Remmell discusses her vision for community engagement in District 1

In our continuing tour of the beltway with candidates for the June 23rd election, our first Maryland Crab Cake Tour stop at The Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville was an easy stop for hot yoga teacher and longtime Baltimore County community worker Mandy Remmell, who describes her work, qualifications in local government and why she is running for County Council in District 1.

Mandy Remmel, a candidate for Baltimore County Council in District 1, discussed her background in public service and community engagement. She highlighted her experience as a hot yoga instructor and her role in community outreach, including COVID-19 response efforts. Remmel emphasized the need for positive energy and responsive constituent services, aiming for a 48-hour response time. She addressed local issues such as infrastructure, public safety, and community development, particularly in Catonsville’s Main Street corridor. Remmel also noted the importance of diversity and representation, aiming to be the first African American female council member in District 1.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Host and schedule interviews for candidates on the Baltimore Positive show and invite all running candidates to appear before the June 23 election (provide equal time requests and coordinate scheduling).
• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Attend a Rolling Brook Yoga class (open-invite class: Tuesdays 6am or Sundays 11am) as previously offered by the instructor.
• [ ] Implement a 48-hour constituent response policy for the District One council office (respond to constituent calls/emails within 48 hours) once elected to the council.

Mandy Remmel’s Introduction and Background

• Nestor Aparicio introduces Mandy Remmel, a candidate for County Council in District 1, and mentions her involvement in the Catonsville community.
• Mandy Remmel confirms she is running for District 1 and shares her background in hot yoga, teaching at Rolling Brook Yoga in Catonsville.
• Nestor and Mandy discuss their mutual interest in hot yoga, with Nestor expressing his admiration for Mandy’s dedication to teaching early morning classes.
• Mandy explains her transition from running to yoga, highlighting her experience as a Zumba instructor and her love for hot yoga.

Mandy’s Journey into Public Service

• Mandy shares her journey into public service, starting with her role as a district coordinator and later as the director of community engagement.
• She emphasizes her commitment to serving the Catonsville community and her experience in constituent services.
• Mandy discusses the lack of women running for the council seat and her decision to run to bring positive energy and experience to the role.
• Nestor and Mandy talk about the recent changes in the council structure, moving from seven to nine members, and the importance of diversity and experience in the new council.

Community Engagement and Issues

• Mandy highlights the importance of community engagement and responsive constituent services, emphasizing her goal to implement a 48-hour response time for constituent issues.
• They discuss the challenges of public safety, including speeding and reckless driving, and the need for more speed cameras and law enforcement.
• Mandy mentions her endorsement by the police and fire departments, underscoring her commitment to public safety.
• Nestor and Mandy talk about the importance of infrastructure, such as roads and transportation, and the need for traffic calming measures.

Mandy’s Vision for District 1

• Mandy outlines her vision for District 1, focusing on community engagement, responsive government, and addressing infrastructure issues.
• She emphasizes the importance of local businesses and the need for government support to help them thrive.
• Mandy discusses the potential for tourism and community events, such as music festivals and arts festivals, to boost the local economy.
• Nestor and Mandy talk about the importance of local representation and the impact of the new council structure on community issues.

Mandy’s Personal Commitment and Family

• Mandy shares her personal commitment to running for office, balancing her family life with her public service responsibilities.
• She mentions her son’s upcoming high school graduation and her stepdaughter’s attendance at Catonsville Middle School.
• Mandy discusses the timing of her run for office, emphasizing that it is the right time to bring her experience and energy to the council seat.
• Nestor and Mandy talk about the importance of voting and the significance of the upcoming election for District 1.

Final Thoughts and Encouragement

• Mandy encourages listeners to register to vote and to participate in the upcoming election, emphasizing the importance of representation and community engagement.
• Nestor and Mandy discuss the challenges and rewards of public service, highlighting the need for compassion and responsiveness in government.
• Mandy reiterates her commitment to bringing positive energy and experience to the council seat, focusing on the needs of the Catonsville community.
• Nestor thanks Mandy for her participation and encourages listeners to support her campaign and get involved in the community.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Catonsville community, County Council, District 1, Mandy Remmel, hot yoga, community engagement, public service, infrastructure, public safety, constituent services, local business, government representation, election, voter registration, community outreach.

SPEAKERS

8

Mandy Remmell, Nestor Aparicio,

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W N S T A M 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore Positive, positively here in the beautiful Catonsville community, where life is great. The 21228 it is Baltimore positive. It is the Maryland Crab Cake Tour. I don’t smell any crab cakes here yet. We’re Fishmonger’s daughter, quality seafood for generations. It is our second ever segment here. Pat Young christened our spot here on Frederick Road. The Fishmonger’s daughter, of course, an offshoot of the Fate Lease restaurant, and 150 or there, so years tradition that Lexington Markets, all brought to you by friends at the Maryland Lottery. I have scratch-offs, I have the Maryland Treasures series. I don’t know if Mandy Remmel is going to take the horses, the bridges, the boardwalk, or the mollusks, ducks, crabs, and birds, but I’m gonna have it all for $200 Also, GBMC, as well as Farnin and Dermer, they are the comfort guys, and I’m comfortable right now because it’s in the mid 60s, but it’s gonna get a little hotter again when it does. You’re gonna need AC help. Our friends at Farn Dermer could do that, 410 36777 Mandy Remmel is my, my guest. She is a candidate for council, not seven districts, now nine. What’s the number over here?

Mandy Remmell  01:12

This is District One.

Nestor Aparicio  01:13

District One, yes. Numero Uno,

8

Nestor Aparicio  01:16

Numero Uno.

