Harford County Council votes to nominate Marcy Austin as permanent health officer
Oct. 20—This story has been updated.
The Harford County Council formally voted Tuesday night to recommend Marcy Austin as the county's next health officer.
County Council President Patrick Vincenti said that out of nearly 40 applicants received by the nine-member health officer search committee, six were interviewed and, ultimately, Austin was chosen as the nominee.
Austin has served as the county's interim health officer since October 2021 when the council fired then-officer Dr. David Bishai. She's worked at the Harford County Health Department since 2003.
Per Maryland state law, the state health secretary, Dennis R. Schrader, will review the nominee and if Schrader finds the nominee qualified, he will appoint Austin as the county health officer.
The council voted 6 to 1 to approve Austin. Council member Andre Johnson voted against Austin's nomination, saying that while Austin is "extremely, extremely qualified" for the position, he felt another one of the candidates was better suited for the role.
The legislative session was the final one before the Nov. 8 midterm election, and, therefore, the final legislative session for Johnson and council members Joe Woods, Chad Shrodes and Robert Wagner.
Johnson, the council's lone Democrat, is running for a seat in the State House of Delegates for District 34A. Woods is running for a seat on the county's Republican Central Committee. Shrodes lost the Republican primary for the county's clerk of the circuit court post to Michelle Karczeski. Wagner lost his District E reelection bid in the primary to Republican Jessica Boyle-Tsottles.
Council President Patrick Vincenti and council members Tony Giangiordano of District C, and Curtis Beulah of District F, are running for reelection in the upcoming midterm.
In other council news
The council passed one resolution and three bills during the legislative session.
The resolution passed will allow the City of Aberdeen to waive the waiting period to rezone a 9-acre property, referred to in the resolution text as the Land of Presbyterian Home of Maryland, Inc., from a county agricultural district to an integrated business district for the city. The new zoning classification would allow for "residential, recreational, educational, retail, entertainment and other commercial uses in an aesthetically pleasing and functionally compatible manner," according to Aberdeen's city code.
The three bills would allow for: an amendment to the county code expanding the eligibility for tax credits available to the elderly and veterans; an amendment to the pension plan for the Harford County Sheriff's Office allowing for a deferred retirement option program; and an update to the county's definition of a day care center to include a kindergarten as an additional use.
The council also voted to approve the appointment of Michael Raidt to the county's Commission on Disabilities. It also voted to approve the reappointment of Christina Alton and the new appointment of Naomi Fabricant to the Office on Mental Health/Core Service Agency of Harford County, Inc.
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The council also voted to uphold the zoning examiner's decision to deny a request from Jarrettsville residents John and Hazel Adair for a variance to subdivide a piece of property into three panhandle lots, described in the county code as "a lot so shaped and designed that the main building site area is set back from the street on which it fronts and includes an access strip connecting the main building site with the frontage street."
The requested lots, however, were not wide enough, and the request was subsequently denied.
Before the legislative session, Austin updated the council on board of health programs, including Healthy, Happy Homes, which will help provide safety-related home modifications to low-income seniors. The program will be run by The Right Turn, a local business that specializes in helping people with physical, cognitive or age-related limitations to remain in their homes and live independently. Keisha Jennings-Eakin, the owner of the business, helped obtain the $1 million grant to fund the safety modifications, but she maintained earlier this year that her business was excluded from the program after Bishai was let go. Tuesday night, however, the council agreed to let The Right Turn oversee the program.
Austin also briefed the council on the department's approval of more than $500,000 in grant money from the Bay Restoration Fund to ugrade septic systems for nitrogen removal.
