MACo is an acronym that refers to the Maryland Association of Counties, but the term has a few subtly different usages.
The association is a non-profit advocacy organization that provides representation for Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City. It is studiously non-partisan and policy oriented, and is one of the most influential voices in Annapolis on matters ranging from education to taxation.
For much of the year, MACo means the organization itself – a group of high-ranking county leaders that must be reckoned with before any major state decision is made.
But when the weather turns warm, MACo becomes a noun with a specific meaning: an annual summer conference in Ocean City that is a vibrant and exhausting can’t-miss event based in Roland E. Powell Convention Center and encompassing nearly every restaurant, club and hotel lobby in a four-mile radius.
“When are you heading to MACo?” “How was your MACo?” Those are the questions you hear in August among a certain crowd.
The summer conference brings a lot of influential people together in one place. The Maryland Now podcast team was invited to plug in its microphones last week on a platform at the Galaxy Skye Bar & Grill during a well-attended reception sponsored by Harris Jones & Malone, one of the state capital’s powerhouse government relations firms.
Everyone from Comptroller Brooke Lierman to state elections administrator Jared DeMarinis stopped by. Want to know what Public Service Commission Chair Kumar Barve thinks of data centers? How is Mayor Brandon Scott driving investment in Baltimore City after the historic drops in violent crime? What does state Sen. J.B. Jennings think will be accomplished to bring down electricity costs in the next legislative session? Listen and find out.
To put an even finer point on things, MACo the conference and MACo the event aren’t quite the same thing.
Here’s how the conference operates:
Official program: MACo staff put together panel discussions and timely presentations on issues such as practical use cases for AI in county government, understanding the new health care Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement model for Maryland called AHEAD; and the relationship between nutritional school meals and educational outcomes. See the reporting of Maryland Matters’ Bryan Sears last week as he collected the thoughts of county leaders on the need for new taxes.
MACo runs an Academy for Excellence in Local Governance, and some sessions – like a review of the state public information act or building the future of rural health – count toward the fulfillment of a certificate. In fact, local goverment department heads and leaders are a core MACo constituency, on the official side.
Convention hall: The pretty large Ocean City convention center is packed with vendor booths of local governments themselves, state agencies and the insurance companies, transportation providers and others who want to sell services to them. Folks love to wander the hall and collect typical convention swag (think pens, chip clips and stress-relief balls).
The final feast and speech: The summer conference concludes with a massive outdoor crab feast on Friday evening after all sessions are done, and then with a Saturday morning speech from the governor, who has typically spent at least a day and often more making the rounds. The media look for clues about what lies ahead for the General Assembly session that begins in January, and the governor knows the speech is an opportunity to break news, or stay quiet – as the times demand.
But the event of MACo is slightly different from the program of MACo.
The politics: Anyone interested in state or federal office in Maryland MUST be in Ocean City during the conference. Not only must they demonstrate support and a mastery of issues, but it is where their fundraising consultants want them to be so that lobbyists, businesses and other allies can provide them with campaign contributions at the receptions that are non-stop for three days.
The parties: Many attendees rarely if ever step foot inside the convention center. In addition to fundraising receptions, there are many parties and events hosted by lobbyists, law firms, businesses and others that take over the most popular beach bars like Seacrets, Fager’s Island and Macky’s Bayside Bar and Grill. For many attendees, calenders are crowded with one party after another, making the MACo conference a test of stamina, liver functionality and ability to avoid embarassment over several days.
It may be trite, but the expression “What happens at MACo statys at MACo” remains in heavy usage.
And it’s changed over time. As Maryland Now podcast host Josh Kurtz notes, everything has gotten bigger over the past 20 years. There are more receptions. More booths. More connections to be made.
Maryland Now listeners can get a taste of the offerings in this week’s episode, which includes:
- PSC Chair Kumar Barve on Maryland’s role in a 13-state regional power grid, and why data centers need to “bring their own new generation”
- State Sen. J.B. Jennings on what’s really driving Maryland’s high electric bills, and why he’s skeptical the legislature will fix it this session
- Budget Secretary Jake Weissman on formulating next year’s budget amid a structural deficit
- Comptroller Brooke Lierman on why she calls Maryland’s housing regulations “the Smith Island Cake effect”
- Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on six years of falling homicide rates, the group violence reduction strategy behind it, and $7 billion in new downtown investment
- CFG Bank Arena GM Frank Remesch on turning Baltimore into a top touring market – including the story of the night SZA and Queen swapped 57 trucks in and out in under an hour
- Conversations with Howard County executive nominee Vanessa Atterbeary, Baltimore County CAO D’Andrea Walker, and Reps. Johnny Olszewski and April Delaney on affordability, redistricting, and what’s ahead in our counties and in Congress
- State Administrator of Elections Jared DeMarinis on rebuilding public trust in the vote count ahead of November
Connect With the Show: Questions, comments, or story ideas marylandnow@blendedpublicaffairs.com
Maryland Now is brought to you by Blended Public Affairs and produced by Carper Cre8tive.
