Rethinking the Pikesville Armory for the future

Longtime civic leader Barry Williams returns for “A Cup Of Soup Or Bowl” to educate Nestor about the future of the Pikesville Armory Project, designed to serve the community for generations to come after being an historic piece of the area recently abandoned and unused. Always looking to the future…

Barry Williams, a longtime civic leader and educator, discussed his work with the Pikesville Armory and the Y. He highlighted the armory’s decommissioning in 2016 and its repurposing into a 225,000 sq. ft. community space with multi-purpose fields, a senior center, and an art center. Williams mentioned raising $54 million towards the $100 million goal. He also shared memories of Michael Bronfein, a pioneer in the cannabis industry, and his impact on the community. Williams, who sits on seven boards, emphasized the need for affordable housing and job development in Baltimore County.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Invite Nancy Hines and other people who knew Michael Bronfein to appear on the program to discuss Signal 13, police issues, and stories that honor Michael Bronfein (arrange guests and schedule appearances).
• [ ] Offer assistance to Christian (board contact) to help secure Jonathan Heyman or facilitate his involvement with the relevant board/event (follow up with Christian and board).
• [ ] Continue leading and advancing fundraising efforts to raise the remaining approximately $46 million to reach the $100 million goal for the Pikesville Armory project (coordinate fundraising strategy, outreach to state/county/federal and private donors).

Barry Williams’ Background and Michael Brown’s Legacy

• Nestor Aparicio introduces Barry Williams, highlighting his roles in parks and rec, teaching, and his involvement with the Y and Pikesville Armory.
• Barry Williams shares memories of Michael Bronfein, a mutual friend and colleague, recalling their first meeting at the University of Maryland and their shared leadership roles as RAs.
• Barry Williams recounts Michael Bronfein’s dedication to work and play, emphasizing his ability to party hard while also working hard.
• The conversation touches on Michael Bronfein’s pioneering role in the cannabis industry, his pharmaceutical background, and his daughter Wendy’s influence in entering the industry.

Michael Brown’s Impact and Legacy in the Cannabis Industry

• Barry Williams discusses Michael Bronfein’s transition from pharmacy to the cannabis industry, driven by his daughter Wendy’s insights.
• The conversation highlights Michael Bronfein’s pharmaceutical background and his successful venture in the cannabis industry, including his sale of Neighbor Care Pharmacy.
• Barry Williams shares his experiences working with Michael Bronfein at Curio Wellness, emphasizing his leadership and dedication.
• The discussion includes Michael Bronfein’s vision for the cannabis industry to be treated as a regular industry, free from the stigma and restrictions it currently faces.

Challenges and Aspirations in the Cannabis Industry

• Barry Williams describes the procedural challenges faced by employees in the cannabis industry, including difficulties in obtaining banking services and home loans.
• The conversation touches on the broader societal impact of cannabis, including its medicinal benefits for conditions like Crohn’s disease.
• Barry Williams expresses hope that the cannabis industry will eventually be treated as a regular business, free from the scrutiny and hassles it currently faces.
• The discussion includes personal anecdotes about Michael Bronfein’s passion for the cannabis industry and his vision for its future.

Barry Williams’ Career Transition and Civic Involvement

• Barry Williams reflects on his career transition from education to government, emphasizing his desire to give back and make a difference.
• The conversation highlights Barry Williams’ involvement in various boards and organizations, including the Baltimore Symphony, Boy Scouts, and the Maryland State Fair.
• Barry Williams shares his experiences as a principal at Randallstown High School and his subsequent roles in education and government.
• The discussion includes Barry Williams’ reflections on the fulfillment and challenges of his various roles, including his work with the Pikesville Armory and the Y.

The Future of the Pikesville Armory

• Barry Williams provides an overview of the Pikesville Armory, its decommissioning in 2016, and the subsequent efforts to repurpose the space.
• The conversation details the various uses planned for the armory, including a senior center, multi-purpose fields, and facilities for the arts and maker spaces.
• Barry Williams discusses the funding sources for the armory project, including state, county, federal, and private donations.
• The discussion includes Barry Williams’ vision for the armory as a community hub, providing space for various activities and events.

