Important note: The writer of this opinion piece ran against Olszewski during the 2022 primary election.
Early Election Week starts in Baltimore County (and all of Maryland for that matter) next Thursday, on October 24. One of our area’s Congressional battles is between current County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, Jr. and Kimberly Klacik. Johnny O seems like the heir apparent to Congressman Charles Albert Ruppersberger’s throne (in large part because the vast majority of Baltimore’s legacy/establishment/mainstream/multi-million dollar media outlets refuse to tell voters the facts about County Executive Olszewski) but…does he deserve to become the next representative for Maryland’s second congressional district?
Let’s go down the list together, shall we?
- He lied about government transparency and broke his accountability promise. On his web site, his claims that he’s a “bottom line, upfront kind of guy” do not ring true to informed voters’ eyes and ears.
Large postcard flyers were mailed out in the year 2022 about how he has run a transparent administration and will continue to do so. Well…what Johnny’s campaign won’t tell you is that government transparency comes at a cost. Just ask Inspector General Kelly Madigan.
In January 2023, the Baltimore Banner tried to obtain 911 call center data, so that they could compare them to the crime statistics the Olszewski administration released. See screen capture below for proof. The County sent them a $6.7 million invoice. $7.7 million if they wanted digital copies!
I can speak from personal experience that Baltimore County Police demanded hundreds of dollars for two bodyworn camera videos. Johnny is also spending upwards of 550,000 taxpayer dollars to a private law firm to hide unlawfully obtained retiree payments.
Someone like Johnny, who received a large sum of donations the day he announced his candidacy, is without question already deeply entrenched in Washington, D.C. politics. He also received countless endorsements from political elite class/elected officials during that first week. He was a Maryland representative at the Democratic National Convention this year. If you take a look at his Facebook page however, regular everyday working class citizens are not giving him their endorsements!
All those donations and endorsements don’t happen by accident. It’s an election process that Johnny and company haven’t exactly been transparent about. Regular everyday citizens are not privy to what was said and done behind their backs.
Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger’s retirement plan has been in the making and no doubt internal behind closed doors in vape smoke filled DNC rooms (I may be exaggerating with that last part) campaigning went on. His father, John Olszewski Sr., right there by his side doing the behind the scenes wheeling and dealing to convince establishment Democrats (including special interest groups) to give his son their seal of approval. After all, Olszewski got his start in politics not with an election but with an installment by the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee after Delegate John S. Arnick resigned. Prior to that, he somehow managed to become apart of the County School Board as a student. Did his father, then County Councilman John Olszewski, Sr. get him that position?
Most importantly, the big Democratic donors were convinced to be in Johnny’s pocket.
Lots of favors will be owed to these wealthy donors. Lots of favors will be owed to elected officials who had Johnny’s back. If elected, Kimberly Klacik doesn’t have those political hurdles. She’s a lone wolf running a small campaign with average income County residents standing by her side.
If “Johnny O” is so open, honest and accountable, why did he refuse to debate his opponent? Could it be that he fears that she will expose all of his wrongdoing in front of a large crowd?
- Back in November 2022, Olszewski promised four more years of County Executive leadership to his supporters, but decided to monkey branch just two years into his second term. Johnny has proven himself to be an opportunist and he will continue to be an opportunist if elected.
- Contributed to inflationary spending during the pandemic era. The County Council spent money like drunken sailors with all of the federal money they received, not caring that they were devaluing Baltimore County residents’ buying power. $35.7 trillion of national debt is not a joke, but the majority of the County Council simply don’t see that they are part of the bigger problem. Add up all the local municipalities across the country spending federal taxpayer dollars and you can see where the issue lies. Every dollar that they spend makes the money in your bank account worth less. For those on fixed incomes, it’s become a huge problem! These elected officials–“Johnny O” included–don’t understand how/why outspending this country’s gross domestic product (see chart below) is a problem. Or they simply don’t care! I’m not sure which is worse.
- Olszewski illegally forced Klacik’s business to temporarily shutdown in 2020 and then mocked her this past April for taking a government sanctioned forgivable loan. Is Olszewski familiar with the Bill of Rights’ takings clause? Has he even read the entire Constitution that he took an oath to protect and defend?
- Speaking of which, after pledging to not raise County taxes he went ahead and spearheaded historic tax increases. On his campaign web site video, he brags about historic investments without explaining that they happened thanks to taxpayers. Spending other people’s money is not an accomplishment, Mr. Olszewski!