Nestor Aparicio  01:16

Don

Nestor Aparicio  01:17

Muller, do that. I think it’s Mueller’s fault. It’s number one, and she is running for council here, and more than that, I, you know, I don’t know a lot about you. I’ve done a little bit of research, I see you online, I see you running, I see your signs all around Frederick Road and Edmonton area. Hot yoga is apparently the bond between you and I. Yeah, that’s the one thing I see you doing. It’s probably why you pop up on the front of it’s not for everybody,

Mandy Remmell  01:43

8

it’s

Nestor Aparicio  01:44

hot yoga.

Mandy Remmell  01:44

No,

Nestor Aparicio  01:45

you’re an instructor.

8

Mandy Remmell  01:46

I am, I’m an instructor, right here in Catonsville, right in the district. I teach at Rolling Brook Yoga, and I’m a hot yoga instructor. I’ve been doing hot yoga for about the last 12 years, and what we have at Rolling Brook, we have all kinds of yoga. We have gentle yoga, we have advanced yoga.

Nestor Aparicio  02:00

I don’t want to do that.

Mandy Remmell  02:01

I like it. I like

Nestor Aparicio  02:04

8

it hot.

Nestor Aparicio  02:04

I like

Mandy Remmell  02:05

it’s great. It’s great.

Nestor Aparicio  02:07

I’m gonna come take one of your

8

Mandy Remmell  02:08

gotta come. I teach at six. You know, people, yeah, yep, vinyasa at 6am on Tuesdays. 6am

Nestor Aparicio  02:15

I gonna get hydrated at that end?

Mandy Remmell  02:17

I gotta do it before the campaign.

Nestor Aparicio  02:19

8

Oh my goodness, 6am

Mandy Remmell  02:22

and on Sundays at 11, so it’s

Nestor Aparicio  02:24

gonna affect my coffee, Mandy. That’s

Nestor Aparicio  02:26

good, you know.

8

Mandy Remmell  02:26

Coffee right after

Nestor Aparicio  02:27

60 minute or 9075, What are you doing? How many minutes?

Mandy Remmell  02:30

I do 60 minutes on Sundays. I do about 45 minutes at 6am so it’s a PAB.

Nestor Aparicio  02:36

8

I’m interested in the council, and I’m interested in Baltimore County. I’m interested in politics, but I don’t meet a whole lot of people outside of yoga that are into yoga, so my yoga story is that Brian Balding, or who’s the NFL Network, he’s six foot five, he played 14 years in the NFL on concrete, I mean he played all astroturf, he and I did a radio show together 26 years ago, so 1927 years, it was 1999 and I met this giant guy who had five brothers played in the league, right. He’s got this weird pinky because he played in the in on the offensive line, and he’s full of energy. He’s like, “Nasty, you got to do hot yoga, gotta do big room yoga, you got to get in, you got to sweat, man. And he takes his foot and he puts.. I can’t really, I’m not stretched out right. Yeah, I get stretched out a little bit, you know. I can, I can, I can work like one, I can do a little something, but he, but here’s a six foot five guy, and he’s got his foot, like, ah, and he’s doing like all this stuff, and I’m thinking I couldn’t even touch my toes at the time, you know, I was like an oval teen, I was like reaching over, now I’m bendy,

Mandy Remmell  03:38

yeah, you’re flexible,

Nestor Aparicio  03:39

27 years of this,

Nestor Aparicio  03:40

yeah,

8

Nestor Aparicio  03:41

but what made you do it 12 years ago? What? Because the hot yoga thing, when I say it to people, like, oh, yoga, you just don’t stretch it. Yeah, I can’t touch my toes, and I’m thinking, I’ve been trying to recruit people to hot yoga for 27 years. I haven’t done a very.. I don’t know anyone that I, other than my wife, that I have recruited to hot yoga.

Mandy Remmell  03:59

It’s, you know, it became like a fad for a little while, people were doing, yeah, the Bikram fad, it was a fad for a little while, but you know, I used to be a runner, so I was like a hardcore marathon, 5k 10k you name it, and then my body was like knees, right, you’re getting a little older now, my knees, my hips, you know, yeah, oh yeah, it was, it was doing a number on my body, and so I said, Why don’t I switch to something else? So I actually first became a Zumba fitness instructor, so I was a Zumba instructor, and that was fabulous. And I said, you know what, I’m gonna go on, I’m gonna let’s try yoga, let’s see what that is. I always have done like hot yoga, I’ve done, you know, yoga classes at the gym, and once I really got into hot yoga, I mean, it’s like a

Nestor Aparicio  04:41

religion, isn’t it?

Mandy Remmell  04:42

8

It really is addicting, you know. It’s, it’s just a great release. It’s, it’s fun. It gives you just a sense of, of peace. I

Nestor Aparicio  04:51

put my phone away.

Mandy Remmell  04:52

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No phones, no nothing.

Nestor Aparicio  04:55

And

8

Nestor Aparicio  04:55

even when I’m thinking about bad-ish on the mat, I’m thinking about something. Or something bad that happened, or something I don’t like, or the Orioles, just something that I don’t want to think about. The focus in the marriage of breath, the union of breath, and the energy that involves.. I leave class every night, cleansed.

Mandy Remmell  05:15

That’s right. It gives you a good reset, no matter what’s going on in your day, whether you’re starting your day, or ending your day, or you’re doing a lunchtime yoga, it just gives you a moment to breathe.

Nestor Aparicio  05:24

6am you’re crazy.

Mandy Remmell  05:26

8

It’s good, can’t

Nestor Aparicio  05:26

do that. I’m up that early, but I couldn’t.

Mandy Remmell  05:29

I taught this morning, class was packed. We had 14 people in class.