Barry Williams’ Advocacy and Future Plans

• Barry Williams shares his advocacy efforts for the armory project, emphasizing the need to raise awareness and support among the community.
• The conversation highlights Barry Williams’ involvement in various boards and organizations, including the 1000 Friends of Pikesville and the Pikesville Armory Foundation.
• Barry Williams reflects on his career and the various roles he has played, including his work in education, government, and community service.
• The discussion includes Barry Williams’ thoughts on the future of Baltimore County, including the need for housing, education, and public safety.

Personal Reflections and Final Thoughts

• Barry Williams shares personal reflections on his career, including his experiences as a principal and his transition to government roles.
• The conversation includes Barry Williams’ thoughts on the challenges and rewards of his various roles, including his work with the armory project.
• Barry Williams reflects on the importance of community involvement and the impact of his various projects on the community.
• The discussion concludes with Barry Williams expressing his gratitude for the opportunities he has had and his commitment to continuing his work in community service.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

8

Pikesville Armory, community service, Michael Brown, cannabis industry, Baltimore County, education leadership, senior center, multi-purpose fields, fundraising, intergenerational appeal, affordable housing, job development, Baltimore Symphony, Boy Scouts, Maryland State Fair.

SPEAKERS

Nestor Aparicio, Speaker 1, Barry Williams

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T. Am 1570 task, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are positively here at El Guapo, I’m, let’s see. I’ve had shrimp taco, steak taco, and I’ve had, because we’re in a cup of bowl or soup soup. Yeah, right. We have chicken tortilla soup here at El Guapo. Also candy cane cash scratch offs from the Maryland lottery. Your friends at GBMC put us out on the road so we can visit with old friends, new friends, and you know you and I were together a couple of weeks ago. Barry Williams is back on the program. What do I say about you? Parks and Rec running things with the county, longtime teacher and principal, and also a guy that helps with the Y and Pikesville armory. You’re a county guy. You’re a Baltimore County guy,

Speaker 1  00:53

born and bred, yeah, born and bred. Yep. How you been? I’ve been fine, man.

8

Nestor Aparicio  00:57

I saw you under the worst of circumstances. Snowstorm, we lost a dear friend, mutual friend of ours, Michael Brown. Find from curio wellness and foreign daughter. I saw you at his memorial, which was its own, one of the more glorious 75 minutes telling you that was great. I, you know, and you knew Michael better than I, and you’d work with curio for a period of time a couple years ago, anything you want to say about Michael? Because I haven’t talked enough about Michael on here. I talked about him online, and I poured my soul out a little bit to a handful of friends, but I don’t think I’ve said it enough publicly about me. I only had handful of conversations with him in my life, and every time I ever had a conversation with it was really long form, yeah, he and I never had a casual conversation. Yeah, every time I ever got into a conversation with him, it went from, Hey, what are you doing with this about the drums and Amanda the base warts and let me talk about business in it. And then, and I learned stuff, yeah, and then I went to his memorial, and everyone that got up to speak about him, relatives, co workers, everyone said, Here’s what he taught me. And when I went home that day, little tears in my eyes, my wife didn’t go. My wife said, how did that go? And I’m like, I don’t know. I cried and I laughed, I said, but one thing that I’m gonna make clear is I learned even more about him. He’s dead, and he’s still teaching me stuff. Oh, yeah, and that’s the amazing part of Michael Brown find that I will take with me.

Barry Williams  02:27

So I met Michael when he was 18 years old. He was a freshman at Maryland, and I’m a couple of years older than Michael. So you met him at college Oh, at College Park, yeah, yeah, yeah. He and his girlfriend, then now his wife of 52 years were walking around. We were in the same dorm. And then somehow, the second semester, Michael became an RA, and I was an RA then as well. And we became good friends. So there was a leadership, beginning of leadership, beginning of leadership for all, both of us. And we had a lot of fun. Michael was one of those guys who worked really hard when he was working, but when he partied, he partied really hard, and he knew how to party. And everybody clearly knew that, absolutely yes, that

Nestor Aparicio  03:14

was part of the celebration of his life, which made it I just kept thinking, I hope my funeral is like 1% this awesome as of a celebration of what kind of human he was and what kind of man he was and his spirit. I just I was moved by it. I was moved by the Spirit of all of it. But then I ran into people like you, and I’m like, I had forgotten that you had worked at curio for a period of time, and when you talk about just in general, cannabis as an item, you’re a year or two older than me, knowing how far the plant has come and how far the science has come, and somebody like him really being in front of it, saying, This isn’t we’re not selling dime bags here. We’re selling medicine, and this is a drug that’s been on has not been explored. I think that’s something, because it’s never going back in the closet in this country again, right? It’s just not, and he will always have been truly a pioneer in this state, for sure.

