O’Connor: City at juncture of progress and challenges – Frederick News Post

After an at-times tumultuous 2019, Frederick is heading into 2020 at a crossroads of extraordinary progress and evident challenges, Mayor Michael OConnor said in his State of the City speech Monday.

The year will bring new hires to fill two key positions: a new chief of the Frederick Police Department, and a head of the citys new Department of Housing and Human Services.

The new agency will combine the Frederick Community Action Agencys work with human services and the Community Development Block Grant program for housing.

OConnor said after the speech that the change in combining the two departments will provide a chance to re-evaluate the programs the FCAA has run for more than 30 years under the previous director, Mike Spurrier, who was removed from the position in November.

He said he wants the change to be seen as significant, but not to undo the work that the agency has done over the years.

Its a fine line between radical change and a re-tweaking of the status quo, OConnor said.

OConnor said he hopes both positions will be advertised in the next few weeks, and filled in three to four months, although it might take longer.

We want to cast as wide a net as possible, he said.

The police chief opening comes after several high-profile shootings and stabbings in the downtown area over the summer, although overall, serious crime in the city was down.

The citys crime statistics are the lowest theyve been in 20 years, OConnor said in his speech.

Nevertheless, crime statistics do not equate to the feeling of safety, he said.

The city and police department are discussing ways to increase police presence, respond to the constantly shifting nature of crime, and make sure residents and visitors feel safe, especially in the warmer months, he said.

Along with crime, the city also dealt with a controversy over a proposed new logo as part of a rebranding effort, and a long-delayed project to repair a bridge on Monocacy Boulevard, which finally opened in December after more than two years.

The logo was a small part of the larger rebranding effort, which generated a lot of good data for the city, and the Monocacy Boulevard situation featured a lot of things that the city couldnt control, OConnor said.

We have to identify what we can control and what we cant control, he said.

Other things the city will address in 2020 include working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address flooding and the effects of climate change in the citys infrastructure; a registry to help track vacant properties in the city; a study to look at the percentage of qualified minority businesses in the city and the percentage of money the city spends on those services; and working with a variety of partners to bring a hotel to downtown Frederick.

OConnor said the city will be announcing the next step in that process soon.

Because we will be opening a downtown hotel and conference center, he said.

Follow Ryan Marshall on Twitter: @RMarshallFNP.

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O'Connor: City at juncture of progress and challenges - Frederick News Post