Hutzell: Allison Pickard will change Anne Arundel. Here’s what to watch.

Allison Pickard was late to meet the governor.

It was Election Day outside the polls at Annapolis High, and prospects for the next Anne Arundel County executive were decidedly sunny.

But the morning commute from Millersville is what it is, and Wes Moore was ready to leave when Pickard rushed into the crowd.

“Good morning, good morning, good morning,” she said, shaking Moore’s hand.

It’s the only thing that went wrong for Pickard since the Democratic councilwoman announced her run for executive in December 2024.

Over 23 months, she managed friends and frenemies on the council, ran on a successful slate, overcame questions about developer donors and beat two strong opponents in the June primary.

Tuesday, she trounced Republican rival Dave Crawford.

“As your next county executive, I promise competent, responsive and accountable leadership that puts people first and focuses on your quality of life,” Pickard said Tuesday night.

Pickard campaigned on building upon the successes of her predecessor, outgoing Executive Steuart Pittman. But things will change.

Here are some things to watch as she takes office in early December.

Don’t expect a 100-day plan, but new faces are coming to the Arundel Center.

Pittman’s political allies should be packing, including special advisor James Kitchin, one of Pickard’s primary opponents. Constituent Services manager Vincent Moulden is also leaving.

Budget Director Chris Trumbauer, with Pittman from the start, wants to stay and is working on the next budget. That could extend his tenure.

Pickard will choose a new fire chief. Chief Trisha Wolford announced last month that she’s leaving for a private-sector job.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of talent she brings in to her administration,” said Council Chair Julie Hummer, a longtime ally.

Leadership style will change. The only councilperson or school board member ever elected as executive, Pickard brings 11 years of collaboration to the job.

Pittman came into office eight years ago as a political outsider, but Pickard will rely on existing relationships.

She topped a slate set up and run by U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth and retiring state Sen. Pam Beidle.

Expect Pickard to rely on Hummer, likely to be reelected council chair, and state Sen. Dawn Gile, the new chair of the Education, Energy and the Environment Committee. She’s also close to Del. Andrew Pruski, chair of the county legislative delegation and a former council colleague.

“I’m really hoping to take a lot of that goodwill and coalition building into how we actually govern together as well,” Pickard said.

How well Pickard works with people outside that network will be an early leadership test. For the City of Annapolis, the outcome will be significant.

Former Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley wasn’t on Pickard’s slate but won a council seat. Neither was state Sen. Shaneka Henson, who just became the first Black person elected to the Senate from Anne Arundel County. Both campaigned for Pickard’s primary opponents.

Buckley said Pickard assured him that she won’t ignore the needs of Annapolis, even if her primary focus is on other parts of the county.

“She’s said to me that Annapolis will be OK,” he said. “There are parts of the county that need more investment right now.”

An early sign will be a shift away from huge infrastructure investment in Annapolis, where the county has been a major partner in the $100 million redevelopment of City Dock. The first phase wraps up next year.

Pickard will work on adding housing in other parts of the county, starting with 13 acres at the Odenton MARC station. It’s a partnership with the Moore administration to build 585 new homes around a county-funded commuter garage.

She’ll oversee development plans for 250 residences at the old county public works yard near the Cromwell Light Rail Station in Glen Burnie. And she’ll continue efforts to fulfill the promise of the Glen Burnie Town Center — a 1990s revitalization that never achieved its goals.

As Pickard described it: “Looking at underutilized parcels that are ready for redevelopment as we look to steer housing and growth away from greenfield development.”

Pickard’s council experience gives her insight into county operations on Day 1, something no executive has had since Department of Aging Director Janet Owens was elected in 1990. Expect changes there that might not make headlines.

One of the first areas could be information technology. Cybercriminals breached protected county data twice this year.

Another could be the Resilience Authority, the quasi-independent body shared with Annapolis to fund City Dock redevelopment and lead other climate initiatives. Pickard sees it working closely with private communities that are experiencing the same sea level rise.

“We could expand that to be almost like a service, where they’re helping communities identify and design projects that they then take to the market,” she said.

The budget is a top priority for every incoming executive, requiring that they quickly take control of a process already underway. That has an added priority this year as the state budget forecast means less help from the state is likely.

Pickard will work with Pittman on the annual letter to the governor, spelling out priorities for the state budget.

“We will be part of drafting that letter,” she said. “We’ve identified projects and we’ll be asking for state support of some good infrastructure work in Anne Arundel County.”

Pickard will continue Pittman’s listening sessions on spending priorities in all seven council districts.

Pittman came into office focused on changing an administration that was perceived as working too closely with developers and not hard enough to make people’s lives better.

Then COVID-19 hit in 2020, killing more than 1,200 people in the county. He spent two unexpected years on a public health crisis.

Pickard has a plan, a well of knowledge and relationships. But what happens next will define her administration.

“We have to focus on how Anne Arundel County government plays a more proactive role in our economy,” she said. “It’s not necessarily been Mr. Pittman’s focus, but those are things that I think have to happen if we are going to thrive into the next century.”