

1991           Legislative Advisor and Consultant

1959-1973                American Totalisator Co. (AmTote),

1957-1959        Western Electric Co., Wireman

Political Offices Held:           

Harford County Councilman, District A since 2002

Brief Biography:            

Dion Guthrie enjoys boating and golf.  He also is very involved with helping handicapped children, as he has a grandson who attends John Archer School.

Mr. Guthrie is a member of the Joppa Moose Lodge and the Joppatowne Lions Club.  He also had the honor of carrying the Olympic Torch for the 2002 Winter Games held in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He also had the honor of driving the car that carried Cal Ripken around the field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on the day of Cal’s retirement; right after Cal played his last game as an Oriole.  Mr. Guthrie serves on the Harford Cable Network Advisory Board (HCN), and the Susquehanna Region of the Workforce Investment Board of Harford and Cecil Counties where he serves on their Executive Committee, Business Service Committee, and the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) Committee.  He also serves on the BRAC Commission for Harford County, appointed by the County Executive.  In addition, he serves on the 3-member Personnel Committee of the County Council, the Harford County Mediation Board, the Harford County Disabilities Commission and the Route 40 Business Association as their Legislative liaison, and a member of the Board of the Greater Edgewood Education Foundation.

On November 29, 1997 was appointed “Admiral of the Chesapeake Bay” by the Governor of the State of Maryland for his Maritime interest, for his protection and clean up of the Bay and his work with handicapped children.

1.  Why are you running for this office?

“Continue the Vision – Continue the Change”  This is the motto that I am using on all of my literature and billboards.  I feel I have made significant advance in my district to improve the quality of life of my constituents and I wish to continue doing the same.

2.  If you are elected what do you intend to do to improve the quality of education in Harford County?

I want to continue to keep the pressure on the A.P.F.O. (Adequate Public Facility Ordinance) and keep it at 105% or lower.  It is also my intent to remove the Sunset Clause from this provision because the Sunset Clause takes the APFO back to 115% in 2009.  In addition, we have made significant gains in the teachers’ salaries.  This 4-year period we have seen the largest increase in teachers’ salaries in the history of Harford County.  We need to continue that if we are going to be successful in hiring the best teachers.  When I took office the teachers in our County were 23^rd of 24 subdivisions in average salaries.  They are now around 12^th.  I would like to see the teachers to be around 3^rd or 4^th in our State.

3.  What do you intend to do to slow residential development in Harford County?

The APFO also has slowed the growth in Harford County.  When the APFO first went into effect and, by the way, this was my bill, it shut down 14 school districts to preliminary plan approval.  In addition, I plan to readdress the comprehensive rezoning and I favor when we rewrite the code we eliminate R-4 zoning.

4.  What in your mind is the biggest problem facing Harford County as it enters the twenty first century and how do you expect to correct this problem?

The biggest problem we are facing right now is the gang “invasion” into our County.  I think we need to get a hold of this before it gets out of hand and ruins our quality of life.  I have taken a number of steps to improve this especially with the addition of seven new deputies to my district and in the last two budgets we have approved the hiring of 40 new deputies.  In addition, I am working on establishing a “GUARDIAN ANGELS” chapter in my district.