“I’m certainly considering it,” Democratic Sen. Charles E. Sydnor III, 50, said Tuesday of his intentions. Olszewski is currently running in the 2nd Congressional District against Republican Kim Klacik. “Nothing’s been decided yet,” Sydnor said.
He ruled out a run for Baltimore County state’s attorney.
Sydnor has represented western Baltimore County since January 2020. Olszewski’s current term ends in November 2026. Council Chair Izzy Patoka and Councilman Julian Jones have said they will run; Councilman Pat Young is also considering a campaign. All three are Democrats. Arbutus lawyer and good governance advocate Nick Stewart is also rumored to be considering a campaign, though he declined to confirm anything Tuesday. The county executive currently earns $192,000 annually.
Whoever wins in 2026 could inherit a radically different council if county voters pass a ballot measure on Election Day to expand the seven-member council by two. If approved, this measure would go into effect in the 2026 election cycle. The council passed a related bill July 1, led by Patoka, its chief sponsor.
Expansion advocates said the measure would offer women and minorities more chances to run for office. The Republican council members said they voted to expand despite early trepidation because Patoka assured them the council would remain bipartisan.
Sydnor is one of a handful of Democratic state legislators, including House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones, who said Patoka’s bill violated state law and the federal Voting Rights Act. They and Olszewski threw their weight behind a competing effort in August to expand the council by four seats, which failed to gather enough signatures to appear on the ballot.
The Maryland ACLU argued that proposed redistricting maps included in Patoka’s bill disenfranchised Black people and other residents of color who make up 47% of the county population, by splitting majority-minority districts. The state ACLU affiliate, which previously sued the county in 2021 over redistricting, has threatened a lawsuit; Sydnor said he would likely be a plaintiff. No such lawsuit existed in federal or state courts as of Tuesday. Patoka accused the ACLU last month of concocting a “political stunt.”
The measure is included on the Nov. 5 ballot as Question A, which would make council members full-time positions in addition to adding to seats.
“There’s room for everybody on this council,” Sydnor said. “It doesn’t have to be all white and all male.”
The County Council is currently made up of six white men and one Black man.
The next county executive could inherit looming budgetary woes and the expiration of consent decrees in the fire department and the housing department. The county must build 1,000 units of affordable housing by 2027 to correct decades of discriminatory housing policies, per an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials and civic leaders are split over whether Baltimore County will meet that goal.
“We’ve got to get up from under those consent decrees,” Sydnor said. Residents and some council members have pushed back against attempts to spur more development in Baltimore County, which shares some of the regional housing crunch.
“Housing has always been an issue. We’ve got to make sure citizens know that affordable housing means just that: housing that is affordable,” Sydnor said. “We need businesses to come into the county that pay well, and they can’t do that if there’s no housing for their workers.”
Known as a quiet but civil-rights-minded legislator, Sydnor was involved in the General Assembly’s police reform discussions in 2021. He was one of two Democrats, along with Jill P. Carter, to cast a vote against a Senate law that added more stringent accountability measures to the state’s juvenile justice system.
Baltimore Sun reporter Hannah Gaskill contributed to this article.
]]>PSEG won a contract last December to construct the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP), a 500,000-watt power line that would cross northern Baltimore County and Carroll County and terminate in Frederick County. The company, which is building the project on behalf of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection (PJM), announced its proposed route Friday. PJM is a regional transmission organization that coordinates the movement of electricity throughout 13 states, including Maryland.
The Baltimore County Council voted unanimously Monday to pass the resolution officially condemning the project. All seven council members signed on as sponsors after Councilman Wade Kach, a Timonium Republican, introduced it last week.
Olszewski also condemned the project last week, following a letter he sent PSEG officials in July disapproving of the potential threat of eminent domain. The transmission line would run through Kach’s northern county district, which includes most of the county’s preserved farmland.
“The plan you see in front of you is one that was developed by a conglomerate of 13 states, and there was no public input at all,” Kach said right before Monday’s vote. “What I’d like to see is the state develop a new route for this power line and have public meetings and public input, because I certainly believe that public input will be beneficial to those making the final decision.”
The council does not have any authority to challenge the power line, which must be approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. PSEG officials said they hoped the project would be operational by June 2027 to provide extra power as consumers’ and data centers’ energy needs have increased. They plan to file a permit application by the end of the year.
PSEG spokespeople did not immediately respond to a request for comment after the council vote.
