Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski this week begins his annual budget town halls across the county. He’ll be meeting with hundreds of residents. Some of them, according to a recent poll, do not trust his government.
The Baltimore Area Survey was conducted by Johns Hopkins 21st Century Cities Initiative. It found that 38% of the county residents surveyed trust their local government to do what’s right.
Olszewski prides himself on how he has made county government more accountable since taking office in 2018, such as creating the office of inspector general and starting the budget town halls.
“I think if we weren’t doing what we’ve done the past five years, that number would be even lower,” Olszewski said.
He added far too many people have soured on government at large, from federal to local.
“I think that it’s incumbent upon all of us to continue to do the work of engaging people, opening our books, having community liaisons be available, respond to service so that people really change their perspective on local government,” Olszewski said.
Before Olszewski took office, the County Council held one public hearing annually on the county executive’s proposed budget. Few people showed up. In 2017, no one came to speak.
In response, the Council passed legislation that required the county executive to hold two additional public hearings.
Olszewski took that requirement and initiated the budget town halls in 2019, holding one in each council district. They were hugely successful, with at times standing-room-only crowds. County officials credited pent up public demand for wanting to have a say in what they wanted to see in the county executive’s budget.
Olszewski will hold a town hall in each of the county’s seven council districts. The first will be Wednesday at Sudbrook Magnet Middle School in Pikesville.
You can find the complete schedule here.
Olszewski will present his proposed fiscal year 2025 budget to the County Council in April. He has cautioned that this likely will be a tight budget year due to a combination of fewer state dollars than expected, the drying up of COVID pandemic relief money, and inflation.
