County Administration

About

Brandee Ganz served as the County’s Chief Information Officer from 2019 –2023, where she managed more than 100 employees within the Department of Technology and Communication Services. During that time, she oversaw numerous projects and initiatives, helping to ensure the County’s Information Technology (IT) needs and standards were met and maintained.

During her tenure at the Department, her team’s focus was to ensure the safety of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, while keeping all County services safe and secure. Ganz led efforts to move the County’s workforce to a remote environment, without service interruption to staff or residents.

With the need to move all government meetings online during quarantine, but still allow for transparency and public input, her team quickly built a digital platform allowing all meetings and events to be hosted virtually. This included County Council meetings, budget meetings, board meetings, and several townhall events to provide crucial information to the community.

Also, during this time, her team partnered with County Administration to launch the Transform Howard Initiative, which continues to bridge the digital divide within the County. This was evident as her team worked closely with the Howard County Public School System to enhance and build out their internet services, allowing all students were able to connect into the classroom virtually.

In March of 2023 Ganz became the 2nd woman to serve as Chief Administrative Officer for the County.

In County Administration she oversees the following offices: Law, Budget, Procurement, Human Resources, Human Rights and Equity, Transportation, Community Sustainability, Workforce Development, Fleet, Mail Services, Public Information, and Staff Services. She also oversees the following Departments: Technology and Communication Services, Finance, and Recreation and Parks.

In addition to the offices and departments, she also oversees Public Safety for the County. This includes Police, Fire and Corrections.

She also oversees Labor Management and serves as a Trustee of both the Howard County Employees’ Pension Plan and the Howard County Police and Fire Pension Plan.

About

A. Raul Delerme is the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer. Delerme has been with the county since 1990, most recently serving as the Director of Recreation & Parks. In that role, he oversaw over 1,200 employees and was responsible for the maintenance and operation of over 100 parks and historic sites, the stewardship of 9,920 acres of recreation & park lands, over 10,000 recreation program offerings to be enjoyed by over 100,000 participants, and host of local, regional and national sporting and social events.

With 33 years of experience with Howard County Recreation and Parks, Delerme has served as a Director, a former Bureau Chief of Capital Projects, Park Planning & Construction, and a former Park Planner. Major improvements Delerme brought during his tenure with the department include building three community centers and Meadowbrook Athletic Complex, creating three new regional parks (Western Regional, Troy, and Blandair), providing a greater variety of amenities within each park, and the opening of the new Harriet Tubman Cultural Center.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Landscape Architecture from Penn State University. 

About

Maria Bernadzikowski most recently served as Assistant Chief Administrative Officer, where she developed and oversaw the coordination of all policies and procedures for County Administration, as well as issues and initiatives related to the environment and climate, emergency management and fleet. 

Before serving as  Assistant Chief Administrative Officer for the County's Department of County Administration, Maria served as Deputy Director of the Office of Emergency Management (OEM), working in various positions since joining the County as a Recovery Specialist following the 2016 Ellicott City flood. During her tenure, she managed OEM’s planning, continuity, and outreach programs and has deployed with the Maryland Incident Management Team to assist various states and jurisdictions in response to hurricanes, flooding, landslides, pre-planned events, and line of duty deaths.   In Howard County, she has served as the Planning Section Chief and Emergency Operations Center Manager during multiple events including, but not limited to, the 2018 Ellicott City Flood and COVID-19 Pandemic Response, for which she was recognized as Howard County’s 2020 Employee of the Year.

Maria joined Administration with more than 10 years of experience as an emergency manager and community liaison across the country and has a background in strategic planning, policy development, multi-agency coordination, and employee training and development.

Maria is a graduate of St. John’s University (BA, Government and Politics) and Tulane’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, where she earned a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Disaster Management.  She is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM), Master Business Continuity Professional (MBCP), Climate Change Professional (CC-P), member of the Order of the Sword and Shield National Honor Society, and a Nationally Qualified Planning Section Chief on the Maryland Incident Management Team.

About

 Glenn previously served as Head of Digital Experience for the Howard County Department of Technology and Communication Services (DTCS). He has been a dedicated member of DTCS for more than nine years beginning his career as a Server Engineer, progressing to become the ServiceNow manager, Systems Development Manager, and finally the Head of Digital Experience. As Head of Digital Experience, Lovelace led a team of talented developers through the redesign of both major county websites, while continuing to develop tools that transformed the way the county operates. Lovelace’s focus on process automation and digitization provides efficiencies that continue to streamline county functions, while providing a better user experience for constituents and county employees alike. Lovelace holds a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from Clarion University of Pennsylvania.