Nestor Aparicio  05:33

Fishmonger’s not open right now for lunch. I had to go over to state fair. I got me a little chicken cob salad, because I’m leaving here, and I’m in the mat tonight. I

8

Mandy Remmell  05:40

haven’t

Nestor Aparicio  05:41

been on a mat in five days. I’m feeling very like I gotta, I got, yeah, yeah. I was in Vegas, I didn’t get a chance

Mandy Remmell  05:47

to do.. oh man, they probably have some good rooftop. So,

Nestor Aparicio  05:49

8

is the.. is the leadership of your yoga the kind of leadership we’re gonna have here in the Councilmanic District? Number one,

Mandy Remmell  05:56

yeah. I mean, look, we.. I am running this campaign, and I’m going to run the council seat with this positive energy that this community deserves. It is time to, you know, we see too much negativity throughout all levels of government, state, federal, local. We see it right now. And if I can bring the lens of positive encouragement and change in helping people find their voice to continue to better their community, that’s what this council seat needs.

Nestor Aparicio  06:22

What you got? What got you running like Citizen Mandy Remold to come name on signs, and especially when I meet people your age, I would think that, like, this hasn’t been a lifelong.. you mean, you’re you got a family, you got, you got things going on. It wasn’t like I’m gonna run for office one day, right? Like,

Mandy Remmell  06:40

being, you know, being an elected official was not something, you know, originally on my bingo card. However, I’ve been a public servant forever. I’ve had over 15 years of community constituent service work, and so I’ve been working. I was the director of, well, that was the district coordinator for this community, so I did outreach and community engagement, serving District One, and then I became the director of community engagement under the Oshewski administration. So, serving this community, serving the residents of Baltimore County, and right here in my hometown has been exactly what has unlocked the drive to say, you know what, I’m going to run, I’m going to run for the seat when it opens, and it opened up and I realized one, we didn’t have, there weren’t a lot of women running, there weren’t any women running

8

Nestor Aparicio  07:25

for that, John pointed that out, it’s a bunch of men, yeah, primarily

Mandy Remmell  07:29

that’s right, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  07:30

and this whole shake up from seven to nine, I mean, there’s more opportunity, there’s more

Nestor Aparicio  07:35

8

diverse

Mandy Remmell  07:35

diversity, yeah, and not only all of that, but then I have the experience, I’ve been serving this community, this is my hometown. I’ve been serving that community with constituent services. We’ve gotten things done in this community, and you know, graduate of Lansdowne High School, and advocated for the new.. yeah, I’m a Viking. Go Vikings,

Nestor Aparicio  07:57

Viking from Patapsco.

Mandy Remmell  08:00

That’s right, that’s right. I am a Viking, and you know we are breaking well. We broke ground on the new Lansdowne High School, and we’re going to open that this upcoming, so hopefully it should be open by this next

8

Nestor Aparicio  08:14

Dundalk High grad who would sing the Dundalk Alma Mater for you if you weren’t entertained. I would. We got our new school, and it was an incredible source of pride for a Hall of Famer Dundalk. You guys always had the best colors, man. You had the Houston Oilers colors, yeah, you had the baby blue and

Mandy Remmell  08:30

red, blue, and white. Yeah, good. But you know, so I’ve had a hand in doing that work, working with the community to advocate and to get things done in in the district, in Baltimore County government, so you know, when this seat opened up, I said we know my family’s supportive, and the community has been so supportive, but this is serving my hometown. This district didn’t just raise me, it shaped the public servant that I am.

Nestor Aparicio  08:56

Where was the day that you went from, I’m gonna, I’m pitching in, and I’m a coordinator, and I do good things, and I feel good about it too. I need to put my name on a sign and go do this.

Mandy Remmell  09:06

8

Yeah, you know, it was back in November, so you know, October, November.

Nestor Aparicio  09:10

This is

Nestor Aparicio  09:10

recent.

Mandy Remmell  09:11

This is recent. Yeah, I mean, I

8

Nestor Aparicio  09:13

summer, you were talking about running for

Mandy Remmell  09:14

last summer, I was not. I was watching, let’s say that I was watching, kind of seeing who was getting in the race, and what you know, what was the makeup of our candidates, and when I realized, you know, there there was not a candidate to lead with that positive energy that I have been bringing to the community in that public service seat, and the experience to hit the ground running. We’re going from seven to nine council members, we’ve got, you know, young folks across running candidates running, we really need somebody that brings the experience to know how to work that lens with the agencies and navigate county government. And I’ve got that.

Nestor Aparicio  09:52

Mandy Rambles, our guest, we’re at the Fishmonger’s daughter, is our first, our maiden voyage here today, and my wife got a burger here. A couple weeks ago, I’m gonna go down the whole menu. I had the lobster roll, it sounds very unfadley’s like that, but the crab cake wasn’t on the menu at the crab cake last week. I was at Lexington Market last week, so I can do that. Come on over to Catonsville and enjoy one of the new places. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland Lottery, GBMC, and our friends at Farnham and Dermer, our comfort guys. So seven to nine, and this switch, and you being involved in the county with Johnny O, watching Johnny O go out, watching Claus Meyer get appointed. I had Pat here, Izzy and Julian have been invited. I’ve had Nick, I mean, I’m talking, I’ve had Pat Dyer on from the Republican side. What are you hearing and feeling from constituents in this area that maybe they would say to Pat, or they would say to you, about this is still a problem, or this still needs more love, attention, more government, more government help. What do people come to the government looking?

Mandy Remmell  10:53

8

You know, I think a lot of it is really one, folks want to be heard, they want their concerns to be heard, and their, you know, their questions to be answered from, you know, their elected officials, whether it’s the council or the county executive’s office, they want that responsive constituent service and that responsive elected leader in the seat, and I would say the big thing people are really, when you go to doors and you know we’re door knocking every day, the infrastructure too, they are our roads, our transportation, you know. We are continuing to see, you know, communities are seeing speeding and reckless driving becoming such a huge.. I hear it every day, every day. Somebody

Nestor Aparicio  11:32

hearing it too,

Mandy Remmell  11:32

every day.

