04-13-2023 Howard Magazine - Flipbook - Page 14
HIGHLIGHT
BY MARY CAROLE MCCAULEY Howard Magazine
Angela Cabellon, Howard County Executive Calvin Ball’s new chief of staff. PHOTO BY KARL MERTON FERRON
Action not reaction
How Angela Cabellon hopes to move Howard County forward as the pandemic wanes
As the COVID-19 pandemic raged through Howard County, Angela Lagdameo Cabellon kept a cool
head and steady hand.
She and her team sprang into action, making
Howard one of the first Maryland counties to
open drive-up testing sites. Later, Cabellon’s team
deployed mobile vaccination vans, using data to
direct them to impoverished neighborhoods lacking
public transportation. After the federal government
authorized COVID-19 relief funds, Cabellon and her
staff merged different revenue streams, tailoring aid
to the needs of specific communities.
14
| Spring 2023 | howardmagazine.com
In December, Cabellon, 43, of North Laurel, was
appointed County Executive Calvin Ball’s chief of
staff. That was 10 months after U.S. President Joe
Biden praised Howard County’s handling of the
pandemic.
During a Feb. 15, 2022 speech to the National
Association of Counties, Biden urged local leaders
to be creative in disbursing federal aid. “Put these
funds to work to keep people on the job,” Biden said,
“providing retention bonuses for teachers and bus
drivers like Howard County, Maryland, did.”
Cabellon credits her family — particularly her