TOWSON, MD — Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski on Monday announced the creation of a new Affordable Housing Work Group, which will be tasked with making recommendations to bolster the County’s ongoing efforts to expand equitable access to affordable housing.

“We remain committed to meeting our moral and legal obligation to expand access to quality, affordable housing across Baltimore County,” Olszewski said. “I want to thank the county employees, community leaders, and industry representatives who are coming together to help shape our ongoing work to ensure access to quality housing for every resident of our County.”

Under the 2016 Conciliation Agreement and Voluntary Compliance Agreement (VCA) between Baltimore County and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Baltimore County committed to supporting and incentivizing the creation of 1,000 affordable rental housing units by 2027.

To date, the County has met over 50 percent of this goal, with 506 approved affordable hard units created.

To help ensure continues to work toward the goal in the coming years, the Affordable Housing Work Group will review progress to date, examine ongoing challenges, and develop actionable recommendations to further support and incentivize the creation of affordable housing units.

The Affordable Housing Work Group will convene a diverse group of County employees, industry representatives, local stakeholders, and community leaders:

• Stacy L. Rodgers, County Administrative Officer
• Izzy Patoka, Councilman, Baltimore County Council, District 2
• Drew Vetter, Deputy County Administrative Officer
• Terry Hickey, Deputy Director, Housing and Community Development
• C. Pete Gutwald, Director, Department of Permits and Inspections
• Steve Lafferty, Director, Department of Planning
• James R. Benjamin, Jr., County Attorney, Baltimore County Office of Law
• Marsha Parham-Green, Executive Director, Baltimore County Office of Housing
• Dr. Karen Bethea, Set the Captives Free Church
• Kara Beverly, Community Leader
• Ryan Coleman, Randallstown NAACP
• Greg Countess, Maryland Legal Aid
• Leslie Dickinson, Disability Rights Maryland
• Jim French, The French Companies
• David Gildea, Smith, Gildea, & Schmidt
• Bryen Glass, Lochearn Improvement Association
• Ned Howe, Enterprise Community Development
• Derick Johnson, At-Large Planning Board Member
• Dan McCarthy, Episcopal Housing
• Marsha McLaughlin, Community Planning Expert
• Amy Menzer, Dundalk Renaissance
• Chris Mudd Venable LLP
• Gloria Nelson, Turner Station Conservation Team
• Klaus Phillipson, ArchPlan Inc.
• Dan Pontious, Baltimore Metropolitan Council
• Patrick Stewart, Pennrose Development
• Jayson Williams, Mayson-Dixon Companies
• Justin Williams, Esquire, Rosenberg Martin Greenberg, LLP

The first meeting of the Baltimore County Affordable Housing Work Group will be held via WebEx on Tuesday, May 4, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. A schedule for future meetings will be available at the work group’s webpage.

The Baltimore County Affordable Housing Work Group will submit a report to the County Executive by December, 2021.