UPDATE (11:45 a.m.)—Laura Neuman, who was selected to be the new county executive, was greeted with a rush of applause moments after she received a majority vote Thursday from the Anne Arundel County Council.
Neuman, 46, is a native of Anne Arundel County and the CEO of the Howard County Economic Development Authority.
She gave a rousing speech during her interview with council members on Thursday night, laying her whole life bare—her trials and successes in making her own way in the world. Neuman earned a master's in business administration without a high school diploma or undergraduate degree, worked at T. Rowe Price, and Hilton Hotels before earning a name for herself in Maryland.
"It is truly an honor to serve," Neuman said after she was selected by the council.
Want to learn more about the newest executive? Read Ellicott City Patch's feature on Neuman from 2011.
Neuman was sworn into office at 10 a.m. Friday in front of the Anne Arundel County Courthouse in downtown Annapolis.
Click here to see video of Neuman taking the oath of office.
The County Council went through three rounds of voting before landing on Neuman as the next executive. Other finalists included Delegate Steve Schuh, interim county executive John Hammond and Dave Cordle, chief investigator of state's attorney's office.
In the final round of voting, Neuman had gathered the necessary four votes from councilmen Chris Trumbauer (D-6th District), Jamie Benoit (D-4th District), Jerry Walker (R-7th District), and Peter Smith (D-1st District). The remaining councilmen voted for Schuh.
As for her first order of business as county executive, Neuman said she wants to restore confidence in the county government, after former executive John R. Leopold's departure.
"I think we need to create a culture that is collaborative and has strong leadership," she said during her interview. "Without strong leadership, the rest of it doesn't happen."
Neuman also spoke of creating a "culture of excellence" within the county.
"There should be a culture here that expects nothing less than excellence," she said.
Patch spoke with Neuman a few minutes before the final round of voting, during a recess taken by the council. At the time, she was considered a wild card by some. She said she was excited to be among the finalists, and was honored to have made it this far.
Howard County Executive Ken Ulman issued a statement following Neuman's selection as executive, saying he had picked her as the state's first female economic development chief, and together they grew the cyber industry and continued Howard's position as having the lowest unemployment rate in the state, along with the highest private sector job growth.
"Laura will make a terrific county executive, and the Anne Arundel County Council made a wise choice. I stand ready to assist Laura in any way as she takes on this new challenge, and I know the citizens of the county will be impressed with her drive and commitment," Ulman said in the statement.
See more:
- Video of Neuman taking the oath of office
- Patch live-tweeted the County Council meeting on Thursday
- Click here to see previous posts about Leopold's indictment, trial and the process of selecting a new county executive.
1. She is not registered to vote under her name Laura Neuman (her real name is Laura Volkman). 2. She is recently separated - but not divorced. Does she really live in Anne Arundel County? 3. Does she meet the minimum standards to even be County Executive? 4. She and her children were asked to leave Key School. Why? Her children now attend Gilman School (Baltimore City) 5. She was the director of the Chesapeake Incubator which is under the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation during the Janet Owens administration (Democrat). Why did she leave this off of her application? You would think she would want to discuss her Anne Arundel connections? 6. With no experience she becomes the CEO (for no pay) of a tech start up company in Anne Arundel County (Matrics Inc.). Company is bought a very short time later for hundreds of millions of dollars. Congratulations - but can you explain this? see next post for rest of it............
Continued from above............ 7. I am incredibly sensitive to her story about being raped. After being a cold case for many many years, she solves the case "for the police" in three days. This leaves a lot of unanswered questions. She brought this up - so at least she can do is fill in the blanks as to how she solved the case. 8. She is a high school dropout and a college dropout ... but she has an M.B.A. from Loyola ... because she said "she talked them into it." Again, so many unanswered questions here. 9. If she is separated raising children at super expensive Gilman, why would she give up a job making $250,000 a year to take a job making $130,000 in a County that she has very little roots? Questions questions questions. 10. How do we feel about having the Howard County Executive (Ken Ulman) making calls to our elected Council Members advocating for his choice? 11. Is Laura Neuman's loyalty to Ken Ulman, to the 4 council members or to the people of Anne Arundel County? I'm sure she was not born in Kenya (my attempt at humor), but how do we know. Jerry Walker and the three Democrats on the County Council did absolutely no due diligence. She could be anybody. How do we know. Since we did not get to vote for her, I hope others will add to or correct what we do know about her.
After the council came back from the break and the voting started again, when it was Mr. Smith's turn to vote he was caught off guard and said,"Wait what round is this?" then asked what Trumbauer's vote was (Neuman) and then voted for Neuman. His was the third vote for her and Walker's was the 4th. What back room dealings they were having! So clear that this whole thing was orchestrated by Walker & the Dems on the council. Watch Walker run for county executive in 2014, and you'll know what his reasoning was.
Mr. Smith asked Mr. Ladd not Mr. Trumbauer what his vote was becuase Ladd stated "Shuemann". Not sure what your point here was.
Shueman? Did he even know where he was?
Laura Neuman failed to list her work (her only work) for Ann Arundel County on her application for County Executive. The intentional omission of material fact is by definition "fraud." Laura Neuman committed fraud on the citizens of Anne Arundel County. All you union sycophants can attack me all you want, but it does not change the fact that Laura Neuman, Jerry Walker and the three Democrats are all party to this fraud.
I wish her the best.
BTW, folks, I've known both of them for years and regard their work highly. Let's get beyond partisan politics and move our county forward. Also, Matrics is a great story that has Anne Arundel County bloodlines. One of the inventors of the technology is a resident of the county, and we need more innovators like him and CEOs who can take no pay until the company actually starts performing. Quite contrary to the current model of paying our politicians.
http://www.newmichaelkorpurses.com/ michael kors outlet http://www.mk-michaelkoroutlets.com/ michael kors factory outlet http://www.gucci-shoesoutletfactory.com/ gucci outlet online http://www.northfaceeoutletonline.net/ north face clearance http://www.monsteroheadphone.net/ monster beats outlet http://www.coach-storesonline2013.com/ coach factory outlet online http://coachsfactoryoutletonline.webs.com/ coach factory outlet online http://mcoachoutlet.tumblr.com/ coach outlet online coach outlet usa