Office Sought:   Harford County Council District C

Name:   Joan Morrissey Ward

Age:    49

Marriage Status:  Married

Website:  www.joanforcouncilc.com

Education:   

Masters degree in Geography and Environmental Planning Towson University

Work Experience:  

20 years of local government experience / community and environmental planning  

Political Offices Held: 

Bel Air Town Commissioner since January 2003.

Brief Biography:  

I am married since 1988 to Hugh Ward, a clinical social worker.  We have 2 children, Norah and James, who attend Bel Air High School, and 2 dogs, Yeller and Blair.  We live in Homestead Village in the Town of Bel Air and enjoy hiking along Deer Creek on weekends with the dogs.  We enjoy the small-town character of Bel Air, with its traditional Main Street, surrounded by pedestrian-friendly residential communities and great public services and facilities.

1.      Why are you running for this office?  (100 words or less)   

I am a frustrated community planner.  We need to plan for the long term consequences of our growth policies. 

Many of our elected officials are out-of-touch with Harford citizens, and seem to be more interested in getting elected again, than listening and solving problems.

I would bring an important voice to County Council decision-making, as we serve our existing communities and families, while planning for the new growth from BRAC.

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

I would work with the State delegation to get Harford’s fair share of construction and modernization funding for our long-neglected schools.  I want our children to know that we value them, and value their education by maintaining a safe, clean, up-to-date school environment – instead of packing them into portables.  I would also work to maintain competitive salaries, and not overload our teachers and children with too much paperwork and “teaching to the test”.  I believe these mandates are dampening our teachers’ and children’s enthusiasm for education.

3.       What do you intend to do to prepare Harford County for the influx of 30000 new jobs from BRAC?

As a parent, I believe BRAC can be a great opportunity for our County, with the influx of high-quality, high-paid jobs for our children.  As a community planner, I want to make sure that the new growth is planned well and phased, so it does not overwhelm our budget and already-strained infrastructure of roads, schools, and drinking water supplies.  I believe the best way to absorb this growth is in partnership with the rest of the Baltimore region.  Instead of competing with adjacent counties to attract new growth-at-any-cost, this is a great opportunity to look at the whole region and work together to focus new jobs and housing in a balanced way.

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? 

One of the fundamental problems I see is that people don’t believe the government is working for them, because it is dominated by special interest money and influence.  What happened to, of the people, by the people and for the people?  Personally, I will close my campaign expense account (filed at Harford County Board of Elections) 2 weeks after the 2006 election.  I support campaign finance reform to allow real public servants (not indebted to special interests) to again get elected to office.