Barry Williams  04:10

8

Yeah, yeah. He was ahead of everybody else, actually. What happened? His daughter, Wendy, approached him and talked about, hey, listen, here’s an industry that’s coming, and I think we ought to get into it. And so they investigated it, they learned a lot. And they said, Yeah, let’s jump into it. So, you know, Michael’s background, his pharmaceutical background. He did Neighbor Care, pharmacy. He did that for a long time, and then he sold it, made a mint. Did really well.

Nestor Aparicio  04:36

Didn’t need to come back into Abilene. No, no, no. He did all. You know, Wendy made that clear. Yeah, Wendy’s just a

Barry Williams  04:43

wonderful, wonderful kid. I didn’t meet his kids until I started working at Curie, okay? And that was in 2020, and, you know, I found them to be so interesting. I because I knew Michael and Jessica, by the way, I went to their wedding. That’s how close we were back then. But. You didn’t know their kids as adults. No, no, no. We had separate lives. And you know, I would run into Michael. I’d read about him in the paper. He would read about me in the paper. We sent a little note to one another, but then we didn’t come together again until he was president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and then we came together, and when he hired Marin, he invited me to his house to meet Marin and with with some other folks there. Great Marin, also, she was wonderful. Still is, still is, but I got

Nestor Aparicio  05:28

to get Jonathan Heyman. I’ve been trying to, I’m working that out.

8

Barry Williams  05:31

Well, I’m on that board now, so I can maybe help Christian.

Nestor Aparicio  05:35

Where are you? Man? Used to be my neighbor. What’s up? Come on. I got to get on

Barry Williams  05:39

Christian event. Yeah, he’s he’s terrific. They’re

Nestor Aparicio  05:41

8

my neighbors. We lived in a long, queasy we

Barry Williams  05:43

lived, yeah, so he’s a good guy. Twice. Is threatening

Nestor Aparicio  05:47

to come on here too. Barry Williams is our guest. I just one more thing about Michael that I the last conversation I ever had with Michael Brown fine was at the PGA tournament caves, and I was a guest of theirs that Sunday. And he knows I wasn’t a golf guy. They’re all golf guys out there, and I’m there meeting people and talking to people. But I remember two things that I remember about that last conversation ever had with him was about signal 13, and his passion for that. And I invite Nancy Hines, and I’ll invite the people on to talk about the police in the city 13, very near and dear to him, as well as a bunch of other people I know, including John Kemp and royal farms and some other people, but he said to me about cannabis, because it’s the whole schedule, one thing, and Trump, maybe the only good thing Trump will ever be known for doing is green lighting that although was gonna get green lit, and no matter who was around, right? But it’s the credit. He’s gonna get the credit for it. That’s fine. We’ll call it the Trump cannabis Foundation, because it’ll be gold plated, not green. But he said to me about the cannabis industry, he said, and I’ll know when this is true, and I’ll really, I’ll burn one for him in his honor at that point. But he he said, I hope that at some point we can be treated like a regular industry, like every other. That was literally because they’re still chasing the cannabis people around schedule, well, just average, everything that they do is under a different level, not just a scrutiny, but a sort of hassle, yeah, in a way that, being a new industry, the pioneers getting the arrows, yeah, I sort of felt that for him. I hope that at some point it becomes ubiquitous to the culture in a medicinal way, helping people with Crohn’s, helping people with helping people with all the ways that that the science that can add cannabinoids, work that it does become sort of on the up and up, as I would say, Yeah, regular business. Like everybody

Barry Williams  07:35

else during my time there, we couldn’t get banking, so we had to go through one savings and loan company. And so the employees who wanted to try to get a home loan couldn’t list down that they were working for a cannabis company, except through the savings and loan company. I mean, it was real. It was the whole procedural thing,