Project manager Jason Kalwa said in a letter to Maryland officials last month that the company could invoke eminent domain over properties “on or near the selected route,” a tactic Baltimore County Councilman Todd Crandell called “un-American.” Kach also said the project could imperil the Prettyboy Reservoir, which provides much of the Baltimore region’s drinking water.
Olszewski said his administration had “consistently expressed concerns” about the project in a statement after PSEG announced its proposed route.
“Baltimore County will work with state, local, and community partners to carefully review (Friday’s) proposed route and its impact on preserved properties and our shared environment as we continue to urge PSEG and PJM to address and amplify our unresolved questions on this potential project,” he said.
If the project doesn’t get built, residents will have to contend with rolling brownouts and blackouts, Kalwa said.
Michael Powers, a safety coordinator for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 70, was one of few Baltimore County residents who spoke in favor of the MPRP last week.
The project would provide “hundreds” of well-paid jobs and stabilize the regional energy grid as more people adopt technologies like electric cars, the Middle River resident told the Baltimore County Council. Rejecting the project could result in more rolling blackouts and increased prices for ratepayers.
“There will need to be a solution,” Powers said. “If not this solution, the next one.”
]]>In a pair of public meetings to give state officials feedback on a new six-year, $19 billion statewide spending plan, the list of almost entirely Democratic elected leaders and advocates from both jurisdictions spoke almost in unison. Baltimore is still not being prioritized, and just making promises — for better trains and roads, bridges and buses — is not enough, they said.
“The Moore-Miller administration, they reached out on the campaign trail. They were going to ‘Leave no one behind.’” Baltimore City Councilman Antonio Glover said at the city meeting, referencing what Moore has called both his campaign slogan and governing philosophy. “And what I see here is that we’re going to leave a lot of Baltimoreans behind.”
The Maryland Department of Transportation said last month it proposed cutting $1.3 billion from the six-year plan, a move that would defer some maintenance projects, slow down the transition to fully electric state buses and pause the development stage of some projects.
About $3.3 billion in cuts were made earlier this year for the same reasons — mainly, a funding system that is not keeping pace with rising costs and spending — though some of that was restored when officials tapped rainy day funds and raised some vehicle-related fees.
The transportation funding shortfall is just one part of a range of budget issues that state lawmakers must address. They are expected to face a separate multi-billion-dollar deficit in the state’s general fund when they return to Annapolis for the annual legislative session in January, and billions more are needed for planned education and climate programs. Though some have pushed for tax overhauls, Moore has repeatedly said he has a “high bar” for new taxes and has so far focused on cutting from existing programs, borrowing more and pulling from reserves.
The new changes for transportation spending don’t directly impact major projects like the Red Line light rail or the rebuilding of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
But city leaders have said that future plans are at risk, and reversing decades of underinvestment in the region is only possible by restoring the cuts and finding new sources of revenue.
“This budget is an existential threat for the continued operation of Baltimore City’s already struggling transit system,” said Councilman Zeke Cohen, who is expected to win next month’s election for City Council president.
The local pushback has been effective in some ways so far during Moore’s tenure. Originally planned cuts that were restored earlier this year, for instance, included the share of highway user revenue that goes to local governments — which Baltimore receives the largest portion of because it maintains all of its own roads and bridges. Both city and county officials have said changes to those funds in previous administrations led to years of underfunding, and a 2022 law increased the share for local governments.
In a common theme at the city meeting, Cohen questioned why the transportation plan makes cuts affecting Baltimore but continues to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in the metro system covering Washington, D.C., and its suburbs in Maryland and Virginia. Cohen said there are $585 million worth of cuts to the Maryland Transit Administration that will impact the city while part of Maryland’s allocation to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority will increase by about $26 million.
The Purple Line — the Washington metro expansion that has suffered from cost and time overruns — is also still receiving a full commitment from the state while the Red Line remains years away and without any dedicated construction funds.
“Why is a transit rider in the Washington region worth more investment than a transit rider in west Baltimore?” Cohen asked Transportation Secretary Paul Wiedefeld.
The state’s top transportation official responded that they do not matter less, and it’s a constant balancing act. Cohen later told The Baltimore Sun he got a call from the governor’s office after the meeting and that Moore’s team said they were committed to working toward a solution. He said it’s an issue that Moore clearly “cares about deeply as a former Baltimorean.”
Moore’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
The city leaders focused their concerns on the Red Line, the east-west route that is expected to cost up to $7.2 billion, and another north-to-south transit route from Lutherville to South Baltimore.