Nestor Aparicio  11:33

I told Pat, I said, and I even.. I didn’t joke, but I put this at such.. I said, “If I were king of Baltimore County, there’d be death penalty for the way people are driving. I mean, the add on 695 the literary racing, no, they were, they are racing. Yeah, it looks like they’re racing for money. I mean, that’s what it looks like to me, that it looks like they got $100 to who gets the lands down first, and I don’t understand it, but that would be something that the more I talk to electeds, that it’s in my crawl that, like, I saw the speed cameras on the way over here today from Towson, the 45 miles an hour, right? Right, that all day, put speed cameras everywhere for people that are going to be breaking those kinds of laws, because it affects public safety in a credible way.

8

Mandy Remmell  12:16

You know, I think you know when we talk about public safety and supporting our officers and supporting law enforcement, that’s exactly, you’re exactly right. We have speed cameras, but we don’t have enough to put them in in all the jurisdictions, so we need to know that always gets

Nestor Aparicio  12:29

spent. I’m not even the sick gator, and I got the ticket. It’s always doing like 38 and a 25 or something, right?

Mandy Remmell  12:36

Yeah, no, we need to put the money to in the budget to make sure that our first responders are our police officers have the things that they need, and that we filled these vacancies too. I mean, there is a huge vacancy shortage, and I’m happy to say I did receive the endorsement by the police and our fire, so they, you know, public safety is huge to me. It’s number one, and that includes speeding and crime and all of those things, and you know, I think we’ve got to, we’ve got to do better. If we can fill those vacancies, we can get officers back on the street, we can pull those folks over for speeding. And then the other side of that, on the on the county level, is, you know, we’ve, when communities want traffic calming, when they want speed humps, they want these things in there, they want to be able to slow that traffic down. You know, we need to continue to work with the Department of Public Works, and I’ve got great partnerships with our agencies that that’s the relationships that I’m bringing to the county, as I’ve been working and doing that work to navigate these agencies. So, let’s let’s get out here and fix some of these issues that our communities have been having for years.

Nestor Aparicio  13:38

8

What got you involved in public service in the general sense to want to work for government or want to work in sort of a public policy way to be front facing on behalf of somebody that has an issue that you would bring to Johnny O, yeah, or people bring things to government. Being someone that solves problems is clearly something that you’ve signed up for, for a long lot of the like problems,

Mandy Remmell  13:58

no, right? Right, but a selfless job, you know, you’ve got to, you know, and there are people, and residents are so thankful, you know, when you are helping them, or at least trying to help them, and you know, we can’t solve every problem, but we can continue to move the needle forward on how we listen, how we get things done, you know, I was the program manager at University of Maryland Shock Trauma, was their injury prevention program manager, and was dealing with a lot of, you know, distracted driving and transportation. I was really in that transportation public service and community engagement lens for, for a long

Nestor Aparicio  14:31

time. That is

Nestor Aparicio  14:31

the most dangerous thing we do every day.

8

Mandy Remmell  14:33

It is, it really is. And so we were doing a lot of proactive outreach into the community, and and I got picked off and went to the state and was doing state work there, and kind of, you know, then Covid happened, and outreach wasn’t a thing anymore, right? We all had to stay home. I mean, it was, you know, we stayed home and outreach wasn’t a thing, and everybody was teleworking, so I didn’t want to just sit. I can’t, I can’t just sit. I want to continue to help and serve and. Thought there’s got to be a way, and I stumbled upon a role with, you know, the county executive’s office as the district one outreach coordinator, doing all COVID outreach, right, 2019 and

Nestor Aparicio  15:10

what was that? I need a mask, I need..

Mandy Remmell  15:12

we were doing, you know, we were

Nestor Aparicio  15:13

8

standing

Nestor Aparicio  15:13

up medicine,

Mandy Remmell  15:14

remember, in the beginning we were standing up masks, testing all of that, and so you have to get that information out to the community, and that’s how we became so successful in our COVID response for Baltimore County. But I came on as the District One outreach coordinator. It was all things COVID for a couple of years, and then it kind of transitioned into the basic constituent services. So,

Nestor Aparicio  15:34

what does that mean? Outreach coordinator, what? Give me five problems that come to you every day in the role that you serve.

8

Mandy Remmell  15:40

You know, you’ve got, you’ve got potholes on streets, right? So people call, they’ve got a pothole, there’s an issue with permitting zoning, you know, somebody’s got an issue in the community, there’s a water main break, all of these things, you know, or or people haven’t received the response, a response from whether it’s an agency or another elected leader’s office, they haven’t received a response in regards to their issue, so they reach out to their county executive’s office, and they say, “Hey, I’m having this issue, can you help? And my answer is, “Yes, let’s look into

Nestor Aparicio  16:13

it.

Nestor Aparicio  16:13

So many things are so much better now, like when PG E is going to cut off my ish, they text me, I don’t get a vote on it, you know what I mean. I don’t get a vote on whether my electricity is going to go off at 1130 today, but at least I feel like there’s been some level in the modern era of, and I look, I own an FCC license. This used to be in the 1950s put on the radio to figure out whether school’s going to be late or not, right? Put on BAL. I think that there’s a part of that now with texting and government to be in touch with people, and the same with the Southwest Airlines is in touch with them while flight’s late, right? 100% being able to communicate with citizens is something that we needed a town square and everybody to come to it before you can be in touch with people now to get word out about snow this weather that or whatever, the

Mandy Remmell  17:02

8

transaction, all those things. Yeah, that’s that’s a big one, but that’s exactly, you know, that the elected leader, if you, if you look at the county executive, they can’t be everywhere all the time. So that community outreach coordinator, or the office of community engagement that I was overseeing, we are the eyes and the ears in the community for those elected leaders, right, so you want to make sure that you’re so connected there, they’re proactively showing up, not just when there’s an issue, and that’s the, that’s the office that I built from the ground up, and that’s what I’m going to bring to the council seat, making sure that if I, you know, have votes in town in Towson, you know, my my staff around me and my team are visible in the district, we’re attending your community meetings, we’re attending your ribbon cuttings and grand openings, but we’re also there when you need us for the issues.