8

Nestor Aparicio  07:54

and that’s for the employees. I mean, yeah, it’s restrictive for everybody, yeah. And I hope you know, in Michael’s honor, the last thing we’ll say about him, because I know you won’t talk about the pikes for long. Talk at the Pikeville armory and the Y and a whole bunch of things you’re doing. I hope that that comes full circle in some way, because I I’ve seen the benefits of the plant. I currently have a family member battling Parkinson’s right now, and is getting incredible relief from from the plant. So you know, and what

Barry Williams  08:18

it’s meant to do, correct Absolutely.

Nestor Aparicio  08:21

Barry Williams is here. He’s here doing what he’s meant to do, which is what help people. So you

Barry Williams  08:26

8

know, what are you I’m sort of, I’m retired in that I don’t collect any money from any other place other than my pension and Social Security. But I sit on seven boards, and I figured that a lot has been given to me. I picked up a lot of experiences. Why not share that?

Nestor Aparicio  08:43

Well, one of the experiences you almost became county executive, right? So you went from sort of, you could have been doing nothing and they’re doing everything in the county, or back to doing what you’re doing right now, which is being Barry Williams citizen, right? Like pretty much, that’s what you see yourself, right?

Barry Williams  08:59

I do. I spent 16 years in a county, and I felt that I knew the county fairly well. I was the department head the entire 16 years there, and I knew the other departments from working with them, so I thought that I had a real good handle on what needed to happen, that I would be able to hit the ground running and not have to learning learn anything as I came in there. I mean, there’s a learning factor, of course, but I would be able to come in there and make sure that the county ran. Well, that was my whole objective, because I live in a county, and my goal had been always to work those two years, tee it up for the next person, and then everything would be fine.

Nestor Aparicio  09:36

Well, I want to ask you about this, because I don Mueller’s not here to defend himself as being a principal at this point, you were a principal at Randallstown high school when I was a kid, and Mueller was my county executive and my guidance counselor. Then became a principal, and then went over to spares point, I swear for all of you principals, and maybe this is the little boy in me. With Dr Cole Meyer, Mr. Connolly, over at Colgate, and then George daus and Ron Sanders, of Sanders corner fame was mine. Was my middle school principal. I thought principals were sort of like maybe as a kid, that would be the end. You would just be a principal and maybe a superintendent, and then that would be the end you would put you at the pasture, whatever they did to old principals. I didn’t know that principals would then go on and say, Well, I don’t be a principal anymore. I’m going to do someone to move out of teaching. I’m going to move into government. I’m going to move into other parts of this or that. So for you and Don both sort of youngish principles in your era, you know you weren’t the old man, 70 year old principal. You guys were principals that were kind of cool and hit late 30s, early 40s. Yeah, that there. There wasn’t that. Maybe when you were a high school student, the principals, you thought were there all 65 years old, and they’re going out. There’s a whole afterlife for education that maybe when you were involved in education, I think everybody that wants to become a teacher thinks I’m gonna be a teacher. Get the gold watch, and you know, I’m gonna do my 35 years or whatever, especially if you love it. You go to school for it. But I find that so many other people have done things beyond education that it qualify you to do all sorts of things.

8

Barry Williams  11:13

Well, there’s all right, all kinds of transferable skills you pick up in education. You learn about leadership, you learn about organization, you learn how to deal with individuals. You know, personnel is a real big thing, and when you’re dealing in education, you’re not only dealing with the students, but you’re also dealing with the teachers and the parents. So that kind of, ta, yeah, absolutely, you got it, you know. And so you learn how to figure out how to get along with the folks and how to make things how to make the trains run on time. And that’s something that I figured out, how to make the trains run on time and allow everyone to have a really good experience.

