Inspecting role of Inspector General and future of Baltimore County with Councilman David Marks

Getting to the heart of what’s important in Baltimore County is always our goal with Councilman David Marks, who returns to discuss some key local issues, including the controversy and upheaval surrounding the role of the Inspector General.

Councilman David Marks discussed the challenges and issues in Baltimore County, including the recent controversy over the Inspector General’s position. He highlighted the importance of the Inspector General’s role, particularly in overseeing Baltimore County Public Schools, which accounts for about half of the county’s budget. Marks praised the community’s engagement and the need for bipartisan cooperation. He also mentioned the county’s aging infrastructure, public safety challenges, and the success of local initiatives like Trade Point Atlantic. Marks emphasized his commitment to delivering services and maintaining fiscal discipline, despite partisan differences.

• [ ] Work with the state legislature to grant the Baltimore County Inspector General oversight over the Baltimore County Public Schools budget.
• [ ] Reappoint Kelly Madigan as the Baltimore County Inspector General.

Councilman David Marks’ Personal Life and Parenting Experience

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the segment, mentioning the 27th anniversary of WNST and the Maryland lottery’s sponsorship of the crab cake tour.
• Nestor Aparicio and Councilman David Marks discuss David’s recent baby, who is almost four months old, and David’s experience as a parent at 51 years old.
• David shares that he has two older children and that his wife does most of the work with the new baby.
• Nestor Aparicio and David talk about the challenges and rewards of parenting, including the lack of sleep and the wisdom that comes with age.

Issues That Make David’s Phone Ring

• Nestor Aparicio asks David about the issues that make his phone ring the most, mentioning various politicians he has interviewed.
• David explains that different issues arise at different times of the year, such as storms in winter, tall grass in spring, rats and mowing in summer, and school issues in the fall.
• David mentions that people often call him about bus stops and school issues, even though the school board is a separate unit of government.
• David and Nestor discuss the process of resolving school-related issues, including reaching out to the school superintendent and board members.

The Selection of the County Executive

• Nestor Aparicio asks David to explain the process of selecting a county executive, mentioning the recent selection of Kathy Klausmeier.
• David explains that the selection process is often influenced by political dynamics, including the desire to find a caretaker who can work bipartisanly.
• David mentions that there were three members of the county council who wanted to be county executive, and the selection process involved finding a candidate who could work well with both Republicans and Democrats.
• David praises Kathy Kloesmer for her political skills and her representation of a competitive district in the state senate.

The Inspector General Controversy

• Nestor Aparicio asks David about the recent controversy surrounding the inspector general, specifically the removal of Kelly Madigan.
• David explains that the decision to remove Kelly Madigan was met with widespread bipartisan opposition, and it was the first time an inspector general’s nomination was turned down.
• David describes the role of the inspector general as an independent position that investigates perceived abuses and waste of taxpayer dollars.
• David mentions that the state legislature needs to act to give the inspector general oversight over Baltimore County Public Schools, which represents a significant portion of the county budget.

The Role of the Inspector General and Future Plans

• Nestor Aparicio and David discuss the importance of having an inspector general who can investigate issues within the school system.
• David explains that the state legislature has historically viewed the school system as an appendage of the state government, which has limited the inspector general’s oversight.
• David mentions that he has been advocating for this change since 2021 and hopes that the new county executive will support reappointing Kelly Madigan.
• David emphasizes the need for the inspector general to have oversight over the school system to ensure transparency and accountability.

David’s Perspective on Baltimore County’s Future

• Nestor Aparicio and David discuss the challenges and opportunities facing Baltimore County, including aging infrastructure and public safety issues.
• David highlights the importance of maintaining a fiscally disciplined approach and investing in capital projects.
• David mentions the need to address the aging infrastructure in schools and the importance of public safety, including filling vacancies in the police and fire services.
• David praises the county’s diversity, attractions, and resources, and expresses optimism about the county’s future.