Moore has heavily promoted but not developed a full funding plan for the Red Line, which he revived eight years after former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan canceled it.
City Councilman Ryan Dorsey said that “despite Gov. Moore really stumping” for the project, the current plan ensures no construction is likely until at least 2031, “an unacceptably late timeline for any level of visible progress on that project.”
The Red Line was also a concern raised at a meeting between Baltimore County and state transportation officials earlier Monday. Monday’s meetings were part of a a feedback tour with all counties leading up to the release of a final transportation plan later this year.
Del. Cheryl Pasteur, a Democrat who represents western and central Baltimore County, urged the state to continue pushing for the Red Line, saying, “If I want children to have doors and windows of opportunities open to them, they have to be able to get there.”
Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. and others lamented the lack of support for county-specific projects like the Dolfield Interchange that would connect Interstate 795 and Dolfield Boulevard in Owings Mills. First floated in 2007, the state deferred funding the interchange in the latest cuts.
“I’m really at a loss of words as to why we haven’t collectively been able to find a way forward to get Dolfield done,” Olszewski said. “We’re the third largest jurisdiction. [It’s been a] top priority for almost 20 years. We have got to find a way to get it done again.”
In a project that crosses county and city lines, about $3.7 million in design funding for what is known as the North-South Corridor project was also deferred, further delaying another potential light rail or rapid bus transit route.
“Pulling back design funding basically says to us that those people who ride those buses, my constituents, don’t matter,” said Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos.
Del. Mark Edelson, who represents South Baltimore, pressed Wiedefeld on whether the cuts to other transportation maintenance projects — known as the “state of good repair” — would negatively impact Maryland’s application for federal funding for the Red Line because it will show that Maryland is unable to keep up with its current needs.
Wiedefeld said it would.
Edelson was ultimately one of seven House of Delegates members — half of the delegation representing Baltimore in Annapolis — who said the cuts mean the state needs more transportation funding.
That emphasis was the latest sign some lawmakers, when they begin the next legislative session in January, intend to pick up where they left off earlier this year. The House pushed for a host of changes to Maryland’s tax system to raise money for transportation and education in the 2024 session. Some ideas — like raising vehicle registration fees — were passed while others, like increasing tolls, creating new vehicle fees and taxing online gambling were stalled, partially because of resistance from Moore and the Senate. The General Assembly is controlled by Democrats.
Del. Robbyn Lewis, who has pushed for “creative solutions” like charging fees for owning physically larger vehicles, told the state transportation officials Monday that she “will do everything I can, even if it means getting in trouble, to raise the revenue that you need.”
“How are we going to raise the money to deliver what we promised to the people of the city and the region?” Lewis said. “We can not go home from the session in April unless we figure that out.”
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]]>If Olszewski wins, County Administrative Officer D’Andrea Walker will take over after he leaves office as interim executive, according to the county charter. A majority of the seven-member council would then vote to appoint a new county executive to serve out the remainder of Olszewski’s term.
Six people have publicly said they are interested in being county executive: education advocates Yara Cheikh and Tara Ebersole; Del. Jon Cardin, a Democrat who represents central Baltimore County; former county official Barry Williams; former State Sen. Jim Brochin, who lost the 2018 Democratic primary to Olszewski by 17 votes; and State Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, who represents southeastern Baltimore County.
No front-runner has yet emerged as a clear favorite if Olszewski wins his race; his current term expires in 2026. Candidates will need to submit a resume, letter of intent and a financial disclosure form to the council for consideration.
The charter does not specify an appointment process, timeline or criteria, other than that the appointee must be a member of their predecessor’s political party. Council Chair Izzy Patoka said the council will begin accepting applications from interested candidates Nov. 6, the day after Election Day.
The council aims to make a decision by mid-December, a timeline Patoka called “ambitious.”
Brochin declined to comment. Williams, Klausmeier, and Ebersole did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Cheikh said she would focus on continuing some of Olszewski’s policies, such as using data to make policy decisions, with a focus on “improving county government transparency.”
Cardin said he had the most budgetary experience of any candidate, and said it was the “right timing” for him to put his name forth for consideration as he awaits a vacancy to open on the Baltimore County District Court.
The council is also considering former county executives Dennis Rasmussen and Don Hutchinson, and former Maryland Secretary of Business and Economic Development Aris Melissaratos. Hutchinson served from 1978 to 1986, and Rasmussen served from 1986 to 1990. Melissaratos served from 2003 to 2007 as the head of the agency now known as the state Department of Commerce, a period he said gave him a “taste of public service.”
