6th District Race: Joe Toolan Taps Advocacy, Organizing Work In Council Bid

ANNE ARUNDEL CO., MD — Ahead of the primary elections in June, Patch has invited candidates running to represent the region on the Anne Arundel County Council to complete a questionnaire touching on a variety of key issues.

Candidate responses will be published verbatim in the run-up to the primaries on Tuesday, June 23.

Related: Who's Running For Annapolis In 2026 Primary

Questionnaire responses for Joe Toolan, who is running to represent the county's 6th District, can be found below:

Name: Joe Toolan

Age: 29

Hometown: Pasadena, Maryland

Political Affiliation: Democrat

Do you have any previous political experience? If so, please state and explain how that experience will influence your time in office if elected.

I come from community organizing and direct advocacy. I have served on many Boards and Commissions and I know firsthand how the legislative process works. I also work at a nonprofit that focuses on federal advocacy for environmental challenges, and have served as Chair of the Maryland Commission for LGBTQIA+ Affairs.

I have worked at the federal, state, and local levels of government to pass relevant legislation and implement enforcement and monitoring – all while meeting the needs of the community. My work led to the passage of the Safe and Inclusive Schools for LGBTQ+ Students Policy at AACPS, the Trans Health Equity Act for the State of Maryland, and many other important pieces of legislation.

I have also built important coalitions with key stakeholders from the Department of Emergency Management to the Department of Health and local police. I have helped to turn systems that do not always work into ones that support everyone in our communities.

What do you believe is the single-most important issue facing voters in the district you’re looking to represent? How do you intend to address those issues?

One of the largest issues in my district is affordable housing and development. I believe that we must take a careful look at where more dense, mixed-use development can occur in our communities. The recent Poverty Amongst Plenty report shows that Anne Arundel County is over 15,000 units short, and that means the new council must work to build new units fast, and also do it in a way that works for everyone.

In District 6, historic Annapolis is unique, and many houses can not change, Crownsville and Millersville tend to be more rural, and residents there do not want their way of life to change. At the same time, we must build to provide affordable living options to our young people, aging adults looking to downsize, hospital workers, police, firefighters, and teachers who do not all live in our County and must travel farther now.

I will work to ensure developers remain accountable to our community members while also working swiftly to fill gaps in our housing supply. I propose to look for better and more consistent permitting at the County level, with the potential to expedite development with more affordable units, or more environmental sustainability. We must grow carefully to ensure our infrastructure can and will continue to function as it should.

How do you differ from other candidates running against you?

I am the only candidate that comes directly from the community organizing and nonprofit world, this means that I am used to working closely with a broad coalition of partners to come together and address concerns of the community. I am also the only candidate who is Latino and Gay so I know first hand the challenges we see in communities as the federal administration targets our people, is taking rights, and kidnapping people of the streets.

I have lived experience in solving problems that benefit everyone, and have a real impact in communities. As the youngest person in the race, I also bring a fresh prospective. While I understand the legislative system deeply, I also bring a different background as a renter and millennial; I also understand first hand the challenges around affordability and a system people are losing faith in.

Finally, I am the only candidate who went through and worked directly with AACPS, so I understand personally the benefits of our public education system.

How would your work experience benefit the goals/objectives you’ve outlined in your campaign and/or the office you’re seeking?

I have spent my entire career dedicated to protecting the environment. I began my career at the Chesapeake Bay Trust, where I worked from a Program Assistant to a Program Officer. At the Trust, I led partnerships that funded everything from oyster restoration to community tree planting, outreach, community engagement and education.

As such, I managed local, state, federal and private funding and worked to bring the best resources to community-based organizations. Currently, I am the Justice and Equity Fund Director at GreenLatinos, managing $30M in federal, local and private funding to small, mostly Latino-led organizations and municipalities.

I lead our work in tree equity, capacity building, and mutual aid. As an organization we lead on federal and state policies from water equity, to public lands, to sustainable communities and climate disinformation. This background also means I know how to bring community voices to the table to advocate for and solve cross-sector environmental challenges, solutions that touch on housing, transportation, energy, and worker rights.

What is your opinion of the work being done by the current officeholder, and how will you improve on it?

Lisa Rodvien, the current officeholder, has done a lot of great work over the years, one of the big things that I applaud her for is the plastic bag ban here in Anne Arundel County. This bill has transformed some of the waste that came from single-use plastic bags in our County.

I have also seen Lisa defend some constituent concerns fiercely, like some zoning changes in the Crownsville and Millersville areas. I have heard on the campaign trail some concerns over community voices and engagement not being where it should be, and I think this is a larger challenge than just our current officeholder.

I would bring a new way of engaging in communities to the table, similar to the way Mayor Littmann brought to the City of Annapolis. Meetings in the community while walking the streets, town hall-style meetings across the district, and open time for all residents to discuss their concerns.

Our government must respond to the needs of the communities directly, and it does not always do that. I know that collaboration amongst members of the Council is also something that is important, and I am excited to bring my collaborative approach to the Council for these needs as well.

How do you believe Anne Arundel County should address data centers?

Anne Arundel County should not be cautious around any data centers until there is more work done at the state level to regulate data centers. I am not necessarily anti-data center, but there must be more reform before development.

If we do not do more to hold data center developers accountable for their own energy strains, and environmental impacts, it could cause more harm than good to our communities, environment, and energy costs.