Nestor Aparicio  17:47

Mandy Rambles running for council seat in one district. One sounds like a YouTube song. We’re over here in Catonsville, 212 to eight. We’re Fishmonger’s Daughter, the this side of the county, and I’m from Dundalk, but I live in Towson, so I’m Baltimore County through and through. All my businesses in Towson issues that are related to your district that may not be the same in Parkville or Middle River or Hereford. What’s online over here, other than a new school for your alma mater in Lansdowne? Give me some progress. Hearso much about Music City and Catonsville and Bill’s Music, and yeah, I was.. I saw my boys from Enough’s Enough, Rock Morse burgers over, yeah, three weeks ago on the back deck. So music over here, Evan’s done some things at State Fair in the parking lot. You mentioned COVID, and they put the big tent up there a couple years ago. You’re from here, I think about music as school, but what else is going on? I, you know, I’m not getting the Catonsville Times here today, but I feel like, you know, your district better than anybody

Mandy Remmell  18:47

well. Look, we’re standing in what’s going on right now here at, you know, the Fishmonger’s daughter. I mean, you know, the beauty about the Southwest side is we have that kind of Main Street corridor that, you know, is booming with restaurants and businesses and small businesses, yes, they’re there, parking, you know, there are parking issues here, and we’re continuing to work on those, and kind of,

Nestor Aparicio  19:09

that’s a good problem, that means a lot of people want to come here and hang

8

Mandy Remmell  19:12

out, and there is, there’s a, there’s a tourism lens that I really want to expand, you know, when, when I get into this council seat, because we have so much to offer, from, you know, Catonsville all the way through Baltimore Highlands, we have, you know, community leaders and community residents that, you know, give their heart and soul, just, just like here at Fishmonger’s Daughter, at, you know, Steve Hermes at Shannon’s Pub, they’re continuing to breathe life back into the southwest side of Baltimore County, and it matters, and those are the things that I want to continue to highlight. I think it’s very special. We have this walkable main street here, we have it in Arbutus, you know, and we’ve got festivals. This is Music City, you know, we’ve got beautiful, beautiful, great Music festivals going on.

Nestor Aparicio  19:56

You got over here, where you always have the bands, yeah,

Mandy Remmell  19:58

CAA,

Nestor Aparicio  19:59

8

CAA.

Mandy Remmell  20:00

Mm-hmm, yep, so we’ve got festivals there. We just had the big arts Arbutus Arts Festival this past weekend, and Main Street Arbutus, and you know that that’s what people want – they want that community connection, and I want to see us continue to foster that, and you know, breathe life back into the side of the district.

Nestor Aparicio  20:18

All right, well, make your pitch for why people are going to want to vote for you and your involvement here, and also the nine versus the seven. As a county resident, lived here my whole life, I hadn’t thought much about this, and I, I’ve had a few of the candidates on for state’s attorney. We’ve had two states attorney here since 1976 in the county. You know, just there hasn’t been a lot of progress, as I see it, in regard to representation, and seven was going to become 11. It’s now at nine. The way the maps were drawn is very murky, and I went through that with Pat, right? But the citizen part of you, and seeing that to jump into this race where it is, I’m sure you would have run if it was only seven, but your thoughts about the county in general, the bigger scope of what the county’s going to try to do now with better representation and more local representation.

Mandy Remmell  21:08

Yeah, no, I think this is, this is a, this can be a turning point here, right, going from seven to nine, you know, they always say two heads are better than one, right, we’re going to have nine, potentially seven new council members, but nine total, and you’re going to have women, you’re going to have diversity, you know, and, and I think it’s going to help shape the, you know, the collaboration, and we’re going to continue to move this county forward. We’re also going to have a new county executive, say, yeah, I mean, we’re going to have a new county executive, and you know, they’re great people running right now, and you know that’s my pitch to say, you know, do do the homework out there, like look up these candidates in your district with all, yeah, that’s right, and it matters, and I appreciate that, because you know, you know, we’ve, we’ve got great candidates, and if we can put the right people in these seats, you know, to really move this county forward, I think we’re going to see some, some great change here for the entire county.

8

Nestor Aparicio  22:02

Well, if you’re watching Mandy, because you’re a potential elected official, and you’re running, throw me a note: Nestor Baltimore positive.com Mandy did Pat didn’t have to, because he’s been on again. But I think one of the heartening things for me, being one of the very few people doing this kind of work, I know BAO will have a candidate on, and you’ve been invited into here and there, and podcasts, and whatnot. The best and worst part for me is I have an FCC license, so the people who really do know, like Lauren Lipscomb, who wrote to me last week when she saw that I had a competitor, I had Sarah David on. She said, “Can I get equal time? I’m like, “Of course. So I want to invite everybody out that’s that is running that I can have on before june 23 and this is your elevator speech to get everybody registered, right? You got everybody, we got to get registered, we

Mandy Remmell  22:46

got to get, yeah, we

Nestor Aparicio  22:47

got to vote,

Mandy Remmell  22:47

8

you got to get registered, you’ve got to vote, you’ve got to, if you’ve got your mail-in ballot, send it in, you’ve got

Nestor Aparicio  22:53

the right one,

Mandy Remmell  22:54

yeah, get the right one, make sure it’s the right one, but send it in, and make sure you know whether it’s early voting or whether it’s on election day, like it matters. We need folks to come out and vote, and this is this has an opportunity, especially the council seat, council race, to be a historic election. You know, I would be the first African American female for Baltimore County Council, and that matters because representation does matter. On top of the fact

Nestor Aparicio  23:20

that

8

Nestor Aparicio  23:20

seems insane. We haven’t had African American woman on our guests.