“I loved it. I’ve had what I call a phenomenal career,” Melissaratos said. He pointed toward his past experiences in government, academia and as an executive at a company later acquired by Northrop Grumman as evidence of his ability to manage large and small organizations.
Hutchinson confirmed that he received calls about his interest, including from a council member, but declined to give details.
“I will talk to anybody that’s involved in the decision-making process,” Hutchinson said in an interview. “[But] I’m not calling or initiating any calls.”
Rasmussen did not respond to requests for comment.
Patoka said the council will consider candidates who have agreed not to run for county executive in 2026, when Olszewski’s term ends. Patoka and Councilman Julian Jones said they will run then. Councilman Pat Young also confirmed he is considering an executive campaign. All three are Democrats.
“We don’t want to give anybody an unfair advantage,” Patoka said. “We want to let democracy work.”
The council can change county executives’ compensation with five members’ votes, but cannot do so while they are in office, according to the charter. Olszewski earns $192,000 a year, according to annual county data and an executive compensation law the council passed last year.
Olszewski is seeking the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger. He faces Republican Kim Klacik on Nov. 5. The 2nd Congressional District is considered safe for any Democrat. The district covers Baltimore and Carroll counties and part of Baltimore City.
Baltimore County previously found itself in need of a new leader when County Executive Kevin Kamenetz unexpectedly died in May 2018. County Administrative Officer Fred Homan served as executive until the council appointed Don Mohler, Kamenetz’s chief of staff, later that month. Mohler served until Olszewski took office Dec. 3, 2018.
“There’s a certain amount of freedom that comes with being someone who publicly states that they have no intention of running,” Mohler said in an interview. “It’s incredibly liberating when you don’t have to pause and think of the political ramifications of your decisions. People like government officials when they’re not running for anything.”
He pointed toward his July 2018 executive order raising fees to fund sewer and infrastructure upgrades as an example.
“It was an easy decision to make. It would’ve been much harder to do that if I was running for office,” Mohler said. “In my 7 1/2 months, I had the freedom to do what I thought was best for Baltimore County. That’s a wonderful thing.”
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]]>The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project (MPRP) was first announced in December, when regional transmission operator PJM awarded a contract to the New Jersey-based Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) for development. The proposed 500,000-volt transmission line would start in Harford County and cross Baltimore and Carroll counties to provide power for the growing number of data centers in northern Virginia and Frederick County, where it is expected to terminate in Adamstown.
Councilman Wade Kach, a Timonium Republican, introduced the resolution Tuesday with support from his fellow Republican, Councilman David Marks of Upper Falls, and Council Chair Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat. The three said they were immediately concerned about both short- and long-term environmental impacts from construction. Three more council members signed on as sponsors during Tuesday’s meeting, guaranteeing the council will pass the nonbinding resolution at its next legislative session Oct. 21.
PSEG has not yet finalized a route for the transmission line, but proposed routes would touch upon land outside the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line, a county preservation policy that prevents development in the county’s rural and agricultural areas in northern Baltimore County. Kach said one proposed route would affect the Prettyboy Reservoir, which provides much of the Baltimore metropolitan area’s drinking water.
In a letter last month to Frederick County leaders, PSEG project manager Jason Kalwa said there would be more “rolling brownouts and blackouts” if the transmission line didn’t go into effect by June 2027.
PSEG said on its website that it would submit an application to PSC by the end of the year for permission to construct the transmission line, which could include eminent domain rights. The organization said it “may” seek that power but would only consider it “as a last resort.”
“We look forward to engaging more with the public and receiving their feedback when we present our proposed route in the near future,” PSEG spokesperson William Smith said via email.
While he has not officially taken a position, County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. said earlier this summer he opposed any effort to seize private homes.
“The use of eminent domain often leads to the displacement of residents and business, and could be especially harmful to our county’s agricultural community,” he wrote to Kalwa and PSEG state government affairs representative James Gilroy on July 31. “We appreciate your commitment to only consider eminent domain as an option of last resort, but we prefer this measure be taken off the table completely.”
Kach questioned why the company couldn’t utilize existing rights-of-way instead.
“I think I know the answer,” he said Tuesday. “Profit. That’s the answer.”
Councilman Todd Crandell, a Dundalk Republican, called the prospect of PSEG seizing private homes without compensation “un-American,” which earned him a smattering of applause from observers at Tuesday’s council meeting. He, Julian Jones, and Pat Young asked to be added as sponsors.
