What Baltimore County’s likely next leader is planning

Julian Jones has attained many firsts in his 63 years.

He was the first Black lieutenant, captain, battalion chief and division chief in the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, where he spent much of his career. He was the first person elected chair of the Baltimore County Council three times during his 12-year run.

And now, Jones is set to become the first Black Baltimore County executive. On Monday, he declared victory in the hard-fought five-way Democratic primary to become the party’s nominee for the county’s top job.

He will face Republican Pat Dyer in the general election. Democrats in Baltimore County outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, and no Republican has won since 1994.

Kathy Klausmeier, the current county executive and the first woman to hold the office, was appointed to finish Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s term when he won a seat in Congress. (County Administrative Officer D’Andrea Walker, a Black woman, served as acting county executive for a few days between Olszewski and Klausmeier.)

Jones learned about service from his mother, Margaret L. Jones, who died in February at age 90. He grew up in East Baltimore’s Oliver neighborhood and accompanied his mother to neighbors’ homes, where he sorted mail and paid bills for those who could not read.

“Too many people are losing confidence that Baltimore County is still the place to build a better life,” he said Monday. “The message I want to give the people of Baltimore County is very clear: Help is on the way.”

He will be bullish on housing and affordability

Jones’ council colleagues bristled at efforts by Gov. Wes Moore to build more housing more quickly in the county. But Jones is adamant that the county needs more affordable housing. His children — Sanaa, 22; Malik, 32; and Julianna, 38 — live close to him and his wife, Sabrina, in Woodstock. He knows that many people are not so lucky — their kids, he said, have moved to Harford County or Pennsylvania.

Expect Jones to double down on Klausmeier’s efforts to streamline the Baltimore County permitting process, historically a bureaucratic morass. Jones said Monday that it takes longer to receive a permit to build a home than to actually build it.

Jones also wants the county to participate in a program to lower household electric bills called Community Choice Aggregation, which Montgomery County is already doing. The program allows counties and cities to pool electricity demand and receive bulk discounts.

He’ll keep an eye on the police department

Jones has been critical of how county police officers interact with the Black community.

Nearly a decade ago, Baltimore County Police knocked on a door in Randallstown, in Jones’ district, to serve a warrant on a 23-year-old hairstylist with a history of mental illness. Six hours later, Korryn Gaines was dead and her 6-year-old son, Kodi, was severely injured after Baltimore County Police Cpl. Royce Ruby shot through a wall. Prosecutor Scott Shellenberger declined to charge Ruby, who retired.

Jones, appalled by the case, pushed police reform measures. He did not get anywhere until 2020, following the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police.

The SMART Policing Act banned chokeholds and all neck restraints and required officers to render aid or call for medical care if a person in custody had an obvious injury.

Jones said Monday he will expand mobile crisis units so every person who calls the police in distress receives the assistance that Gaines never got.

He will be active in the fire department

Jones did not win the endorsement of Local 1311, the Baltimore County Professional Fire Fighters Association. Its members instead endorsed Nick Stewart. President Steven Redmer attributed that decision to frustration over Jones’ vote to increase retiring council members’ pensions, a vote Jones subsequently rescinded along with his colleagues after tremendous backlash.

However, as a former fire union official and division chief, Jones brings experience to a department struggling with a resource imbalance between volunteer and professional fire companies and predatory behavior within both. In May, Baltimore County Police arrested a 26-year-old volunteer firefighter after he allegedly assaulted a colleague at the Liberty Road fire station.

Professional county firefighters have contended with the behavior of Christopher Carroll, a paramedic charged with 23 crimes related to ejaculating and urinating on his coworkers’ food and personal items.

He’s not particularly concerned about overcrowded schools

In 2024, Jones bucked council colleagues who wanted an adequate public facilities ordinance — the umbrella term for how counties manage growth — to make sure that developers could not build more houses in already overcrowded school districts.

“An overcrowded school is not a bad thing,” Jones said at one of the sessions. “Have you been to Disneyland? There’s a reason it’s crowded. Everyone wants to be there.”

Jones stood with Olszewski as the county executive vetoed the legislation. The council overrode the veto but weakened the bill. A committee that would have been able to veto new developments became advisory only. Two years after forming, it still hasn’t met.

He was the lone council critic of the county’s first inspector general

Jones’ primary opponents brought up that he was the subject of an inspector general investigation in 2022. Jones had asked county officials to help a Towson developer, Mid-Atlantic Properties, pave an alley. Jones and Wayne Gioioso, Mid-Atlantic’s owner, always insisted the county owned the alley.

Gioioso and his companies have contributed thousands of dollars to Jones’ campaigns.

County officials challenged the findings of then-Inspector General Kelly Madigan, and Olszewski insisted Jones did nothing improper. Madigan also investigated Jones for having a campaign “donate” button on his county email signature; Jones said he removed it upon learning of it.

Jones chastised Madigan for frightening employees in 2021.

“Maybe it’s your demeanor, maybe it’s your procedure,” Jones told Madigan. “It scares people.”

Last year, Baltimore County paid a former employee $100,000 after the county, on Madigan’s behalf, filed a lawsuit against him. Klausmeier declined to automatically reappoint Madigan. Protests ensued. Klausmeier instead nominated Khadija Walker, a veteran of the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general’s office.

Five of the seven council members stood by Madigan. Only Jones and Pat Young, a Catonsville Democrat, voted to confirm Walker.

It will be up to Jones, should he prevail in November, to choose an inspector general for a full term. The position has been vacant for six months. He said he will, and the process will be open and transparent.

“What happened in the past was an absolute embarrassment in Baltimore County,” he said. “And because it was politicized, we stand here without an inspector general at all.”