Mandy Remmell  23:24

We,

Nestor Aparicio  23:24

Julian’s the only African American male at this point,

Mandy Remmell  23:27

8

right? Right. So it matters, and you’ve got that. I’ve got that paired with the experience, and you know it’s been since the 90s since we had a woman on the council for District One, and that was Virchie. And so you know, we really.. it’s time we want to make, I want to make sure that we bring all voices to the table, and that this entire district feels supported.

Nestor Aparicio  23:46

What’s first thing you do? First day, first day in, what’s something you feel like as a council woman you could change, as a citizen you couldn’t?

Mandy Remmell  23:55

I think the constituent response time, so getting the right, making sure the right people are in the seat, we hire the right folks that understand what community engagement truly is, and I’m implementing a 48 hour response time to the constituents of the district. If you call my office, or if you send an email, we will at least respond and touch and say, “Hey, you know, we’re looking into this, or “We got that, or “Here’s the answer, but that 48 hour response window is is key to keeping the communication fluid. I did it in the county, we were very successful, and I’m bringing that to the council seat. That’s what

Nestor Aparicio  24:29

gets in the way. I mean, when things don’t get done, and I’m just guessing, but when you and I working for Kathy Class Mario, but I would say Johnny O is where you’re right, so when something would get to you, it’s already the ball’s already kind of been dropped, right? Like, literally, you were a little bit of the safety net of something that they couldn’t get done with the first phone call,

8

Mandy Remmell  24:52

right? Yes, literally, yes and no. So, sometimes yes, some people reach out to the county executive’s office because you know they’ve kind of hit a dead end. Or they didn’t, they were, you know, haven’t been able to connect with the right person,

Nestor Aparicio  25:03

or they just do what I did, just quit all together,

Mandy Remmell  25:05

but also

Nestor Aparicio  25:08

8

dead end, and I’m like, forget it, just it’s not that important,

Mandy Remmell  25:12

yeah, but also I’ll say, you know, people do reach out to us first, because we were responsive, and they knew how to access, or knew who to contact, and that’s what I want to bring to the council, you know, you got to get out to the doors, and you know people aren’t sure who their county executive is, they’re not sure who their current council person is, so that information that informed, you know, education of, you know, this is your council office, this is what we do, and this is how you can reach us, that’s what I’m going to

Nestor Aparicio  25:38

call you about, other than a pothole, what, what’s a call come to you instead of a call going to the county or a call going to the police, or you know, whatever the next thing would be?

Mandy Remmell  25:49

Is

8

Nestor Aparicio  25:49

I haven’t called my councilman yet in my lifetime. I don’t know what I’d be pissed off enough that would say that you could fix it, that I’m not just calling to yell, and I have a radio station, I can scream if I want to scream. If I want to scream where no one hears, I have a radio station. I

Mandy Remmell  26:03

think it’s that connection, so it’s, it’s, it’s bridging, you know, the county agencies and the residents, so you, your council seat is kind of that bridge. We could, again, we reach out to that, just say it’s Miss Trash collection, right? So, Miss Trash, you can

Nestor Aparicio  26:16

reach out to your governors, it isn’t the call to say you’re doing a wonderful job, they’re calling

Mandy Remmell  26:21

8

because they have, they have, they have a problem that needs to be solved, you know. And so

Nestor Aparicio  26:25

they’re probably not a great move when they get to you,

Mandy Remmell  26:27

that’s right. But you know, we have to lead with compassion, and that’s the one thing, is I’m going to lead the seat with compassion and make sure that our residents are supported and that they feel that. And so, whether it’s an issue or whether it’s something positive, and we do get a lot of positive people, want, you know, their council representative to come open a new business or do a ribbon cutting. We partner with the Chambers and Southwest Visions Foundation to really, you know, do highlight the great work that we’re doing, and the residents are doing in this community, our business leaders. And so, you know, they call for good things too. And so we, we take the good and the bad in the council seat.

Nestor Aparicio  26:58

Just gonna affect your yoga teaching? No,

8

Mandy Remmell  27:01

no, we’ll bring a little yoga to the council week, three

Nestor Aparicio  27:06

all at 6am

Mandy Remmell  27:07

6am on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 11 o’clock on Sundays,

Nestor Aparicio  27:11

8

you do an 11 o’clock hot class on Sunday,

Mandy Remmell  27:13

yeah, you want to come,

Nestor Aparicio  27:14

yes,

Mandy Remmell  27:14

all right, it’s packed, so you got to sign up early,

8

Nestor Aparicio  27:18

I’m such a bad signer upper,

Mandy Remmell  27:19

you can come, you can come, whatever Sunday you have available. It’s my open invite.

Nestor Aparicio  27:23

I mean, at least I got

Mandy Remmell  27:24

8

there. You go there, you got no open invite. If you can join us on a Sunday, it’s Rolling Brook Yoga. We’re right here off of Frederick Row,

Nestor Aparicio  27:30

doing 20 minutes standing, 20 minutes balance, 20 minutes on the floor. Is that pretty much what we’re doing?

Mandy Remmell  27:34

Yeah, we’re around. Yeah, we’re around,

Nestor Aparicio  27:35

kind

8

Nestor Aparicio  27:36

of music. Keep playing.

Mandy Remmell  27:36

I’m a peak pose kind of person, so

Nestor Aparicio  27:38

with peak pose,

Nestor Aparicio  27:39

8

like

Mandy Remmell  27:39

you know, we build to peak pose, whether it’s crow or dancer or headstand, handstand, so we build, create the heat, and we do have a nice peak pose.