“The MPRP would cross and likely permanently disrupt preserved greenfields, forest and stream buffers, passive and active open space, and farmland,” the resolution says, and also listed potential soil erosion and damage to nearby property from construction. “Taken together, this will likely lead to a reduction in local farming in Baltimore County and property values of the county’s important agricultural area.”
The resolution is largely symbolic, since the Maryland Public Service Commission, the state utility regulator, must approve the project.
Nonetheless, the council members said they expected PSEG to submit its development plans to the county and ask for an environmental study to be performed. They also encouraged the General Assembly to require Maryland public utilities to submit biannual plans for state review and encouraged legislators to create a planning group that would “play a key role in planning and coordinating the electric transmission system.”
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]]>Campaign finance disclosure forms were due Friday for ballot issue committees. Two ballot questions, one which would allow for the Inner Harbor’s development (Question F) and one on whether to halve the Baltimore City Council (Question H), have attracted ballot issue committees. Both issues have attracted citywide attention and funding.
On Nov. 5, Baltimoreans will cast their votes on eight citywide ballot questions ranging from the more divisive Questions F and H to bond issues (Questions A, B, C, D) to other, non-bond issues, including whether the city should assume local control of the Baltimore Police Department from the state (Question E).
Question G would establish a city fund to compensate people prosecuted under defunct anti-cannabis laws using state money.
Question F
Inarguably the most contested ballot initiative, Question F asks residents to approve developer MCB Real Estate’s plans to revamp the Inner Harbor by adding 900 apartments with office space, off-street parking, and realigned roadways. Residents must pass it via a simple majority to overturn city charter amendments that protect the Inner Harbor from development.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled that election officials should count ballots cast for Question F. The decision reversed a previous ruling by Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Catherine Vitale, who said the question was worded too confusingly and wasn’t “proper charter material” after attorney Thiru Vignarajah challenged it on behalf of 20 petitioners.
Baltimore for a New Harborplace, a campaign supporting the redevelopment effort, reported a negative bank account balance of $6.08 on its report filed Friday and outstanding bills totaling more than $100,000. The group said it had not spent or raised money since June 18 despite running ads on social media and on The Baltimore Sun’s website. The group lists MCB development director Jonathan Sandoval as treasurer and Ballard Spahr land-use attorney Jon Laria as committee chair. Laria is also a registered lobbyist for MCB principal P. David Bramble, according to city records.
Per its latest filing, the group owes polling firm Victoria Research $40,000 and PR firm Fells Group another $60,704.
Vignarajah, a four-time city office candidate, sued to stop Question F’s certification after failing to gather enough signatures for his own opposing ballot measure. He submitted an affidavit testifying that his group, Protect Our Parks, had raised less than $1,000 since its last campaign finance filing July 29.
Question H
Some of Baltimore’s top elected officials have thrown their weight behind efforts to oppose Question H, which would reduce the 14-member City Council to eight members. The chief vehicle pushing Question H is People for Elected Accountability and Civic Engagement (PEACE). Its main funder is David Smith, co-owner of The Baltimore Sun and executive chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group.
The main opposition campaign, calling themselves Stop Sinclair, raised $158,000 between Aug. 21 and Oct. 6; it reported having $155,952 on hand and spending $24,000 on radio ads.
The bulk of the opposition committee’s money came from unions like AFSCME, which gave $100,000. The Baltimore Fire Officers union and Baltimore-Washington Construction each gave $25,000. City Councilman Ryan Dorsey and Del. Robbyn Lewis, both Democrats, also transferred $3,000 and $5,000, respectively, from their campaign accounts. It’s unclear if the opposing effort to maintain the council’s current size will pay off. Baltimore residents have rejected only one ballot measure in 20 years.
In contrast, PEACE reported having $5,111.98 on hand and spending just $42 in bank charges on a single day in September.
Baltimore For Democracy, another effort to oppose the council-shrinking measure, raised $5,672.18 in small donations since its August inception. The group, led by Green Party 2026 gubernatorial candidate Andy Ellis, reported having $4,228.12 on hand after accounting for fundraising and campaign materials expenses.
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]]>Citizens can propose ballot questions if they collect at least 10,000 signatures from registered county voters. The county council can also put questions on the ballot if five or more council members agree. A simple majority of voters is needed to pass charter amendments.
Question A
The seven-member Baltimore County Council is asking to expand to nine members starting in 2026 and establish council members as full-time positions. The county population has grown threefold and diversified since adopting its charter-style government in 1956. Expansion advocates, including Council Chair Izzy Patoka, say adding members would better reflect that growth by offering more chances for women and people of color to run for public office.