Nestor Aparicio  11:48

Do you miss that part of it is there a day where you’re like, best days of my life were being the principal Randall said, on the good days, because, I mean, you had fights, you had guns, yet, things, yet, all of that, from that perspective,

Barry Williams  12:01

I will share with you that was my favorite job of all the and I’ve had a lot of jobs. It was my absolute favorite job because I got a chance to go out in the middle of the hallway and interact with kids. I got a chance to ask them, Where are you going to be going? What would you like to do at graduation? That was my element. You know, I think the biggest

Nestor Aparicio  12:19

8

thing is, 20 years later, you’re sitting here in Catonsville and one of your students go walk in. Well, when I see the teachers who mean something to me that’s goes for Don Muller, for everybody that ever meant anything to me, yeah, those are relationships. My eighth grade English teacher, you know, reads every word I say, Yeah, on the internet, she writes me back. So I’m proud of you. So I just loved the teachers. I loved I’ve loved I loved it till they died. Yeah, you know, literally all I just think that’s such a special bond that I would almost be angry at you and molar and every teacher I have ever known for stopping teaching, you know, but all of you got fed up with it at one point, the bureaucracy, the money, the opportunity, the parents, the teachers, the association, the kids, the government, like all of that, I think I just wish teaching were I wish you all were paid better, that you could have done it forever, and that you would be the $300,000 a year Randallstown 30 year principal right now that that that’s the way our society would have been better to not spitting people like you

Barry Williams  13:24

all are out of education. I will say that I looked at other educators who had been around a long time, and I thought, Okay, I need to make sure I know when to hold and when to fold. Because I didn’t want to be that burnt down individual that people were saying, When is he going to retire? I wanted to go out when I was on top. So when I left Baltimore County, I got recruited to go into Baltimore City as an area superintendent. But the year I left Baltimore County, I was administrator of the year, you know, had all the things were really going in my way. So I left on top. When I went into Baltimore City, I thought, okay, I can do this gig for like five years, unless I became superintendent. It was not in the cards for me to become superintendent, and I’m glad there were a lot of really good educators that I met in Baltimore City. There were also the other side of folks who were not quite what I would have hired if I had that opportunity.

Nestor Aparicio  14:15

Well, I would say the other side of that also is when you leave education, I would think it’s probably the scariest thing you’ve ever done, right? Because, I mean, you knew being a teacher was what you did, and you rise to the top, you say, All right, I’m gonna go do something else with my life. I always find that to be for anyone I’ve known who did teach and when journalism in my side, everybody in my world, was in the journalism space. And they left. They had to get out of the sun, the sun, you know? Yeah, everybody went to real estate, or they went to communications, or they went worked at a hospital, they went into government, in some cases, right from the journalism space. But all of us, and I speak for we all went into journalism thinking, this is what we’re gonna do for the we’re gonna run through the wall, and then you. Have to be 42 and you’re like, you know, I got to go do something else, right? Yeah, and I always thought of teaching is the track that that would be a job for life and a vocation for life that would bring fulfillment. And I think it’s such a hard job that maybe I wouldn’t feel that way about it if I

Barry Williams  15:18

felt that way. Well, it does give you fulfillment, but then you realize there are other ways that you can share you can give back that don’t necessarily involve being in a classroom or being in a school. And quite frankly, I was in Baltimore City working at Digital Harbor, Southern High School, Southern High School. It was actually I was the the year before, because the enrollment went down, they decided to condense the areas. Instead of nine areas, went down to six areas, and they were going to bury me in North Avenue. And I said, You know what? Give me a school. You can be any school you want. So they gave me southern about to turn over to digital. So I was there for one year. It was a great year. Loved it. There all the kids there were working class or poor, which is not what I had in the county. I had middle class kids, I had some working class kids, but I never had abject poverty, kind of poor, and they had that there at Southern loved the kids. Loved giving them the experience of helping them open up their eyes to consider what they may possibly do beyond what they know right now. So it was a good experience. But during that year, Jim Smith’s office called and said, Hey, listen, like to offer you a job and working in our cabinet. And I said, Well, I tell you, what if you wait until the end of the school year? Because this is November, I said, wait until the end of the school year, I’ll come. And so I did that. So it’s an easy transition for me, so I didn’t have to really think about what am I going to do? And I knew what I was going to be doing. And so I left one day, I left Baltimore City Schools. The next day, July 1, I was in Baltimore County

8

Nestor Aparicio  17:02

Government sellers, kids out of southern about alkaline, did you Oh, I knew,

Barry Williams  17:06

yeah, yeah, of course, yeah. They have a little bit so al K line was a Baltimore boy who made good and he played for Detroit, Detroit Tigers, Detroit. Yeah, he was, he was so people in the in the neighborhood. All knew