David’s Relationship with Other Politicians

• Nestor Aparicio and David discuss David’s relationship with other politicians, including Todd Crandall and JB Jennings.
• David praises Todd Crandall’s role in the development of Trade Point Atlantic and his contributions to the county council.
• David mentions that he has worked with both Democrats and Republicans to deliver important legislation and projects.
• David emphasizes the importance of putting partisan politics aside and focusing on deliverables that benefit the community.

The Importance of Local Businesses

• Nestor Aparicio and David discuss the importance of supporting local businesses, including Pizza John’s in Essex.
• David shares his memories of growing up in Baltimore County and the changes he has seen in the area.
• David mentions the importance of local businesses like Pizza John’s in creating a sense of community and providing jobs.
• Nestor Aparicio and David discuss the challenges and opportunities of running a business in Baltimore County, including the impact of online shopping and the need for reinvention.

David’s Commitment to Baltimore County

• Nestor Aparicio asks David about his plans for the future, including his potential run for county executive.
• David expresses satisfaction with his current role and mentions that he will wait to see the redistricting map before making any decisions.
• David emphasizes his commitment to representing the citizens of his district and delivering important projects and services.
• David highlights the importance of working with both Democrats and Republicans to achieve common goals and improve the quality of life in Baltimore County.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Baltimore County, Inspector General, Kelly Madigan, school issues, county executive, redistricting, public safety, infrastructure, senior population, local businesses, trade point Atlantic, fiscal discipline, community engagement, political dynamics, public services.

SPEAKERS

David Marks, Nestor Aparicio

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

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Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T, am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. We are positively one of my favorite places. We are celebrating our 27th anniversary here with our friends at curio wellness as well as liberty, pure solutions and GBMC, putting us out on the road eating the best things that I know of to eat. And we’re in our number nine on our countdown, mainly because of the days of the week. We’re at Pizza John’s in Essex. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery on the crab cake tour. Get some lucky sevens. I got a pressure luck to press away. We’ve been enjoying time with JB Jennings and sort of crossover on this side of the county. And Todd Crandall is representative here. Anybody knows me knows I’ve known Todd since 1979 8081, Todd’s been in the news, not out right now, but nearby. And also a guy I’ve been trying to get on. I tried to get you on over in White Marsh. I was at Red Bridge station with Bill blocker and his beautiful daughter, Katie. That man and those over there sandwiches, whoo, so I’ve tried to get Councilman marks on. And he said, just had a baby five days ago. And then I met JP Jennings party in Ocean City, the you know, as I always say, the bipartisan event in the uptown at Mako. And I saw you and your beautiful wife and the baby. Baby’s getting big. You look well rested.

David Marks  01:29

That’s deceptive. Three months old, we got here, almost four. Yeah, almost four.

Nestor Aparicio  01:33

How you doing? I forget all the councilman and all that service. How you doing as a parent? Yeah, you measuring up?

David Marks  01:39

Well, it’s, it’s a great experience. I’m 51 so this is, this is a late entry into my family. I have two kids who are 16 and 22 you know, she’s a very active, energetic baby. Keeps us on our toes, doesn’t sleep much, but

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Nestor Aparicio  01:57

prepared this time around, because I keep thinking, like with my kid. If anything ever were to happen there and I would become a grandparent, I feel like I’m I’m 56 but young Spry, you know, thank you. Planet Fitness didn’t feel that way last night on the yoga man, I assure you, it was a thumbs down. But I feel like this, you do learn and get more patient. Maybe would be difference understanding. I think we all get smarter. I hope we do. And I think in the modern era, I’ve learned a lot more about parenting than I would have even thought was available back when I tried it the first time,

David Marks  02:32

right, right? I think you’re wiser, right? I think you are more patient. I think financially, older parents get better, better better for kids. Certainly physically, it’s tougher, of course, you know the lack of sleep, and my wife does the lion’s share of the work, right? And she’s feeding her and I’m trying to support her, but it’s, um, it’s a great experience. I mean, we’re thrilled to have this daughter, and it’s a new blessing for us.

