The Baltimore County Council, shown here in a 2021 meeting, would be increased from seven to nine members under a ballot question county voters will decide this fall. Baltimore County Flickr photo.
Baltimore County voters will decide in November whether to expand the county council, strengthen the Office of the Inspector General and impose term limits on the county’s planning board.
County voters will consider a total of 12 questions, with several bond issues also on ballots.
Marylanders can register to vote during early voting and on Election Day.
If you want to find out where you can vote early, between Oct. 24 and Oct. 31, click here.
To find out where to drop off a mail ballot at a dropbox, click here. Ballot boxes are open through 8 p.m. on Nov. 5, Election Day.
Want to see a sample ballot for your county? The State Board of Elections has a list of every approved ballot for the November election on its website.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the ballot questions in Baltimore County this year:
Question A
This measure would increase the number of elected Baltimore County Council members from seven to nine.
The additional councilmembers would be elected at the next councilmanic election in 2026.
In approving the amendment, the council also proposed new council districts, which would include a second majority-Black district and a conservative-leaning district.
Advocates have pressed for an expansion of the council for years. The current seven-member council was set in 1956, when the county’s population was less than 500,000. The county’s population in the 2020 Census was 854,535.
An advisory workgroup met for four months and recommended the increase to nine members.
The proposed charter amendment would also make changes to other county boards and commissions:
- Increasing the number of appointed Planning Commission members, bringing total membership up to 17;
- Setting the number of members for the County Board of Appeals and councilmanic redistricting commissions to equal the number of council members; and
- Specifying that the County Board of Education be made up of nine nonpartisan elected members from the councilmanic districts, two appointed members, and one student member.
The proposed amendment was passed by the County Council in July by a 5-1 vote, with Councilmember Pat Young (D) voting against. Councilmember Julian Jones (D), the only Black member of the council, was absent for the meeting and later expressed concerns about splitting up Black voting districts and giving too much power to the minority Republicans.
Young, Jones and Council Chair Izzy Patoka, all Democrats, later introduced another bill that would have stricken he proposed district map and provisions about the school board composition, but it failed to pass.
Young said he introduced the second bill because he was concerned about a lack of public input in creating the proposed district map.
The original bill includes a provision that would allow the districts to be redrawn before Oct. 1, 2025, and after each subsequent decennial Census.
Question B
This question establishes the county’s existing Office of the Inspector General within the county charter and includes protections for the watchdog’s work.
The Office of the Inspector General was created in 2019. Kelly Madigan, a former state corruption prosecutor, was hired as the first leader of the agency.
Early on, she faced backlash from some members of the council, and County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D) floated legislation that would have established an oversight board to monitor the IG’s office and limit some of its duties. He later pulled back from that effort after being criticized by a national organization for government watchdogs and instead created an independent Commission on Ethics and Accountability to evaluate the county’s current laws and policies governing public ethics, open government and the Office of Inspector General.
In 2023, that commission recommended that Madigan’s office be strengthened, with more funding, more staff and more access to records, including by subpoena power. It also recommended that the office be enshrined in the county’s charter.
The charter amendment was supported unanimously by the council and Olszewski.
If voters do not approve the ballot question, the office would continue in its current form.
Question C
This ballot question creates a three-term limit for members of the county’s Planning Board and makes all appointments to the Planning Board subject to confirmation by the county council.
If approved, the limit would retroactively apply to all current board members, as well as those in the future.
The proposal passed the county council 6-1.
Borrowing limits
Baltimore County is one of three jurisdictions that are required by state law to seek voter approval for the issuance of public bonds. Nine questions on the ballot are bond issues for various projects, for a total of more than $578 million. They are:
Question D: $5 million for landfill projects.
Question E: $18.5 million for community college projects.
Question F: $55.44 million for storm drain, roads and bridge projects.
Question G: $8 million for parks and recreation facilities.
Question H: $331.14 million toward public school construction and maintenance projects, including the reconstruction or renovation of three high schools (Towson, Dulaney and Patapsco), as well as creation of a new career and technical campus.
Question I: $6 million to preserve agricultural and rural land easements.
Question J: $4 million for projects to bolster the viability of older commercial districts and town centers, such as street and sidewalk repairs, landscaping and lighting improvements.
Question K: $20 million for waterway improvements, primarily stormwater management infrastructure.
Question L: $130.5 million for construction, renovation and maintenance of government buildings, including libraries, senior centers and fire facilities.