Coverage of the first three-way debate among county executive Democratic candidates [video]
Wednesday evening was the first time the three major contenders for the Democratic primary in the county executive race — Sen. Jim Brochin, Councilwoman Vicki Almond, and former state delegate John Olszewski Jr. — shared a debate stage.
A large portion of the evening saw Almond and Brochin going back and forth on the question of developer influence and where new development should be allowed. Brochin said developers have too much leverage in the county and that only central corridors — not green space — should be open for new development, while Almond maintained that it’s new development that brings in tax revenue to support schools and public safety.
Another major topic of the night was gun control. Brochin said Olszewski should have supported the 2013 Firearm Safety Act and that the Sandy Hook massacre of school children in 2012 was “a game changer.” Olszewski accused Brochin of trying to water down the 2013 legislation, and he said he had evolved on the issue and would support it today.
The Baltimore Sun has a recap of the debate, and a new group called Save Baltimore County 2018 also taped the debate; their videos are shared here with permission.
A fourth candidate, Kevin Marron, was invited but did not attend. Marron’s filing with the state Board of Elections lists no website. His Facebook page has numerous entries that are unusual for a Democratic candidate.
On March 30 he posted: “Need Proof David Hogg is totally a Plant? Do a little research and you will see that most of the companies that count on this list are owned by George Soros and his hedge Funds folks. Fact Soros is in a battle to have mergers with Monsanto and Breyer along with the AT&T merger and many of the insurance companies are off shoots of his major companies . This shows you there should be a federal investigation into Soros and his influence peddling. ,folks the Beyer Monsanto merger would basically give him control of all world crops as he seeks to influence his one world goverment. Why is it we are so quick to stop a foreign country Russia from influencing our election and do nothing about Soros who has stated he wants to strip away America’s superpower role in the world. He wants to have a one world goverment where he and his family rule. He is manipulating hundreds of thousands of refugees to destabilize world governments, his influence in Germany, Britain,Ukraine, Turkey and Greece have been ongoing for last ten years and the destalization they have created has stopped these countries from accepting refugees! No problem his plan was with Hillary’s support commit US to Ccept 500,000refugees, the election stopped that . George Soros is at war against the US and no one cares. Soros is really hell bent on destroying Trump because all the other politicians were on his payroll. If you want to see how crazy power mad he is read about his basic war with Hungary his home country, I think it should be against the Logan act because he represents his causes as official US Goverment causes, look the people of Hungary don’t want him or his cause so he labels them as anti US ,and his media empire takes up his cause. The man should be arrested .”
On April 10 he wrote: “Just in case People wondered where I stood on the Gun issue , I think this gentleman says it best .I will NOT BOW DOWN to Political Correctness! The Only thing that stopped the murders at Columbine, Sandy Hook and right here on the Eastern Shore was a Legal gun arriving at the scene of a school shooting. I will not ever Take a penny from any group ,don’t need to ,I’m only looking for Honest voters who are smart enough to know the root of the problem! As a democratic candidate for County Executive for Baltimore County this is how I feel. Doubt if the Sunpapers would have cared about my feelings ,they already have Johnny O and Jim Brochin explaining why they want gun restrictions , I myself say that it’s wrong to say that the NRA has affected my feelings except to thank them for their gun Safety lessons I took inside a Baltimore County Elementary . When we had a gun range in the bottom of Norwood Elementary .Funny ,that was back in the sixties and I don’t think one member was Ever injured by a gun 50years later ? An otherKevinforBaltCoJimBlankenshiptreas”