The county, Maryland’s third-largest, is 50% female and 47% people of color. The council, which has considered expanding since 1978, is made up of six white men and one Black man.
The ballot initiative itself, which Patoka sponsored, has attracted controversy because it includes a draft map that creates two new districts in western and eastern Baltimore County. Councilmen Pat Young and Julian Jones, who represent the west side, said the process for drafting the map was not public and only passed after Patoka struck a deal to receive votes from Republican councilmen Wade Kach, Todd Crandell and David Marks.
Kach, Crandell and Marks accused Patoka of trying to renege on an agreement making the map permanent, which they said would allow Republicans to maintain seats on the majority Democratic council. On Monday, the council voted down a bill from Young that would have struck the map Patoka drafted.
The ACLU of Maryland and state lawmakers have threatened a lawsuit. They argue the expansion map process violated federal and state law by not including public input and would illegally shift appointment power over the county school board from the state legislature to council members.
Patoka, Kach and Councilman Mike Ertel say if the initiative passes, the council will undergo a public commission process to draft new district boundaries. Olszewski endorsed Vote4More, but has largely stayed out of the fray. He said in a statement Thursday that he would support expansion despite his reservations about the current proposed council map.
Question B
Baltimore County Inspector General Kelly Madigan is asking voters to enshrine her office into the county charter, which would officially establish it within county government and eliminate the ability to defund or change the agency without voter approval.
Olszewski first created the watchdog office in 2019 as the Office of Ethics and Accountability to root out fraud, waste and corruption in county government; it later became the Office of the Inspector General. The County Council voted to send Question B to voters last December. Madigan said she wants to be reappointed when her five-year term is up in January.
Despite some initial friction, Olszewski supported Madigan when Jones tried to introduce a series of last-minute amendments that would have drastically curtailed her investigative powers.
Some of Madigan’s most high-profile investigations have been of county politicians, including Olszewski and Jones. In 2021, she cited Olszewski’s top aides for intervening on behalf of a wealthy developer who wanted to build a “tennis barn” on his property. Madigan also cited Jones for directing Public Works officials to repave an alleyway owned by one of his donors using county funds. More recently, Marks, Kach and Crandell asked Madigan to investigate after The Baltimore Sun reported in July that the administration gave a secret payment to the brother of Olszewski’s friend, a since-retired county firefighter who was seeking transfer service time to his county record so he could receive a larger pension.
Question C
The council is asking voters to allow them to approve all appointments to the Baltimore County Planning Board and limit members to three, three-year consecutive terms. The planning board currently has 15 volunteer members who make recommendations about issues like zoning, land use and the Baltimore County Master Plan. The county executive currently appoints eight at-large members, and each council member appoints an individual member to represent their district. On Monday, the council confirmed C. Scott Holupka as chair.
In a Sun commentary in April, Marks complained that the council could only confirm the planning board vice chair and chair, preventing the public from having “no input on how 13 of the 15 members are confirmed.” He and the council voted earlier this year to amend the charter to allow them to confirm all nominees to the planning board, rationalizing that the board is currently “too pro-development.”
The council passed legislation this year increasing the fees that developers must pay when constructing in overcrowded areas, and overrode Olszewski’s veto of an ordinance that curbs development in overcrowded areas.
Zoning and land use are perennial topics of concern but have taken on more urgency as the county faces a housing crisis and overcrowded schools.
Questions D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L
Questions D through L ask county voters to allow Baltimore County to borrow $600 million to finance ongoing projects like updating school buildings, senior centers and firehouses; making sewer improvements; and obtaining easements to preserve parkland. The ordinances are for individual projects for bonds ranging from $4 million for road improvements to $331 million for constructing and modernizing school buildings.
The request, which Olszewski announced during his budget message in April, was $250 million more than initially anticipated due to inflation. The county is also bracing for potential deficits in light of the state’s budget woes.
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]]>The decision reverses an earlier one from Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Catherine Vitale, who ruled in September that election officials could not certify the results of a related ballot question known as Question F. The question’s wording was too confusing and its subject was “not proper charter material,” she said, siding with attorney Thiru Vignarajah, who brought the challenge on behalf of a group of city residents.
In its six-page opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that the lower court had erred in ruling in the challengers’ favor, and that Question F is not, in fact, “improper charter material.” In other words, any votes cast for Question F will be counted in the Nov. 5 election.