Nestor Aparicio  27:50

I say, if you win, you think you’re gonna win, so when I went to, thank you, appreciate you, but yeah, I’m not voting over you, I can’t vote for you anyway, so we’ll do some yoga,

Mandy Remmell  28:01

that’s right,

8

Nestor Aparicio  28:02

poses. Do you have a favorite or anything, or no? I mean,

Mandy Remmell  28:06

yeah, I would say my favorite is Bakasana, which is crow pose.

Nestor Aparicio  28:09

Okay,

Mandy Remmell  28:10

8

yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  28:11

it’s so important, like in other cultures, you know, people sit and they squat, like 24 like in Indian culture, stuff like that, they squat and it just builds so much more core muscle,

Mandy Remmell  28:23

yeah, strength,

Nestor Aparicio  28:24

and I

8

Nestor Aparicio  28:24

didn’t, you know, I was a catcher in baseball, so that was more right. That’s like up on your tippy toes, the flat foot part of being able to do this. You’re laughing at me like you don’t, yoga teacher’s not supposed to laugh at the student.

Mandy Remmell  28:38

You’re not my student yet, I’m just watching you. That’s true, that’s true. I’m watching you do it in the

Speaker 1  28:44

contract.

Mandy Remmell  28:45

8

Okay, you go ahead, I’ll watch.

Nestor Aparicio  28:46

I’m not doing it. You’re making me all self-conscious,

Mandy Remmell  28:50

but yes, it does. It helps open up the

Nestor Aparicio  28:53

head.

8

Nestor Aparicio  28:53

I thought I was young and sexy and 57 and now you’re making me feel all like subconscious, you know?

Mandy Remmell  28:58

Let me see it again.

Nestor Aparicio  28:59

No, I no, I’m not gonna do it. I’m not gonna do it. I keep my yoga separate from the radio, you know. I talked about Planet Fitness a lot, but I don’t.. yoga’s like this place I go..

Mandy Remmell  29:11

8

yeah, yeah, it’s beautiful. It.. it really is something spiritual, and it can, you know, just unlock a good positive mindset, and you, you can, you get clouded with work, with life, with again the news and politics and government, everything. Check out, yes, it allows you to disconnect.

Nestor Aparicio  29:31

Do you like to really hot? Because I don’t, I don’t, I don’t like my current studio, because it’s not hot enough.

Mandy Remmell  29:36

It’s not,

Nestor Aparicio  29:36

and the person knows this. And then I think the person that owns the current studio that I go to is afraid of, like, heat and afraid of people passing out. Yeah, people not enjoying your experience. So, when I say to people, hot yoga, and I’m like, all right, maybe you won’t like it, but I think there’s a part of it where it can be a little sadistic and. The Bikram way, when it’s 118 degrees, you walk in and you want to pass out, but there’s a part for me who’s had a back injury, and I’ve been through this. I need the heat, I have to have the heat. If I don’t have the heat, you start putting fans on and blowing on me 30 minutes into class, and I’m like standing there, and I’m shivering, and I’m like, I’m like shivering, and the sweat down my back is cold, and it’s running like I don’t like all that.

8

Mandy Remmell  30:24

Yeah, no, no, they’re no fans. My

Nestor Aparicio  30:27

form’s better than that. Usually

Mandy Remmell  30:28

it’s good. That was actually, I was not judging. I thought that was pretty good. I was watching. I thought you were gonna go full on eagle.

Nestor Aparicio  30:39

8

I could warm up.

Mandy Remmell  30:42

I saw it

Nestor Aparicio  30:44

ready. Here we go to get a dristy, and I’m also hold on to kick my shoes out with my balance. So, is

Speaker 2  30:53

that yeah,

8

Mandy Remmell  30:53

that’s good. It’s beautiful, actually. Yeah, yeah. No, you know, listen, we, we’re, we’re about 95 in, in, we get up to about 95 and it gets hot, and

Nestor Aparicio  31:04

come on, Mandy,

Speaker 2  31:05

you gotta

Nestor Aparicio  31:05

8

crank it up,

Mandy Remmell  31:06

yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  31:06

shut the door off

Mandy Remmell  31:08

doors, we put extra heater, it is hot, it is hot, yeah, I’m

8

Nestor Aparicio  31:14

a Venezuelan descent, so I think my people like the equipment,

Mandy Remmell  31:17

yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  31:17

people like, all right, Mandy Rambles here, she’s running for office, or running for, if nothing else, becoming your yoga guru,

Mandy Remmell  31:24

8

and your

Nestor Aparicio  31:26

teeny namaste to

Nestor Aparicio  31:27

you. She’s

Nestor Aparicio  31:29

over here at Catonsville. We’re Catonsville, the fishmonger store. Anything you would say about this business specifically, because I know you know Damien, you know the area, Evan, and all the people I saw. Evan had a sign, and Keith over here at El Guapo, they’ve been my partners for about a decade now. I come over, this is my first hour in broadcasting here on this radiator table overlooking Frederick Rose, Taekwondo, and Bill’s Music, and all that, and Morse burgers. I know she went through hell to get this done, and so much of it was much more governmental, and I’ll talk to her about this, but the government was intimately involved in this project, because it had to be, and if you own a business, you’re in business with the government. I am. I have an FCC.

8

Mandy Remmell  32:10

There’s a lot of hoops you have to jump through, and you know, there’s a lot of zoning process, and I mean, she transformed, she had a true vision for this, and she transformed it into this beautiful place, and we’re in District One. We have, yeah, we’ve been waiting.

Nestor Aparicio  32:25

I think everybody that knows the Divine Family or the Han family, you know, Will was the one that let me in here earlier. Damis, here we got glasses everywhere.