- Free and reduce priced school lunch application approvals are on the rise. In my opinion, Johnny tried to hide the real numbers with the free breakfast/lunch program. This is a key indicator of how awful Baltimore County’s economy truly is.
- Johnny cares more about welcoming “New Americans” than ensuring the financial stability of native born Americans. He violated federal law in the process. These “welcoming” policies have large economic implications that Olszewski has no serious interest in discussing with concerned citizens. After all, he needs to keep that CASA in Action special interest endorsement. The FBI/Department of Justice are refusing to investigate this matter. The Maryland State Police also have no interest in stopping his executive order either.
- “Eviction Court”. Has Johnny ever sat in a courtroom and listened to poor tenants who can no longer afford to pay their bills? Property taxes and higher energy costs have unintended consequences! To his credit, millions of dollars were spent to cover the costs during the COVID-19 lockdowns, but the problem has persisted because of his policies. People like myself tried to warn him back in the year 2020 that this would happen, but our pleas were ignored on social media/replied to with form letter e-mails. Why should Johnny care when he’s living the good life in a big house?
- Baltimore County Public Schools continue to be a mess. Students are graduating, but they are ill prepared for “the real world”. Many are outright illiterate yet they somehow received a diploma. Johnny rarely showed up to school board meetings during his County Executive tenure, which always puzzled me. Why wouldn’t a former high school teacher attend a vast majority of school board meetings?
- Speaking to random County residents, the rodent infestation issue is still a problem. Rat traps are neglected by County workers. If the basics can’t be handled, how can we trust the more complex issues to be properly addressed?
- Johnny still has not properly answered for his mRNA injection promotion and County employee mandates. Baltimore County’s vaccine award winning Health Department Director was finally ousted this past year, but for other reasons. The COVID-19 vaccine mandates are an issue of serious concern even to this day. An issue I brought up during the 2022 primary election.
- Johnny enjoys talking a lot about Climate Change. He drastically changed many residents’ economic climate by supporting former Governor Hogan’s illegal lockdown measures. PPP loans weren’t enough to bail out many businesses. Politicians like Johnny O–who don’t understand how important fiscal responsibility is–don’t want to talk about the record numbers of Americans still living with their parents after the age 30.
- Johnny did nothing (that I’m aware of) to stop a major contributing factor to the housing costs crisis. is BlackRock, a Wall Street company similar to BlackRock or employees of BlackRock among his donors? That’s a serious question. If affordable housing and social equity is a high priority, why didn’t Johnny stop the bleeding in 2018?
- After all of the economic destruction that happened during the years 2020 and 2021 (on top of the local tax raises), Johnny O gave himself a taxpayer funded raise in 2022. His salary went from $175,000 per year to $192,000. That’s nearly $3,700 per week gross income! How many people do you know make that kind of money? If he were an honorable and sympathetic leader, he would have demanded a salary reduction!
The list goes on and on by I think the point has been clearly made. Johnny O’s words cannot be trusted. His promises are as empty as many of our bank accounts sadly are. The question remains…why does Kim Klacik deserve your vote? Because what Olszewski claims that he will do, I honestly believe she will do.
During her tenure as talk show host at WBAL Radio and AM680 WCBM, she voiced concerns that regular everyday people had. She, like myself, has been an outsider looking in at all of the nonsense that goes on everyday with local, state and national politics. Wondering why certain policies that are not grounded in reason, logic and facts are still standing. Frustrated by big money politicians like Johnny Olszewski, Jr., she sacrificed her job at WCBM to run a political race while Johnny O was able to keep his taxpayer funded County Executive income going. It takes intestinal fortitude to walk away from guaranteed income and that’s exactly what Klacik did. Instead of complain from behind a microphone like many political pundits do, she put her actions where her vocal cords are.
Klacik will be apart of the crowd who gets government spending under control. That’s a promise that Olszewski can’t make.
Unlike Johnny, she’s truly apart of the middle class. She understands the importance of people being able to protect their personal resources. If given the chance, I believe she will do good by the people and not just her biggest donors. She’s the kind of person who is able to look at future problems before they come present day problems. She’s the kind of person who does her own grocery shopping…unlike her opponent who can easily afford to get the best quality organic groceries delivered to his front doorsteps.
Kim Klacik has the tenacity to clean up the mess that guys like Dutch Ruppersberger made! That’s the bottom line.
Out of touch money bags Olszewski talks a very good charming game and has thousands of yard signs that were placed by his well funded (indirectly by County taxpayers) staff, but his actions during the past six years betray those words. My hope is that District 2 voters will see through the Olszewski dynasty’s smog and mirrors.
