The Honorable Martin J. O'Malley, Mayor of Baltimore, Baltimore Metropolitan Council Chair (right)

This has been an exciting year to serve as Chair of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. In 2004, BMC worked more closely than ever with our delegations to the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis, especially to secure funding for the Baltimore Region Transit System Plan. For the very first time, BMC had a presence at the MACO Convention in Ocean City, with staff members on hand to explain the regional transportation planning process and demonstrate BMC's latest online data products. Those products include a series of 94 Community Profiles and an enhanced Building Permits Data System.

Meanwhile, the Urban Area Work Group (UAWG) took shape as the coordinating body for regional homeland security, and began briefing the BMC Board on its activities. The UAWG reviews all proposals for federal homeland security funding, and recently launched a grant program for nonprofits needing to upgrade the security at their facilities. All of the BMC member jurisdictions joined to provide a match for state and federal funds for a Transportation Redundancy Study, which will use computer modeling to determine what might happen if a major component of our transportation infrastructure were to be severely damaged or destroyed.

BMC's Transportation Planning Division also completed Transportation 2030, a federally-required update of the region's long-range transportation plan. T2030 was approved by the Baltimore Regional Transportation Board (BRTB) in December. The Transportation Planning Division also sought to engage the public more fully in transportation planning through a series of environmental justice listening sessions, and the launch of B'More Involved, an innovative electronic newsletter.

It's been an honor to work with my fellow executives this year, and I look forward to working with Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith, as he becomes BMC Chair in 2005.