Nestor Aparicio  17:22

him, you know, and they were. The best part about him is every time he would open his mouth, you hear the Baltimore acts absolutely Baltimore Eve, just like Gina shock and Dundalk. Barry Williams does not have Baltimore accent, but he is a Baltimorean. I am a Baltimore on we’re out here at El Guapo. They’re cleaning the windows. I’ve had the chicken tortilla soup candy cane. Can you go? Lottery ticket there? Free lottery ticket for the window cleaner there candy cane cash. We’re out here for the Maryland lottery and GBMC. Barry Williams is our guest doing the podcast on Baltimore positive. So for you with Pikesville armory and your charitable work, you and I have met at the Randallstown y at the Swim Club. We’re there with John Oh, we Pikesville armor. What do we need to know about that?

Barry Williams  18:04

8

So what you need to know at 19 2016 the federal government decommissioned it. And so here we have a 225,000 square feet of usable, usable space, yeah, indoor. Space, yeah. Space, 17 acres and and most people had driven by there, but never really, if you had not gone armory, it’s right on 640 righteous town road. All right, okay, so it’s about a mile down from the beltway, okay. And right avenue, right around there, yeah, right, right by Slade. Very good, yeah, yeah, yeah. We need to get you out there. Well, I’m getting people to, you know, geography, yeah, no, no. Very good on that one. Yeah, the urban Country Club absolutely right across the street, yeah, yeah. You got it? You got I’m from Baltimore County, Barry. I live here, but you were from the east side. Bias with me, you’re one of the few folks that really know the county. Well, I don’t

Nestor Aparicio  19:07

know locker and well, I don’t know Milford. Know all that well, but I can go to get some Jamaican food on your side of town. What’s up? There you go. Do I know what’s up?

Barry Williams  19:17

So the the governor put a commission together to try to figure out what to figure out what to do with this property. And so I was part of the commission. At the time, I was still working with the county. I was director of Rec and Parks

Nestor Aparicio  19:29

in the county, but, oh, but a state, right? Yes, okay, known by the feds. Oh, but a feds, right?

8

Barry Williams  19:34

Yeah. So commission last about two years, different disparate groups came together. I want this, I want that. And basically came down to people wanted a recreational piece. People wanted something to deal with the arts. People wanted to have walking paths and other kind of things. Because John hoe, you need a wise what they need? Well, you know what we talked about that? Yeah, that’s what it needs to be, absolutely, absolutely. So we talked the. May be happening in the future. Why? Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, yeah, that would fit in very well in our footprint there. But we’re going to have the senior center there. When we finish all the building up, we’re going to have two multi functional fields outside in the back. It’s going to be, not well for lacrosse and soccer.

Nestor Aparicio  20:25

So does this get funded by the state, the county, the feds, who’s paying for this? Barry Williams, that’s what

Barry Williams  20:30

I need, state, the county, the feds. And private donation is quasi Absolutely. It’s everything. Yeah, we have raised $54 million so far. Yeah, which is, I

Nestor Aparicio  20:39

8

didn’t hang out with you. We’re raising 54 million.

Barry Williams  20:42

We need about 100 so we’re working toward that, but we have taken care of the NCO Club, which has been refurbished and looks wonderful. We’ll put $2 million in that. So it’s a very useful space that we can rent out and and use for community meetings, all sorts of things.

Nestor Aparicio  21:01

Barry Williams is here. We’re doing a little Baltimore positive. We call it a cup of Super Bowl. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. GBMC. Barry’s been my friend for a number of years here helping things. So how can people help? What’s the, what’s the, what’s the magic number here to get from 54 to 100 million? And what kind of advocacy Are you looking for here? Because I don’t know that a lot of people know about maybe Pikesville people. This is clearly a civic issue over there, because it affects people,

Barry Williams  21:24

right, right? Well, not enough people know about it. I will put that out there. A lot of people in Pikesville do, but the word needs to get out more. What people can do is get the word out that this is going to be coming. It’s a it’s sitting, it’s going to be a place of destination. And right now, pike has no real there, there. And so it will be, you know, it’ll be a place for kids be able to come, for adults be able to come. So I’m looking into intergenerational kind of appeal. We’re going to have an art center, we’re going to have a theater, we’re going to have maker space. Is going to be taking spot there, and so it’s going to be well used, and 225,000 square feet of indoor space, indoor space, and 17 acres All total, plenty of parking, plenty of park.