Vignarajah said he and his group were disappointed with the decision, but would turn their attention to encouraging residents to vote against Question F. He hinted at putting forth an amendment to repeal the question, if it passes, in the 2026 election.
Question F would allow MCB Real Estate to replace Harborplace’s aging shopping and dining pavilions with four taller buildings that would include office space and a conjoined 32-story tower with 900 apartments and off-street parking. It would also add a new park, two-tier promenades and realigned roadways.
City officials, including Mayor Brandon Scott, have celebrated it as a chance to revitalize the city waterfront, which has deteriorated in recent years. The ambitious project, led by Baltimore-native P. David Bramble, could cost $900 million, almost half of it in public funds. Voters need to approve the rezoning allowing it because the city charter protects part of the Inner Harbor from development.
Vignarajah appeared Wednesday in the high court against Dan Kobrin, an assistant attorney general representing the State Board of Elections, and Michael Redmond, the city’s chief solicitor. Redmond and Kobrin argued Vignarajah’s challenge less than two months before Election Day shook voters’ confidence in the election process, causing “ballot chaos” and robbing city residents of their “right to self-determination.”
Scott also said opponents were content to let Harborplace languish until “the moment a Black man from West Baltimore decides to intervene.” Officials cheered Thursday’s decision, with Bramble saying he had “always been confident” the court would rule in his and the city’s favor.
“Baltimoreans share our vision for a reimagined Harborplace and Inner Harbor Park and we look forward to them voting Yes on Question F in November,” he said in a statement.
“We’re thrilled that the Maryland Supreme Court saw through this charade of opposition-at-any-cost and ruled that Baltimore’s residents were capable of making their voices heard on the future of Harborplace,” a statement from the mayor’s office said. “This revitalization is long-overdue, and we are looking forward to this ballot question passing so we can ensure the future of one of our City’s best assets remains bright.”
Councilman Eric Costello, whose district includes the Inner Harbor, had previously characterized the challenges to Harborplace as voter suppression.
“The attempt by a tiny group of opponents to use the legal system to block Baltimore residents from using their constitutional right to have their voices heard at the ballot box was soundly rejected by the Supreme Court,” he said in a statement posted to X. “The future of our city is back in the hands of the voters, where it belongs.”
Vignarajah, a four-time city office candidate, previously tried to stop Harborplace’s redevelopment via an opposing ballot measure but failed to gather enough signatures to qualify.
“We lost a legal battle today but the war to protect our city’s parks from private developer is far from over,” he said. “And, with greater clarity from the (Supreme) Court, even if it passes, I expect we’ll push for a ballot measure to protect our parks and repeal this pro-developer amendment in 2026.”
Got a news tip? Contact Lia Russell at lrussell@baltsun.com, (667) 334-9198 and on X as @LiaOffLeash.
]]>Minutes after announcing he been selected to serve jury duty, Scott was dismissed after the defendant in the murder trial he was set to observe reached a plea agreement, according to James Bentley, a spokesperson for State’s Attorney Ivan Bates.
Paul Ray IV admitted to fatally shooting Bryson Hudson, 16, on Aug. 14, 2023, in one of the many instances of gun violence that felled Baltimore’s young people that year, according to a news release from Bates’ office. Ray, 18, agreed to plead guilty to charges of first-degree murder, first-degree assault, carjacking, and use of a firearm in connection to Hudson’s death. Earlier that day, he had stolen a vehicle at gunpoint and driven it to the A Plus Grocery & Deli in East Baltimore, where he shot Hudson and another man who survived, Bates said.
Ray’s sentencing date is Jan. 29.
“These reprehensible actions demand swift and significant punishment,” Bates said in a statement. “I am grateful to Mayor Scott and the other jurors for dedicating their time to fulfilling their civic duty.”
Scott had been selected to serve as an alternate that morning, joining the thousands of Baltimoreans who serve as jurors every year, according to a news release from his office. The news came as a “surprise.”
On Thursday afternoon, Scott posted a photo of himself smiling and holding his jury attendance certificate as proof he had reported for service.
“I was instructed to show this to my bosses to prove that I completed my jury service, so I am,” he wrote in an X post. “Everyone who is called should complete their civic duty and serve. Now, back to our regular scheduled program.”
A spokesperson for Scott’s office said the mayor had previously been selected, but wasn’t able to say whether the mayor had been seated before.
Public officials being seated for jury duty, while not prohibited, is a rarity. Mayor Martin O’Malley previously served as the jury foreman in a personal injury case in January 2002, a duty he said he was “glad to do.” His predecessor, Kurt Schmoke, said he had “come close” but had never been seated in the 12 years he served in office.