Nestor Aparicio  02:55

Your kid liked me, your kid did not scream, didn’t go the other way, kind of coot, a little bit, giggled and waved, and I thought that was nice, you know. So, yeah, off to a good start. How is your part of the county? The first thing I always get to when I get to any of you is what makes your phone ring? And it is interesting. I had so many electeds on last week at Mako, and I do appreciate you coming out sort of on short notice. We’ve been trying to put this together on a Friday year. And you’re like, that’s a little outside my district, but it’s like, but the pizza, the cheese steaks, you know? Why not come here? I’m always shocked by what it winds up being that makes your phone ring the most. And it probably is a moving target beyond street light being out or pothole being filled or whatever sort of politician X would say, right? Every

David Marks  03:44

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season, it’s something new, right? Winter, it’s Storm, Storm, snow drifts and getting roads plow. And then the spring, it’s tall grass and rental properties that you know don’t have the grass mode and and then the summer, it’s kind of rats and mowing. And now it’s a school, right? So people call us when you know this bus stops aren’t where they want them, or they’re having issues with classes. The Board of Education is a separate unit of government. We do not directly oversee the school board, but people don’t know that, and they call us. And fortunately, we have a really good school board member, Julie Henn, who works with us and we get those issues resolved. So it’s, it is kind of a

Nestor Aparicio  04:23

movie. So when somebody says, I’m mad at the school for whatever, or I can’t get a school issue resolved, I’m gonna call my councilman, and then you say,

David Marks  04:34

we try to help, right? We try to help. We reach out to the school superintendent who has a liaison. We reach out to the school board member, okay, and and we can usually nudge it along right. Sometimes we can’t. Sometimes there’s regulations, laws that have to be followed, but we can at least get it, get it a response. So

Nestor Aparicio  04:51

take me through the steps that I don’t understand as a county resident. And I’ve had Julian on, yeah, I’ve had Izzy on, you know? I hope I’ve reached the Todd. Todd’s been on 100 times, and what Todd is ready to, come on, Todd, come on. But for all of you who selected Kathy, I’ve had Johnny, oh on. Actually, I’ll be a Costas on Monday, where I had him on it. And Timonium, by the way, not that, not that, when you say cost us now you gotta, you gotta be clear. Well, you know, you mean Timonium or Dundalk, but I’ll be Timonium on Monday doing a crab cake tour. This process of selecting a county executive, Don molar, my friend, was obviously that came amidst tragedy. Shorter term, the Johnny o thing, there was a certainly, a couple months of maybe planning involved where it felt like he certainly was going to win, or was a likely winner. The process of that. As a citizen, if I come you’d say, how did that happen? What do you explain

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David Marks  05:46

to people? Well, you mentioned the Don molar pick, and that happened very fast. And Don was a very logical person for that. And Councilman Tom Quirk and I actually were the ones who kind of led on that you had two members of the council that time who wanted to be county executive, Julian Jones and Vicki Allman. And that did create a bit of a deadlock. And we basically, Tom and I basically said, Don’s the logical person. We had somewhat of a similar situation this time in that, you know, there are three members of the county council who want to be county executive, and I think they were probably not very eager to put someone in place who could potentially run again, even though there were some people who were saying they weren’t going to run. I mean, when once you become the county executive, you probably consider running again. So we needed to find someone who really was going to be Hades were caretaker but that type of person, we needed to find someone who had some connections to Annapolis, and we, and I, as you know, as I wanted to find someone who could work in a bipartisan way with both Republicans and Democrats. And so, you know, I think a lot of us did gravitate toward Kathy, based upon you all knew her. We all knew her. Yeah, I’ve known her for 30 years. And, you know she, she does have a lot of good political skills. I mean, she’s, she’s represented a competitive district in the state senate. She’s from my hometown of Perry Hall, having said that, you know, it’s, it’s been a kind of a roller, roller coaster ride over the past few months

Nestor Aparicio  07:23

expected, I mean, or not, is some of this been sort of brought on by what’s been in the news the last eight to 10 weeks?