8

Nestor Aparicio  22:09

You better get those plows out there. So you’re on six other boards. We talked a little bit about our friends at curio and education in the county and all that. Give me some other do goods that you’re doing right now. By the way, how’s your sister? By the way, she’s okay. People. Sister was speaker to house, by the way, so, you know, just so we get that out there that she stepped down in last year, yeah,

Barry Williams  22:29

yeah, she did, yeah. So she’s okay. She’s okay, yeah, all right. Well, good. I’m glad, yeah, yeah. You know, Annapolis is a really tough place to be. And, you know, they can, you know, get eat you up and chew you out. Well, you never have enough money. You never have enough money, right? But, yeah, there’s some help things that, you know, there’s some Well, she’s okay, that’s good, yeah, she’s okay, yeah. But thanks for asking,

Nestor Aparicio  22:53

of course, of course, there’s six other boards. What

Barry Williams  22:55

8

do you got? So I said, Oh no. In the Baltimore Symphony, I sit on the Boy Scouts. I sit on the Maryland State Fair. You were an Eagle Scout. I am. You’re always present tense, yeah, oh, I didn’t know that. Sit on the thread board.

Nestor Aparicio  23:08

I couldn’t even tie a square knot. Man, yeah, hard time. I was a terrible we blow. I think she’s like saying we blow. Yeah, she does. I mean, seriously, yeah, I still have all of my the little pins, oh yeah, from when I was a little boy patches in the pins. I have them all in a little she doesn’t believe that I was a Cub Scout or a wee blow. I never know. I never made it to Boy Scout. Yeah, that got rejected. I got thrown out the side door. I think it was little league that got in the way, just so, you know, and girls, I discovered girls in little league. I had to stop the boys,

Barry Williams  23:46

not in that order, though, probably little league then girls,

Nestor Aparicio  23:50

I don’t know. I Farrah Fawcett came early, you know?

8

Barry Williams  23:53

Well, yeah, I don’t know how old you were in the 70s, but I remember that because we had a my roommate had a poster of Farrah falls today. Oh no,

Nestor Aparicio  24:01

there was baseball, there were girls and there were bikes. Yeah, yeah, roller skating after that. But okay, but you know, I mean, it’s this could be what other boards you want?

Barry Williams  24:16

So I said on the front, 1000 friends of Pikesville and then a pixel armory foundation. So even though you live in Randallstown, even though I live in randlestown, yeah,

Nestor Aparicio  24:24

8

well, you almost became Baltimore County Executive. You’re one of the finalists there. I’m not going to ask you about Kathy or even Johnny or any of that, but from an initiative standpoint for the county, let’s say you were running. Let’s say you’re nick or Julian or Izzy or pat I’ve had them all on. What if you were doing a stump speech or even advising, where does the county need help?

Barry Williams  24:46

I would say that the county needs to look toward the future. What the future needs are going to be? Housing is a real big piece on that. And you know, the candidates that have a plan for housing and have a plan for education. And they have a plan for public safety, or those going to they’re going to be the ones that I’m going to get behind.

Nestor Aparicio  25:06

Well, I think the issues about money and flight, right, like that, we’re shrinking County, yeah, and that when you start to shrink, as we learned in the city over the last 100 years, that everything starts to shrink, the budget starts to shrink, expectation, just everything about it, but that is part of the vibrancy of the county. Was always a growing County, right from the beginning of the charters in the 50s and 60s. It always got bigger and bigger and bigger, you’d say bloated. This that more money, but then when less people are there, there’s less tax base. So that’s really problematic.

Barry Williams  25:39

Well, yeah, but we need to look at places like trade point, Atlantic, you know, and what they’re doing there, and they’re bringing in jobs. And so we need to encourage those kind of job developments, which, you know, they were there forecasting like three, 4000 jobs going to become the next couple of years. We need housing for those folks. So we need affordable housing.

