Uniting our region, strengthening our community

For almost 200 years, Baltimore County and Baltimore City were one entity. When Baltimore County was created in 1851, a border was created but not a divide. The City and County have always been joined at the hip through water and sewer systems, shared roads and bridges and overlapping economies.

Thousands of County residents work in City institutions like Johns Hopkins, the Port, or City agencies, while City residents rely on County retail, hospitals and schools. When Baltimore City falters—whether through spikes in crime, disinvestment or failing infrastructure—the County feels it directly. When our families can not find affordable housing or our graduates can not find jobs, they leave our county and go to the city or to another neighboring county.

This deep relationship is not a weakness but an opportunity. And it is an opportunity that we share with our neighbors– The City, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties.

That’s why Nick believes in building stronger partnerships together. We should be pooling our resources because our goals are shared and our values are aligned. We all want governments that work for everyone. We want safety, affordability and opportunity. For all that Baltimore County offers within, we gain as much from outside.

But we need more than cooperation—we need coordination. That means:

City–County Infrastructure Compact

• Regional Water Authority: Establish a joint Baltimore City–County Infrastructure Authority to manage water, sewer, and stormwater systems. Governance would include appointees from both jurisdictions and the state.
• Long-term Investment: Adopt a 10-year capital improvement plan that ensures predictable state and federal support, modeled on the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission in Montgomery/Prince George’s.
• Baltimore Public Power: In coordination with the state and regional partners, we support the formation of a public power corporation to counter BGE and address climate-friendly goals.

Shared Transit & Mobility Plan

• Regional Transit Coordinating Board: Create a Baltimore Regional Transit Coordinating Board with authority across City, County, and Anne Arundel to align investments in MARC, MTA, and local circulators. Together, we can advocate for improvements such as schedule enhancements on state-operated resources like MTA that will greatly improve the lives of residents of the region
• Expand Rapid Transit Circulators: The Baltimore Region needs a next generation of free circulators to connect the many hubs and clusters of activity throughout the region. This is vital to address horrendous commute times while also creating vibrancy in our economy by connecting housing, jobs, retail, community spaces, and town centers across the entire region.

Cross-Jurisdictional Public Safety Task Force

• Share Data: Formalize a Regional Crime Intelligence Hub that combines County, City and federal law enforcement data by championing efforts started with the HIDTA task forces.
• Youth and Repeat Offenders Interventions: Coordinate with the City and state police on shared violent offender lists and youth intervention programs. We must use data-driven approaches to address these populations that often cross jurisdictions while causing an outsized amount of chaos.

Regional Economic Development Council

• Central Maryland Economic Alliance: Launch a Greater Central Maryland Economic Alliance (City, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel, Howard, Carroll, Harford) to coordinate on cluster strategies: logistics at Tradepoint, biotech at UMBC, cybersecurity in Howard, manufacturing in Harford.
• Innovation Hub: Brand the region as “America’s Mid-Atlantic Innovation Hub” by pooling marketing resources.
• Major Projects Funding Cooperative: Negotiate a regional tax-sharing compact for major projects similar to Montgomery County’s arrangement with Gaithersburg and Rockville, so jurisdictions do not cannibalize one another.

Coordinated Housing & Smart Growth Strategy

• Housing Targets: Set regional housing production targets that recognize the 96,000-unit statewide shortfall, with one-third needed in the Baltimore metro.
• Housing Accelerator: Create a Regional Housing Accelerator Fund to pool County/City resources, federal HUD dollars and private financing for mixed-income redevelopment in aging suburbs along the border, such as Pikesville, Woodlawn and Parksville.
• Close the Loophole: Push to close the “Priority Funding Area” loophole so that all counties must align zoning decisions with master plans, eliminating councilmanic vetoes that stall housing.

Annapolis Regional Caucus

• Central Maryland Caucus: Formalize a Central Maryland Caucus in the General Assembly—delegates and senators from the City and surrounding counties—with shared priorities: infrastructure funding, education and housing reform.
• Highway User Revenues: Use caucus power to secure restored Highway User Revenues and equitable distribution of state capital dollars.

As County Executive, Nick will not treat regionalism as a buzzword. He will make it a guiding principle.

When our neighbors succeed, we all succeed. The future of Baltimore County depends on how well we work together.