David Marks  07:31

Yeah, you asked about the what’s, what’s causing my phones to ring off that inspector general. Sure, I have never in 15 years had an issue that produced so much reaction and so much bipartisan reaction. I mean, Liberal Democrats, conservative Republicans all agreed on this. I don’t know what in the world prompted Kathy to want to get rid of Kelly Madigan, particularly since, you know, we all liked her, and she had done such a good job. And we had, we had told her staff, you know, we want to, we don’t want to vote for someone else, but they went ahead with this vote. And as a result, I think that was the very first vote ever, maybe where accounting executives nomination got turned down. It was, it was, it’s just the oddest episode,

Nestor Aparicio  08:20

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unnecessary, as you see, it just in a general sense that it didn’t get

David Marks  08:26

done, completely unnecessary and and a self inflicted wound. I mean, Kelly Madigan has, has done a very good job. She isn’t perfect, by her own admission. She’ll say she’s

Nestor Aparicio  08:36

made about that role the Inspector General. Sure, I probably I would fail the Schoolhouse Rock and explaining exactly what the inspector general

David Marks  08:43

does. So it’s, it’s an independent position. It’s a position where someone thinks something’s been done fraudulently or a waste of taxpayer dollars, they can go to that person report it. And we really didn’t have that before. You know, just beforehand, someone could report something to the county executive’s office, and who knows if it’ll get investigated. Kelly Madigan and other inspectors general are designed to be this independent office that looks at these perceived abuses and issues a report. Who

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Nestor Aparicio  09:14

would have been the inspector of such a thing prior to that appointment and assignment?

David Marks  09:20

There’s a county auditor, but the auditor works for the county council, and basically is kind of like a legislative reviewer, right? I guess Fred Homan probably was the county administrative officer. That’s the person you would have reported to.

Nestor Aparicio  09:36

So something you feel like crooked, awry, that’s where the inspector

David Marks  09:42

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general, that’s where he would have gone to, yeah, yeah. All right. So the

Nestor Aparicio  09:45

outcome of this, and after all of the dust settles, what is it? What does it mean for citizen Nestor in Baltimore County, I

David Marks  09:53

think there’s a couple things. First, it proves that there is an engaged citizenry that is watching Baltimore. Government, county government, and that’s good thing, right? People are engaged. I think for county government, it shows that there’s an enduring need to watch over our finances and how things are done. But I also think it shows that there’s tremendous support for Kelly Madigan, she’s in place. The Kathy klosmeier will not be appointing anyone new. So what I suspect will happen is a new county executive probably will move to reappoint Kelly Madigan and make it official, and she can serve two terms.

Nestor Aparicio  10:30

Councilman David Marks is our guest here, coming across the county a little bit, just a half year. You’re not far from here, right? Oh,

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David Marks  10:37

no, we’re pretty close. Yeah, a couple mile or two, three. Yeah, our district starts around Martin state airport, so two miles,

Nestor Aparicio  10:43

maybe, yeah, yeah. All right, well, so I’m not that far to bring you over. This is not your first pizza. John’s, right?

David Marks  10:49

No, I’ve been been here a lot. It’s an establishment on this. It’s an icon, right place pizza. It is very good.

Nestor Aparicio  10:56

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Well, you know, I You got the chicken fingers, maybe got a little kids, but we’ll get this going. So for the county and prosperity and tax and money and schools, you know, this is your soapbox, jump on it. Tell me. Tell me where you are and what’s got you moving these days,

David Marks  11:16

it actually has to do with the inspector general position. So over with or No? No. Well, the position, the drama,

David Marks  11:24

is over with, but there’s something we need Annapolis to do, and right now, the Inspector General does not have any oversight over Baltimore County Public Schools. That’s about $2.4 billion of our budget that inspector general can’t go into the books. It makes no sense. It’s because the state legislature has tended to view the school system as an appendage of the state government. When you get a diploma from high school in Maryland, the diploma is from the Maryland State Department of Education. But in all practicality, the Inspector General of our home county should have the ability to go into the finances, into the operations of the Baltimore County Public Schools. So

