Democratic candidates for Baltimore County Executive share plans to address community issues

During the primary election on June 23, Baltimore County voters will decide which county executive candidates will secure their spot on the ballot for the general election in November. 

Early voting begins Thursday, June 11, and will stay open through Thursday, June 18. 

Five Democrats, two Republicans and one Independent candidate are battling for the position.

Candidates and endorsements 

There are current councilmen — Julian Jones, Izzy Patoka and Pat Young — and two new challengers, Mansoor Shams and Nick Stewart — all vying to be the Democratic nominee.

The two Republican candidates are Patrick Dyer and Kimberley Stansbury. Rob Daniels is running as an Independent.

Julian Jones is being endorsed by Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.

Izzy Patoka has endorsements from the Teachers Association of Baltimore County (TABCO) and the Sierra Club. 

The Fraternal Order of Police in Baltimore County has endorsed Nick Stewart. 

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 51 (IUPAT DC51) and VoteVets have endorsed Pat Young.

Addressing affordability 

Each of the candidates agreed there is an affordability issue in the county.

"Gas and electric prices are extremely high," said Patoka. "The governing body over the utilities is the Public Service Commission. The county executive needs to be at the public service commission to make sure they are doing the right thing."

Jones said, "We're going to be able to have the choice of creating our own local energy or purchase it from whomever we want, and I believe that that competition will drive down prices."

"I think you're looking at tax credits for seniors and property tax incentives for people who are moving here for the first time," Young said. 

He added, "Especially now, where folks are just worried about paying for groceries, paying for gas, just meeting basic needs. It makes sense to start where folks are already benefiting and see how we can compound benefits to make their lives a little bit easier."

"A universal pre-K, the average childcare costs about $1,800 a month per kid in Baltimore County," said Stewart. "That is a true and remarkable problem for us. So, this will help solve for that, as well as allowing women to return to work, so it's about 30 percent of women who left the workforce during Covid who have not returned."

Shams said, "It's $15 billion we allocate to make sure it's called the 'Household Stabilizing Fund,' where we would give families making less than $75,000 a year up to $250 a month to make sure that they're taking care of their basic needs."

Safety concerns

Safety is another concern for neighbors across Baltimore County, including worries about teen link-ups that have led to other crimes across the county.

Each candidate said there must be a targeted approach to dealing with teens.

"I think it's a combination of encouraging employers to bring on these young people, also making sure that we have enough rec centers, we have quality things for young people, you know, spaces for young people to do," said Patoka. 

"If the recreation and the job don't keep them busy, then we're going to look into having our own places like mixers that we can fund," Jones said. 

Young emphasized that there are few opportunities for kids to "exist without having to spend money somewhere." 

"They don't have to spend money to be there, and they're just trying to exist in a space," Young said. "As the county government, we need to hear that and recognize that we have an opportunity and a responsibility to provide those forums in those places so that when these things happen, it's fewer folks, there are more options and there are more opportunities for folks to get involved and also put their time into something that's proactive."

Stewart said, "Baltimore City places about 10,000 kids in their summer youth program. We, we place about 500. We are way far away from this, and we ought to democratize and make more equitable the use of our parks and recs department."

"I have knocked on doors where you can tell when that door opens, the situation is bad, they don't have their basic necessities being met, and a county executive that ignores that and comes up with some grand plan in building this and building that and puts that as a priority is not a county executive that has a servant leadership attitude," said Shams. 

Improving transparency

Each of the candidates also said there needs to be more transparency in office to ensure that neighbors are better informed on what is going on.

Patoka said, "We're not going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to have our lawyers protect paper. That's just not going to happen."

"I have a tremendous email list right now, we're going to expand that, and we'll make sure people know everything we're doing. We're going to continue to have town hall meetings," said Jones. 

Young said, "They [Baltimore County residents] feel that they haven't had it, and I think that requires the county executive and the council to work together to, one, expand the budget and expect to meet those 21st century needs."

"Lean into what we have described as our Smart Balt Co. Initiative," said Stewart. "It's a Smart Government initiative, which, yes, uses data analytics, but will also use a much more expansive approach to government engagement, and this means holding office hours with me, with our planning department, in each of the council meeting districts on a regular basis."

Shams said, "Leadership to me is about servant leadership. It's not about being in charge and being a big boss. It's about serving those people that are under your charge, and I hope that more people would think this way. They would stop going with their talking points and this and this and that and speak truth, and I think people are desperately wanting that. Please be honest with us. Please tell us the truth, you know. And we just seem to... we don't get it. We're in some la la land, and I hope that I can bring that new energy to Baltimore County."