- [MUSIC] Hello and welcome to The County where we examine issues
important to Baltimore County, Maryland. I'm your host for this
episode, Dori Henry. A better Baltimore County. County Executive,
Johnny Olszewski ran on the promise of helping to deliver just that.
Earlier this month, he introduced his 5th budget to the County
Council, one that he hopes will work to fulfill that promise and move
the county forward. - The budget I'm introducing today builds on our
new standards of excellence and continues our commitment to
strengthening education, investing in our infrastructure, and
recognizing the efforts of the incredible people who make a better
Baltimore County possible. - We sat down with the county executive to
ask him what the proposed budget means for residents, employees, and
visitors to the county. - This is a budget that invests in public
safety. This is a budget that invests in education and it's a budget
that invests in quality of life. I think wrapped around all of that is
this notion. The most important resource we have is our employees and
this is a budget that significantly invests in the people who deliver
those services, who deliver the public safety, who deliver the
educational experience, and who really contribute to our county's
quality of life. - His proposed budget aims to accomplish all of that
without raising taxes and in fact, it will help alleviate some of the
impacts of inflation. It includes a 4% cost of living adjustment for
county employees plus funding to modernize the starting pay scale for
county police officers to ensure Baltimore County ranks among the
highest in the state. The budget also includes a historic investment
in Baltimore County Public Schools that should allow all teachers to
have a starting salary of at least $59,000 per year. The proposed
budget provides a record-shattering $71 million over maintenance of
effort, which is the state-mandated minimum requirement of education
spending that counties across the state have to make year over year. -
What that means is it means that we have the teachers and the support
personnel who are earning salaries they deserve, that we have the
appropriate support resources in our community schools, we're
expanding access to full-day pre-K and pre-K for our younger learners
in alignment with the blueprints. - Nearly $210 million in new local
capital funding will be allocated for school construction to continue
improvements in every part of the county, including new or like-new
schools and solutions to overcrowding. - As we make these historic
investments that we also are expecting accountability, we want to see
results for these investments. We expect to see improvements on school
safety. We want to see improvements in student achievement. - As in
years past, the focus on education doesn't end with high school. Along
with freezing in county tuition for a record sixth year, the budget
includes an exciting next step to open doors of opportunity for those
who need it most. - We are really excited that this is a budget that
Baltimore County, in partnership with the community college of
Baltimore County is putting forward the resources to effectively
provide for free college tuition to any Baltimore County resident who
makes less than $150,000 a year. This is building on the work that
we've done over the years and expanding the college promise in
Baltimore County or advocacy at the state level to expand the Maryland
promise and we know that this really can be a launching pad for
success for so many of our residents. - Safety is another important
priority for the county executive. Last week, a new police chief was
sworn in. Chief Robert McCullough has 35 years of experience in the
Baltimore County Police Department. After climbing through the ranks
and retiring as a colonel, he's ready to hit the ground running. - He
shares my vision for community-oriented policing using data to keep
our neighborhoods safe and understands that both proactive policing
and actual investments go hand in glove to keeping our neighborhoods
safe. I'll say that this is a budget that very much supports his work
along with our fire department and other public safety agencies, 911,
corrections. It's a budget that funds the ability for Baltimore County
Police officers who live in the county and or on patrol to take their
cars home. - The budget includes funding for a new Essex Police
Precinct, Catonsville and Sparrows Point fire stations, and the
relocation and expansion of our 911 Center. Looking at other
infrastructure investments, there is funding provided for two new
senior centers, library expansions, and new pickleball and disc golf
venues among many other priorities important to our residents and
their quality of life. - It includes improvements enhancements to some
of our local parks to some of our regional parks. There are dollars
for more new canoe launches and boat ramps. There's funding to acquire
and preserve more open space. - Recognizing that over 12% of our
residents are immigrants, this budget expands Baltimore County
Government's capacity to support them while beginning to address one
of the most pressing challenges we've heard, access to healthcare
options. - Addition to adding a new immigrant affairs fellow. We also
will be setting up and announcing in the coming weeks a new task force
on healthcare access. That will also be staffed appropriately so that
we can serve it in landscape and really make sure that we're doing all
the weekend remote and connect our immigrant communities to this
critical life-saving need. - This need was one of many expressed
during the County Executives' annual budget town hall series. For the
fifth year in a row, he held meetings in every county council district
to ensure that this budget reflects the priorities of our communities.
- I think as people pore through the budget we've delivered, they will
see themselves in it and they will see their advocacy at it. - Leah
Biddinger, President of the Sussex Community Association, is one of
them. She advocated for a new Essex Police Precinct. - I'm very happy
that it's happening for our officers, for our area. Maybe that will
help us to retain some officers. Officers want to come to the new and
better Essex Precinct. Got to give them something they deal with a lot
on a daily basis. We've got to give them something, make their home
away from home a great place to be. - Disc Golf Advocates, John Malden
and Peter Forrest were also pleasantly surprised to see their passion
reflected in this budget with investments to expand access to the
sport. - Really cool to see the government in action, to see our
voices being heard and it's exciting. - It gives them an active
outdoor free activity that's good for families, good for old people,
young people, just more time outside away from screens and television
and computers and stuff is always good in my book. - It's this focus
on quality-of-life improvements that County Executive Olszewski
believes will help build a better Baltimore County for all. - Both
breaking ground and cutting ribbons on new recreation activity centers
or RACs. We're paving historic amounts of roads, we're putting in more
sidewalks, but as we're doing that, people are realizing how that adds
the quality of life for communities and are coming out and asking for
more of it, which is great. Those are the conversations we want. Those
are the investments we're proud of and with that, that's the work that
we look forward to continuing, not just through this budget, but in
the years ahead. - The county council is scheduled to vote on the
proposed budget on May 26th. Thanks for listening to this episode of
The County. This episode was produced with help from the Baltimore
County Public Library Media Services. Tune in next time. [MUSIC]