Nestor Aparicio  12:05

what percentage of the budget? It’s an enormous it’s

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David Marks  12:09

half space. Yeah, it’s about half. And if it’s about half, actually, if you look at education in a totality, it’s about 60% when you look at libraries and community colleges too, but the school system is

Nestor Aparicio  12:20

about half. And then there’s police, fire, you know, all other services, right, right? But I, anytime I’ve ever talked to anybody in the education space, I’m not blown away by that, but I’m also saying that’s our society, saying this is where we want our tax dollars to go to educating young people, even if you don’t have kids, or, you know, have kids in the system, half of my tax dollars are going to the schools. I need them to be good,

David Marks  12:42

yeah, and look, I have an interesting perspective. I’m a special educator in another county, and you know, I’m a as Pro public education as you will get pro schools. We’ve done a lot of things right in Baltimore County. We’re finally addressing our overcrowding issue. We have some new schools being built, three new high schools being built. But the fact of the matter is, when you have that amount of the county budget going to one area, you should have the inspector general give get a verse under that. So the state legislature is going to have to act. To do this, we asked the state legislature to act in 2021 and it was blocked. So I’m hoping that JB

Nestor Aparicio  13:22

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is having a cheesesteak over here. So I think it’s all about his people. It wasn’t, wasn’t JB, just in general, the let that this is where county government is different then and working together with Annapolis. And this is where, if I’m a citizen, I’m like, All right, let’s get through the red tape. Let’s put somebody in charge and hold them accountable. That’s kind of how I wanted as a citizen. That’s all not doing this right, which is pretty much right. It’s easy to say it’s not mine. Well, let’s get an in house, right? That’s what you’re trying to do,

David Marks  13:48

I think. And JB is a fantastic state senator who works very hard. He’s effective because he’s been there a while and he knows how to get things done. That’s the difference in the county and the state. The state legislature is so big, you have to accrue experience to get things done. It’s much more partisan in Baltimore County, it’s a smaller body. It’s seven members of the council, and I think we would probably get along better, much different, much different governance model. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  14:18

you’re not spending all your time fighting, although this inspector general thing really created a fissure, right? I mean, I think it did the news. I mean, it made its way out in a way that, like most citizens, don’t even know what it is, right? It’s,

David Marks  14:30

yeah, yeah. It has been an interesting four years. It’s been probably more combative than other councils I’ve served on. But, you know, I don’t think there was any name calling. It doesn’t get to the sort of partisan vitriol you see in Washington, for example. And the process works. I mean, five of us came together. We blocked the appointment. We have Kelly Madigan in place, and I think a lot of citizens trust what we did.

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Nestor Aparicio  14:56

I’m gonna say this. I’m a Baltimore County graduate. Hmm, from school, community, college business owner. 27 years, I’ve owned a business in Baltimore County. I’m now a resident of Baltimore County, like all of that, the notion of how powerful our county is, in regard to how many citizens we have, top 80, I think, in the country, for population, not necessarily as wealthy as some places I had McCann montgomery county executive on Mark elrich. Let me talk about pockets of money and places where there would be more wealth or affluence, but just sort of the great American county of having Republicans like yourself, Democrats, you know, throwing off congressmen at various points in different ways, but as the story goes, we’re bigger and more powerful than we think. It’s it’s a big municipality. Muller would always try to impress that upon me, until I start to see it. Compared to other counties and other cities in regard to population and in regard to how many schools we have, services, we have, employers, we have and all of those kind of things. It’s, yeah, it’s a much bigger job than when I have Wicomico county executive on. That’s awesome.

David Marks  16:06

Yeah, I’ve represented a big part of it. I mean, I began representing Towson to Perry Hall, and then it was Towson to Kingsville. Now I’m Kingsville to Middle River. I mean, I think I’ve represented more population than almost any other council member, and I’ve seen the differences. I mean, Towson is like its own little city and then and very liberal, very democratic now and then, I represent the east side, which is very conservative, Republican, and the waterfront. I’ll point this. Other fact out about Baltimore County is the huge senior population. We have the second highest proportion of senior citizens outside of Miami, Florida, what? Yeah, we have a, we have a huge senior

Nestor Aparicio  16:46

well, and then, you know what that says to me, that we have to have a lot of service for see we do in a way that I’ve never heard this. This is the first time I’ve ever heard this out,

David Marks  16:56

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yeah, 25% of our population is senior citizen, you know. And a lot of a lot of seniors tend to just stay within their own communities, or they don’t want to leave their kids. They stay in Baltimore County.

