Letters to the People of Maryland

January 1, 2015

Thank you for the privilege of serving you and your families for these past eight years.

Katie and I are particularly grateful because the work we have shared together, as a people – the progress we have achieved together, as a people – were things that we accomplished in the most difficult economic times since the Great Depression.

Against these head-winds, we sought always to take action and make decisions based on the truth that we are One Maryland, we are all in this together; every person and every family is needed. “And we must help each other if we are to succeed.”

What will follow on this blog – in the days remaining of the O'Malley/Brown Administration – are a series of essays, letters to new leaders, and reflections. These are one man’s perspective, informed by experience, caring, and the goodness of the people I have served. They are my un-edited thoughts on the work done – and the work that remains to be done – for the better, more prosperous, and more secure future our children deserve.

Comments are welcome.

In recent years, the convergence of the internet, geographic information systems, and open-data have brought forth a new and more effective way of governing in the Information Age. The old ways of ideology, hierarchy, and bureaucracy are giving way to a new way. This new way is fundamentally entrepreneurial. It is collaborative in its method. It is performance measured across the entire enterprise of government. And it is interactive in real-time ways that are accountable, open and visible to every citizen.

As a State, we have come through this recession, in most respects, stronger and more competitive than we were before it struck. Repeated federal cuts, federal shut-downs, and ongoing threats of federal shut-down have hit us particularly hard and threaten us still.

But Maryland now stands at the threshold of new era of sustained, generational progress – if we have the humility to learn from our mistakes in the past, and the courage to move forward to the better future our children deserve.

If we want better results, we must continue to make better choices.

It is my hope that one of the people reading these messages will come to govern our State in the future; and will come to govern us well. Perhaps that person is you, perhaps that person is your son or daughter.

Hopefully, these reflections can serve that leader, and the common good we share, in some way in the future.

Sincerely,

Martin O'Malley
61st Governor of Maryland

11:01am | URL: https://tmblr.co/Z1alhl1ZTsiUv

(Notes: 8)