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Mike
Ertel, Fifth District County Council Candidate
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by Ben Boehl -
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Mike Ertel is running for Baltimore County Council in the Fifth
District, which covers Towson, Loch Raven, Parkville and Perry Hall.
Etrel is trying to replace current Councilman Vince Gardina. He became
the Democratic nominee after defeating Bill Paulshock in the primary.
Now Ertel faces David Marks in the November General Election.
Ertel is a commercial insurance broker and served as president of the
Greater Towson Council of Community Associations. Ertel grew up in
Hamilton and became upset when the City didn’t deal with the small
problems like declining schools, lack of police presence, lack of code
enforcement and some of the properties weren’t taken care of by their
landlords. Ertel is concerned that certain areas in the 5th District
are starting to show some of those same signs.
“I watched how Hamilton went down and I see similar problems today in
our district. People voted with their feet and left the City. We don’t
want to see that happen in our area,” Ertel explained. “People will
leave if we don’t provide good schools and a safe community.”
In Perry Hall, the main issue has been the overcrowded schools. Ertel
believes Baltimore County needs to build a new high school for the
area. “Perry Hall High is a huge high school. I heard from parents that
are concerned the kids are slipping through the cracks,” Ertel
added. “A new school would take the pressure off other schools,
too.” He is also in favor of building a vo-tech school in eastern
Baltimore County. Ertel recommends building a vo-tech school somewhere
along the Pulaski Highway corridor since that is still a strong
industrial area.
“Today there aren’t any young people working as electricians,
carpenters, plumbers, HVAC techs and mechanics. We need to teach kids
these basic types of skills,” Ertel said. “It seems like everybody is
supposed to go to college. I’m not saying college is a bad thing, but
it’s not for everyone. We need to provide those students with another
option.”
Overcrowded schools aren’t the only problem in Perry Hall. Ertel said
the population has grown over the past two decades, but services have
not. The Perry Hall Fire Station and the White Marsh Police Precinct
were designed to accommodate a smaller area and haven’t been updated to
meet the demand of the increased population.
“Perry Hall and the surrounding area have seen a lot of growth, but now
what are we going to do with it? How do we keep up?” he asked.
Ertel stated he is not a fan of overdevelopment. He heard about the
plans to upgrade Chapel Road in Perry Hall but doesn’t want that road
or the area to lose its rural presence. He feels the same way about
overdevelopment along the waterfront in Middle River.
“I think we need to be careful on what we do with development,” Ertel
said. “We have to make sure we preserve that character.”
For more information on Mike Ertel, visit www.tellertel.com.
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