Nestor Aparicio  17:09

I see him here at Pizza John’s. Thankfully, that’s how we sort of, we are unique in that way, we have generational cool stuff that goes on here. Yeah, I talk about all the time. That’s what Baltimore positive is all about, trying to figure out, like, keep places like pizza John’s thriving all of the local businesses, and that’s why I get out and try to do the crab cake tour. You know it was interesting that you missed my chat with Bill blocker. I encourage anyone to go watch it, because I’ve known Billy 30 years. I mean, I remember when they were putting bricks together over there. And I would always give him ish, right? I would, I would go because I was Bub wiser sponsored, and he could never have my show in there, because bubwe is her underwrote my show, which is why I was over at the barn all the time, right? So this is back 1930, years ago, right? They’re building the avenue him and Tony De La Rose gonna move in there, and Joe dela rose, and I said to them, who the hell is ever going to leave the mall to go out and, like, be on an avenue outside? Who’s going to want to shop outside? Who would ever do that? And all these years later, and then I also said to him, I’m like, who’s going to drink your flat beer that you’re making your little thing over there? Nobody’s ever going to drink anything other than bubweiser Miller and court. It is really amazing. But that area, the avenue and the mall, and when I’m there, I’m now getting third, fourth generation into this, right? I remember sending my parents at the White Marsh mall so we could throw a party in 1981 when it opened. And now to see that that is going to become apartments of some kind. Or I talk so much with the zoning nerds like yourself that worry about all of that stuff and stay in control of all that population. It is amazing to see how much your eyes have seen while pizza Johns has remained. Pizza John’s here, I’m from the East Point area, and it’s always like, what’s going to happen to that, what that’s going to become. But White Marsh is one of those things where I still had rabbits running through my backyard that, you know, it was a marsh. I remember it being a marsh when I was a kid.

David Marks  19:03

Oh, quarries. Oh

Nestor Aparicio  19:06

yeah. I mean, to see the change, and to see that people like you are charged with that and making sure that it sort of repopulates itself the way that it needs to for business. And I know that that’s sort of like your lane, right,

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David Marks  19:20

yeah. I mean, I remember going with my mom to Corvettes over by Perry Plaza. I remember going with my dad to the movies over riparian Plaza and seeing poltergeist when I was eight years old. They didn’t have a two guys over there. They had a two guys over there, yeah, and they had the best store that was tilted. Remember that? Oh, that was the best. That was the best. That was the best story. Yeah, oh no. Well, they have one of those in 40 but the tilted ones by Calvert Hall, I do remember, yeah, by you to what Plaza, but I but I’ll tell you the Avenue. The Avenue succeeds because it’s a destination and it’s always reinventing itself. You know, the the ice rink, the though, the concerts,

Nestor Aparicio  19:58

those next door, yeah, and those. I mean, it is Jamaican joint over there, what used to be dela Rose and I wonder, said this is nice,

David Marks  20:06

the parade. I mean, it’s always refreshing itself. It’s reinventing itself. The mall is in better shape than people think. I mean, I get all these criticisms all the time about it, White Marsh Mall. The fact of the matter is, it has a pretty high leasing rate. It’s not a dead mall by any stretch. And, you know, I think, though, what it needs, it does need to be more of a destination. It has to do something new and something different as it enters its 50 years, figure that out every mall, yeah. I mean, the economy’s changes. Has to figure every economy is changing. So many people order things online. You

Nestor Aparicio  20:39

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make great pizza. People still come get it. That’s right. Matter of fact, you can order the pizza here online and have Pizza John shipped. Yeah, although I recommend you come in Essex Get it yourself,

David Marks  20:47

yeah, but, but the avenues, it’s just, it’s fantastic. It’s a great destination in my district too.