8

Nestor Aparicio  25:59

Well, you go back to Kevin Camden and Jim Smith, and, you know, everybody that tried to make my father’s former employment place, Bethlehem Steel, ago, right, right? We’ve done a pretty good job of that. Yeah, generationally, if you come back 25 years later, yeah, you look at where we were at the turn of the century with Bethlehem Steel, yeah. And, you know, my mother get 50 bucks a month for a pension, or whatever criminal It was, yeah. I mean, my dad gave his life there, gave, literally, gave his life there. But 25 years later that there are jobs over there, there is housing wealth, there is affordability, I think on my side of the county, east side of the county, right?

Barry Williams  26:33

Yep, it needs to be further developed in other parts of the county. But, yeah, but I mean things like the shopping malls that are going by the wayside now, security over absolutely, yeah, those are opportunities that have mixed development, you know, which I think is very promising. Well, I sat

Nestor Aparicio  26:51

with Nick Stewart over at White Marsh. We did the show at over Bill blocker’s place, over red Bridge station, about a year ago, when he was announcing his candidacy, and he looked out over White Marsh mall, and you could see it, like, I can see state fair from here. And he pointed across, and he’s like, that’s got to become a place where people live, yeah, you know, we got to figure that out. Now, Macy’s becomes a townhouse. And I’m like, right? You know? I mean, I’ve seen all the other farms around there become development, and I always kid with Bill blocker about why this is how this might be a terrible pub. I’m not a terrible politician, but a terrible prognosticator. I remember when they built the AVID I’m like, who’s gonna go there? I’m going to the mall. Who’s gonna shop outside? But then again, and don’t tell that the Amazon people this. But I said to my wife when the online shopping thing started 20 years ago, I’m like, you’re giving your credit card to the internet. You’re gonna order shoes online. No one’s ever gonna order clothes online. And look at Jeff Bezos, right, exactly. So what did I know? You know, Barry, always pleasure to have you. Barry Williams, one of our good citizens here of Randallstown, former high school principal, Randall stand did a lot of things in the county, still doing a lot of things in the county, making good things happen. And I appreciate you speaking about Michael bronfine was, I didn’t even realize on the way over the closest that you have with him, and I’m glad we got a chance to properly honor him. Yeah, thank you for doing well. I mean, I think there are very few people that I knew that knew him as well as you, and I hope that over the course of the year I know a lot of people that knew him well to get those folks on to honor him thusly. Because what a unique guy, what a what an amazing man. Yes. And I think when you were in that room last week with all the people there, you sort of felt the power of man. What a life well lived.

Barry Williams  28:30

8

You know, I could tell that those folks really knew Michael, because I could check off, yep, he did that, yep, he did that. He was very much like that.

Nestor Aparicio  28:39

And his gift to me was they were still teaching me stuff. So I’m hoping anybody knows Michael Brown, Fine, come and tell me a story that teach me something.

Barry Williams  28:48

Stories out there.

Nestor Aparicio  28:50

The funniest story was the wet nut story on the ice cream. And I’m gonna promise the family, because I always order wet nuts on my just to upset my wife, who still thinks I flunked out of the wee blues, Barry Williams is here. It’s all brought to you by friends at the Maryland lottery and GBMC, as well as our newest sponsor at Farnham and Dermer. I just stopped by there. They gave me a ski cap to wear. I don’t want to, I don’t want to hit my hair and mess my hair up here, because I got other people that are coming by today. We’re telling some great stories right at El Guapo. It is only the second day of a cup of Super Bowl. Wednesday, we’re going to be at Koco’s in lauraville, Koco’s Pub. I will have the cream of crab soup as well as cooking a trip over there. Thursday, we’re going to be at Essex, at Pizza John’s, and I’m going to have some french fries and gravy over there as well as a cheesesteak. And then Friday, back up at Costa centimonium. Come on out. Get a candy cane cash. Maybe you can win three bucks like the lucky lady at the bar did, Barry, you’re still um, your look of legal age. I know you want to be 25 you get number 25 very much. There he goes back for more. Here we are doing a cup of Super Bowl and crab cake row. We are Baltimore positive. I am Nestor. Back for more on W N st from El Guapo. Right after this, you.