Got a news tip? Contact Lia Russell at lrussell@baltsun.com, (667) 334-9198 and on X as @LiaOffLeash.
]]>The Supreme Court of Maryland is expected to swiftly make a decision.
The initiative, known as Question F, would allow developer MCB Real Estate to revamp the city’s waterfront by replacing its aging shopping and dining pavilions with four taller buildings with office space, including a conjoined 32-story tower with 900 apartments and off-street parking. It also would add a new park, two-tier promenades and realign city roadways. Voters must approve the question to allow the land to be rezoned, much of which was preserved as parkland by charter amendments passed in the 1970s.
A group of city residents, represented by attorney Thiru Vignarajah, successfully challenged the question last month. Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Catherine Vitale sided with them, ruling the question’s wording was too confusing and not “proper charter material.” Election officials had already mailed out ballots with the question on it, but they could not certify those vote tallies, she said.
The state Board of Elections, joined by MCB Real Estate managing partner P. David Bramble and the city, appealed, arguing Vitale’s decision improperly restricted the Baltimore City Council’s legislative authority and caused “ballot chaos” by validating a legal challenge less than two months before Election Day. Vignarajah, a four-time failed city office seeker, tried to propose a ballot amendment that would prevent Harborplace’s development by preserving it as a park. That effort, which would have reversed what he called the city’s “backroom deal with Bramble,” failed to gather enough signatures to qualify.
Baltimore officials and business leaders, including Mayor Brandon Scott, have supported Bramble’s plan since he first unveiled it a year ago. They argue the ambitious proposal would shape Harborplace’s future and “showcase the best of Baltimore.” The state has pledged $67.5 million toward the project, which Bramble estimates will require about $900 million, almost half of it in public funds.
Critics, including the Inner Harbor Coalition, say it would privatize the city waterfront. Scott countered that Harborplace had deteriorated over the last 20 years and that opponents only got involved “the moment a Black man from West Baltimore decides to intervene.”
During oral arguments Wednesday, Vignarajah argued against Dan Kobrin, an attorney with the Maryland State Attorney General representing the State Board of Elections, and chief city solicitor Michael Redmond over the timing of the challenge. The three cited case law that often veered in technicalities, while the seven-judge panel asked clarifying questions but did not appear to side with either party.
“When a voter opens their ballot, they should be confident in it,” Kobrin said. “Litigation this late erodes confidence in the ballot.”
The challenge also denied the city its “right to self-determination,” Redmond said, a refrain Scott used when announcing the city’s intent to appeal Vitale’s “disrespectful” decision last month.
Redmond also argued against Vignarajah’s point that the initiative would effectively privatize the waterfront.
“It’s a false assertion” that the amendment is a zoning issue, Redmond said. “It makes a restriction slightly less so.” The charter protects parts of the Inner Harbor from development, including 29 acres of green space.
Vignarajah pushed back against Kobrin and Redmond’s contention that his challenge came too late. His clients had “searched like hawks,” trying several avenues to obtain the language of the question that would appear on the ballot before challenging it. Even Baltimore media outlets had trouble locating a copy, Vignarajah said, after the city solicitor certified the ballot language on Aug. 2, a strategic move he conceded after the hearing that “may have worked.”
Part of Kobrin’s argument that the challenge was too late hinged upon a typo in an email Tony Ambridge, Vignarajah’s main client, had sent to city solicitors seeking a copy of the ballot language. In his email, Ambridge had written the due date was Sept. 2 when he meant to write Aug. 2, Vignarajah said.
“I sure hope this doesn’t come down to a typo in an email,” he said after the hearing. “My impression is that members of the media asked for this language between August and September, and were denied it. That is a vital, important fact. We are cautiously optimistic that the justices realize that repeatedly emailing public officials asking for this information being rebuffed should be enough, and that that would therefore understandably allow the challenge to move.”
Both Kobrin and Redmond declined to comment after the hearing. Neither Baltimore Election Director Armstead Jones nor his deputy, Abigail Goldman, responded to requests for comment.
State Elections Administrator Jared DeMarinis also declined to comment specifically on the arguments, referring a reporter to Kobrin and Redmond.
“I’m looking forward to a quick resolution on the matter,” DeMarinis said.
The court is expected to issue a decision soon.
Have a news tip? Contact Lia Russell at lrussell@baltsun.com, (667) 334-9198 and x.com/@LiaOffLeash.
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