Nestor Aparicio  20:52

So you mentioned two guys. Man, my number 27 thing on my list, speaking of Harford County, anytime I’m anywhere near Bel Air. They have the only Philly pretzel company up there, and it’s in the plaza where Pappas is up by the up past John Carroll, up to the right. And I get those pretzels. But it’s all because of two guys. Two guys had, was a original place where they had soft pretzels. Oh, really, outside when? Well, I think I’m older than a lot of you guys. That’s probably part of the problem. I got 10 years but you mentioned Corvettes. Man, don’t thought we’re gonna get top scone. We’re gonna be getting all the names at Councilman Marx is here we are at Pizza John’s in beautiful Essex, Maryland. We’re doing a Maryland crab cake tour. Also eating my favorite things, the cheesesteak here, among my favorite things, I love the crinkle cut fries here because they remind me the bowling alley, which I so for the county and running for county executive. And you’re not running? No, I’m not gonna run. No, okay, but you mentioned other councilmen are running. Um, you’re happy with what you’re doing. Let’s talk about your, you know, your council and where you are, you little baby. Now, you got a whole thing going on here. It’s an important time for the county, and I think Julian, Itzy, Izzy, we’re gonna have Pat’s coming on. Everybody that’s running has been Nick’s been on talking about all these issues and how populated the county is in the schools, and the progress and even the city coming along, being getting better and trying to make the state better. Every time I get together Westmore, we try to talk about

David Marks  22:25

that, yeah. I mean, it’s going to be a spirited race on the Democratic side. Pat Izzy and Julian all have their strengths, and any one of them can win. I think there will be, there will be a Republican candidate. You know, I’d love to see someone like Chris West Run State Senator for Chris West. It’s an uphill fight for a Republican, though, and I’m happy where I am. I’m going to see where the map ends up, the redistricting map. But, um, before I make a decision change, maps on you. I mean, you’ve been sitting, this will be my fourth, right? I mean, this will be my fourth. Yeah, yeah. I’m the first councilman, I think, to have been through four maps so but that process is almost over

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Nestor Aparicio  23:05

with nobody’s ever happy with that process, right? Fully, right? No, I do want to Gavin Newsom in the Texas thing in the news. That’s

David Marks  23:11

exactly, and I say this to people all the time, our map is a bipartisan map. It’s community focused, it’s bipartisan. It isn’t gerrymandered. We’re not going to the Texas route. We’re not going to California route, and we have districts that are competitive. I say this a lot. I mean, the the a good Democrat can beat a bad Republican in every district in Baltimore County. So the Republicans really have to be on their game to win

Nestor Aparicio  23:35

well. And why do you think you win as Republican? Because it isn’t easy, right? It isn’t easy.

David Marks  23:43

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First of all, I’m honored to represent the district and represent the citizens I have great, great communities, great families, good friends throughout the district. I think I try to put partisan politics aside. I try to work with Democrats, Republicans, independents alike, and I try to focus on deliverables. Right? Three new schools in our district since 2018 more than a dozen parks advanced in my district, road improvements. That’s really the meat and potatoes. That’s what people want to see. They don’t want to see us not getting along and pointing fingers at one another and coming back to Kathy klosmer, sure. I think this is also important, because it hasn’t gotten enough play. So gotten enough play. She, she didn’t raise taxes, right? And I think that was important for a lot of people. She, she kept the fiscally disciplined approach Baltimore County showed in the past. And, you know, I know she’s kind of stumbled a little bit here, but, you know, she’s, she’s, she’s a decent person. I think who just made a bad decision with Kelly Madigan, but she didn’t raise taxes, and we’ve still continued investing in a lot of important capital projects, and that should be

