In a race that came down to a mere 98 votes, Kenneth Oliver retained his seat as the councilman for Baltimore County’s Fourth District. He triumphed over challenger Julian Earl Jones, earning 28.96 percent of the vote to Jones’ 28.29 percent.
Leronia A. Josey, who also campaigned hard to unseat Oliver, ended up with 25.63 percent of the votes cast in the district.
After the election, Oliver said that in his coming term he would continue on the course he’d set. “I will continue to develop and redevelop the Liberty Road corridor and change its make up,” he said.
There were several important issues in the race, with many of Oliver’s opponents stating expressing dissatisfaction with his work for the District. Many put the fault for failing schools and the lack of economic development in the area directly at his feet.
With less than 30 percent of the votes cast going to the incumbent, it would seem there is dissatisfaction among the constituency. Oliver disputes that assessment. “I’m not sure there was dissatisfaction,” he said. “There was a misunderstanding of what I was doing all along.”
According to Oliver some people that were disturbed by things he had done because they didn’t understand what was happening. He said he is putting together a game plan to address the apparent disconnect between what people are seeing and what he is actually working to accomplish.
He added that he will be unveiling, in a couple of weeks, plans outlining his ideas for the District.
The new Baltimore County Council will be sworn in in December.