As a county, we must also work to help residents move to more reusable energy sources with infrastructure and incentives. Data centers may bring some economic opportunity, but we are not prepared for the other impacts they may bring.

Do you believe there should be a data center moratorium or a temporary pause? Explain.

Temporary Pause. As explained, I am not necessarily anti-data center, but there must be more regulations put in place before we allow them to come into our county.

Do you believe there should be data center regulations put in place? Explain.

Yes, data center development must change. They must produce and own their own energy, they must reduce water usage, and thermal increased to water temperature and run more efficiently before any could move forward.

What steps would you take to offset data center impacts to residents’ standard of living, such as rising energy prices?

I believe that data center developers must work to produce their own power and reduce energy usage so costs are not passed to all rate payers. I also support the County working separately to install more clean energy sources on all government buildings, and for new development.

In established communities, I would work to help homeowners do things like installing solar, maybe at a community-wide scale, in order to reduce costs, but also help folks rely less on the energy grid.

How would you distinguish between a good vs. bad data center? Or do you believe no data centers should be in the county/district?

Good data centers do not currently exist, without much reform, there will not be room for data centers due to the impact on our communities, environment, and cost of living.

Gov. Wes Moore signed bills banning agreements between local police and federal immigration officials in February. What is your opinion of the legislation?

I agree with this legislation. What this federal administration is doing is directly targeting anyone not born here, without regard to the actual law of the county. We should not be supporting the kidnapping of immigrants.

What steps would you take to support or readjust that initiative?

There is still some coordination happening even in Anne Arundel County and detention centers. In Anne Arundel County, the County still faxes information to ICE when someone is detained who was not born in the United States.

While this information is available to ICE, we should not be sending it outright and alerting ICE right away. This denies many folks who have not even been through a trial the right to justice before they can be picked up by ICE, even for non-violent offenses.

What is your stance on the establishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in the county and/or your district?

I do not support these centers, we have seen human rights violations time and time again in these centers.

What actionable plans would you undertake to address illegal immigration?

The issue of immigration is a broken system that must be addressed by Congress. Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done on a federal problem at the county level, but I do support the County working to support families and people being wrongfully separated.

Education: What is the biggest issue facing Anne Arundel County Public Schools? How would you address it?

The largest issue facing our schools is funding. While Anne Arundel County leaves about half of the yearly budget to schools, the funding per student compared to neighboring counties is low.

The continued implementation of the Blueprint for Schools is going to cost money, alongside raising teacher salaries, and building and infrastructure funding, there is much work to do to ensure that our schools can continue to provide the best education for our students.

A student brings a gun/weapon to school, which is not fitted with any metal detectors. What security measures would you advocate for to ensure student and staff safety?

Student and Staff Safety is a top priority, and it would be at the top of my list to ensure that if needed metal detectors are installed, it will take time.

Other measures I want to consider are ensuring that there are internal door locks in classrooms, strengthening doors, and using shatter-resistant glass or ballistic films on windows to prevent shooters from entering classrooms.

I would also ensure all public areas can be monitored with cameras, helps identify potential threats and provides situational awareness during incidents.

Do you believe schools need stricter security measures? Metal detectors?

I believe schools need some additional security measures, as well as training and planning. Some of my solutions include employing dedicated school safety directors and additional staff to monitor grounds and conducting regular, trauma-informed training for staff on emergency procedures and active shooter response.

Anne Arundel County is experiencing a housing shortage. What steps would you take to address the crisis?

As mentioned before, the Poverty Amongst Plenty report notes we are about 12,000 units short in Anne Arundel County right now. We must work to standardize reviews and improve wait times for new housing.

However, we must also focus on smart development in the county. I will be a proponent of more mixed-use development and will work to ensure we build transit-oriented development where it makes sense.

I am also a proponent of redevelopment, as well, think of the malls in Glen Burnie, and even some parcels at the Annapolis Mall. If we had more affordable housing close to the hospital and for teachers, firefighters, and police, it would revolutionize our county.

I would also like to see incentives for developers to build sustainably, and with the goal of protecting the environment, installing solar and other clean energy when possible to ensure we can continue to address environmental and infrastructure concerns.

What will you do to encourage affordable/public housing?

I will look to continue development across the County where it makes sense. Data from the last few years shows that any year that over 500 new housing units were available the average costs of housing year over year only increased 2.5% or less. We must be focused on overall housing capacity, I would however, support faster permitting where possible for proposed development that goes above and beyond the affordable housing requirements in Anne Arundel County.

How will you address crime in the county/your district?

There are many ways to work to address crime, one way is to enhance the collaboration and connection with our local police. I work in communities that do not tend to trust law enforcement, including Latinos who do not trust anyone at the moment, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Thanks to the work of Annapolis Pride, both the City of Annapolis and County have worked closely with dedicated LGBTQ liaisons. These liaisons have come to community events and are known by the community as safe people, I want to see more work directly in communities where trust can be built.

Additionally, investments in programs for youth, young adults, and returning residents alongside more mental health support have worked well to reduce overall crime in the City of Baltimore. I would also invest in these types of programs to provide a more holistic approach at the community level.

Finally, there have been challenges bringing in enough police for the work of the County. I am supportive of more police in a community based policing model.