Nestor Aparicio  24:51

noticed by people. County’s in good shape. As you see, the county

David Marks  24:55

isn’t is in good shape. We have challenges. Our biggest challenge is the fact. That we have aging infrastructure. We have these schools that were built in 1950s and 60s. They’re all deteriorating where. Yeah, Dundalk, yeah, and and, and we didn’t charge developers impact fees for for decades, until 2019 and that was a bill I put in. So we’re playing catch up. We’re replacing infrastructure. And public safety is always an issue. We have, you know, hundreds of vacancies in our police and fire services, but this is a county with inherently good people, a lot of diversity, great attractions, wonderful physical geography, terrific resources. And I think it has a good future ahead

Nestor Aparicio  25:37

of it. Now, look, I know Crandall is not around right now, but I want to say something on his behalf. Yes, we even saved the heritage fair, yeah. So, you know, we’ve even gotten that done on the east side, so there,

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David Marks  25:46

yeah. And, you know, I’ll say this about Todd too. You know, we’ve passed some important legislation over the past two years. We reformed our adequate public facilities ordinance, which deals with development in school districts. He was the deciding vote on that we, you know, the expansion of the council keeps the deciding vote on that. He’s, he’s been an active, important vote on the county council, and I think that needs to be noticed. Well,

Nestor Aparicio  26:13

I’ve known Todd my whole life, so, you know, and Lord knows, Todd Knight, much like JB and you, you guys are Republicans. I’ve worked with all of you you know, especially over who your leader is, and I’m never going to let that go, because I like, I think both of you as people of integrity, you come and sit next to me. There are Republicans who sit in seats similar to yours, who avoid me, don’t want to sit down and talk to me. I don’t want to call you a centrist, because that makes you look so bad on your side when you’re trying to win. You know, if Trump put somebody in to put you out of business in your county. But like, I do see sensible people when I go to Mako, people like, Why didn’t Ocean City be on the beach being with all these politicians and stuff I’m like, does anybody learn anything as a citizen that I can use my FCC license in my audience in the best way to try to talk to people? And I say, when I go to Mako, I come back. I have some hope for all of us. I really do. Yeah, in a county where I can call Todd Crandall, I can call you, I can call JB, I can’t call I mean, Barry Glassman always wants to bring me up to the farm hang out. So like I do think that that’s important, because I’m perceived by some people in the Maga thing as being in the Wicked Witch of the Bernie Sanders, and I probably am but, but that doesn’t mean that. I don’t I really appreciate when the other side of the aisle comes and I try to say, Well, what do we have in common here? Let’s find the things that make us all proud of, our local police, our schools, our people, our parks, our land, cleanliness, safety, all of those

David Marks  27:42

important Yeah. And speaking of the East Side, Todd Crandall, his greatest legacy is going to be trade point, Atlantic, and a lot of people made that possible, right? I mean, the state legislature, Governor, Hogan, when he was in office, Kevin cabinets, when he was county executive, and certainly coming out Monday, yeah, yeah, and in the private sector, but, you know, Todd Crandall played an important role there. The county council had a decision, you know, 2015 or 16, whether to help subsidize some of the infrastructure going to trade point Atlantic, we call a lot of heat from some people, but was the right call, because when covid hits, you know, the one line, economy just explodes. And Todd Crandall was a big part of trade point Atlantic. It is his greatest legacy as a council. I

Nestor Aparicio  28:27

probably have him on tape somewhere screaming about that 10 years ago, literally, yeah, trying to get it built. Arkio, just all of that going on. Hey, man, I go back to the LNG thing where they’re going to build a nuclear power plant down there. Yeah, and you get involved in rolling sleeves up with Bart Fisher and some people. But fighting that. So, you know, I remember all of that in east side of town, and it shook out the way it should, because we can still come here and get a pizza, pizza John’s. Yes, we can. Councilman marks, I thank you very much. You’re dismissed. Back to your thank you. Four month old, don’t drop the mic on me. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery, your friends, a curio wellness, putting us out on the road so I can continue to eat and eat well, just like I just watched JB Jennings devour that cheese steak over there, I got to take a break. I’m gonna go get a cheesesteak. I’m gonna get a pizza Dundalk, Venezuelan style. That’s the Hawaiian with the pepperoni on it. We’re Pizza John. Stay with us. We’re doing the Maryland crab cake tour. We are Baltimore positive.