Mandy Remmell  32:34

It’s gorgeous.

Nestor Aparicio  32:35

8

I’ve seen this dream come to life, and I think as a council person, that’s part of this, that every one of these storefronts, no offense to M T Bank, which is a little bit more of a, you know, international chain, but most of these places here in all of our communities, it, you know, we’re not a chain county,

Mandy Remmell  32:52

that’s right,

Nestor Aparicio  32:53

that’s right, we are, we’re locally owned, local, local,

Mandy Remmell  32:56

locally owned, rooted

8

Nestor Aparicio  32:58

million Amy’s and Bill’s and Nancy’s in all of these places, that’s correct, and I think so many of them, and this would speak to the city, and why I almost ran for mayor, and why Ron Furman’s all pissed off, and I see him and Patrick Russell, who has businesses in three counties, just when the government’s not helping, they’re hurting,

Mandy Remmell  33:16

we have to help,

Nestor Aparicio  33:17

gotta help, we gotta help, gotta help, and that was the thing for me, and seeing Damie struggle here, and even my own struggles, sort of like, is the government there to help us or not. And when Donald Trump is on the front line of all of that, I look at this and say, this is the worst of the worst for our society, is to pick someone to run it who doesn’t give a shit about you, you know what I mean at all, and so obvious that when I do meet all of these cool local, mr. Mohler, I’ll bring him in as my high school guidance counselor in 1982 but you know he would always say that if I went to Mako, if I met more government people, I would like electeds more than put them off into a corner and say that they’re all bad people, the way the media would want you

Mandy Remmell  34:03

8

to think. I

Nestor Aparicio  34:04

don’t believe that at all, and the time, and I don’t feel like always the best people get elected,

Mandy Remmell  34:09

correct?

Nestor Aparicio  34:10

But I do feel like they stay elected because they are helping the community, especially at the council meeting.

8

Mandy Remmell  34:15

That’s right, that’s right. We’re doing the work, you know, that there there are folks out here that, that we’re, you know, we’re human, we’re human too, right. And so we’ve got there are folks that are running that have compassion and care, and they’re the right leaders for the seat.

Nestor Aparicio  34:29

You have a family, right? I

Mandy Remmell  34:30

do. I do.

Nestor Aparicio  34:31

8

So, let your kids in Austin.

Mandy Remmell  34:32

My son, actually, he graduates next Wednesday from Western Tech. He’s a senior at Western Tech, and it is his high school graduation. And then I’ve got a stepdaughter at Catonsville Middle,

Nestor Aparicio  34:43

so you’re not empty nesting just yet,

Mandy Remmell  34:45

not just yet, not just yet, but he’s, you know, he’s graduating, and he’s doing great.

8

Nestor Aparicio  34:50

Wasn’t part of the timing for you to be able to do this? 10 years ago might not have been

Mandy Remmell  34:54

great, it might not have been 10 years ago, but this is the right time, like I said, you know, I knew that. This seat really deserves someone that was going to lead with care and compassion and bring the right energy to this side of the district. It matters,

Nestor Aparicio  35:07

all right. Mandy Ram, if you’re out here, consider her. And this is the part where I’m like, vote, please vote, please register, please make sure everything’s on the up and up. 23rd of next month is the election day, and if you’re voting ahead of time, make sure you’re getting the right form, not the wrong form. Is that fair?

Mandy Remmell  35:24

8

That’s right.

Nestor Aparicio  35:25

All right, I’m gonna hit you. Where’s your yoga studio? Get promote this. Where is this?

Mandy Remmell  35:28

Rolling Brook Yoga, right here on Frederick Road.

Nestor Aparicio  35:31

It’s right here.

8

Mandy Remmell  35:32

Yeah, it’s right here in this parking lot, same parking lot of State Fair.

Nestor Aparicio  35:36

In this parking lot,

Mandy Remmell  35:37

yes. Yeah, it’s right here. We’re go, we’re going there next.

Nestor Aparicio  35:42

8

I don’t, I do not have a Sunday class Wednesday and Sunday. I have another friend of mine, Kate, who is becoming a teacher in Hampden, and she’s been trying to get me out. I got her onto my mat one day, she’s trying to get me on her mat, and it’s just sort of like the timing of all of this and making it to another community, but I am such a hot yoga

Nestor Aparicio  36:02

person,

Nestor Aparicio  36:03

and it’s not like I look for every hot yoga studio everywhere, but I am looking to try something new. That’s

Nestor Aparicio  36:08

right,

8

Nestor Aparicio  36:08

but I don’t know that I could drive to Catonsville five nights a week and do yoga with you

Mandy Remmell  36:12

if you, if time allows. The doors open, and it’s an open invite, and everything, oh, from from the Beatles to Billie Eilish to you name it, it goes from 70s to, you know, all the way up. It’s a good one.

Nestor Aparicio  36:30

All right, there’s my endorsement from Andy Remmel’s hot yoga class. You can decide to endorse her yourself if you wish. It’s all brought to you by Friends at the Maryland Lottery. You are eligible to get a lottery ticket here because you are of the tender age. Would you like acety courses? Would you like Bay Bridge Spans? Would you like Boardwalk for $2 or the Fantastic Black Water Refuge? Which would you like? You like horses, you like molluscs.

Mandy Remmell  36:55

8

Let’s go boardwalk.

Nestor Aparicio  36:56

Boardwalk, there it is. The Maryland Lottery and GBMC, along with foreign and derma, sending us out on the road. Damian of the Fishmonger’s Daughter and Fade Lease, she’s staring at me on the wall over here. Her mom stared at me at the old place here. I had Nancy and Damian last week, talking about this minor miracle here in 21228 in Catonsville. We’re back for more from Fishmonger’s Daughter. I am Nestor. We are Baltimore positive in WNSD. Stay with us.