Mike Pantelides Runs For Anne Arundel County Council In District 6

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — It's primary election season in Maryland. Early voting runs from Thursday, July 7 through Thursday, July 14. Primary election day is Tuesday, July 19. Voters can also return their ballot by mail or place it in a dropbox.

Residents can learn when, where and how to can vote by clicking here. Voters can see which districts they live in by using this tool. Visit this link to see who is running in each district.

Patch asked County Council and county executive candidates to complete a questionnaire outlining their priorities. Anne Arundel County Council District 6 candidate Mike Pantelides participated in our survey. Pantelides' unedited responses are posted below.

Name

Mike Pantelides

Campaign website

http://mikeforcountycouncil.co...

City or town of residence

Annapolis

Office sought

County Council District 6

Party affiliation

Republican

Education

West Virginia University Bachelor of Arts

Occupation

For the past 5 years I have been the Executive Director for the Small Business Office at the Department of Labor

Family

My wife Alexandra and I have a 2 ½ year old Luca. Both of our immediate families live in the area. I come from a big Greek family and my wife from a big Italian family

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Age

39

Previous public office, appointive or elective

I was the Mayor of Annapolis from 2013 to 2017.

Why are you seeking this office?

I am a husband, father, lifelong resident, and former Mayor of Annapolis who wants to make real change to improve our community.

During my time as Mayor, I kept my promise to not raise taxes, stopped over development, and built the city's first solar energy park. Leading 600 employees with a $100M budget gives me the experience and knowledge to fix the problems in county government.

Over the last four years our County has:
• Added $300 million in new spending, an 18% increase.
• The county increased our property taxes, incomes taxes and fees.
• Violent crime is on the rise.

When elected I pledge to continue to work in bipartisan fashion to make our communities safer, improve public education – give parents more say, create opportunities for job growth and put our families and communities first in all decisions.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My opponent, the current councilmember, and I have very different visions for the county:
As mayor of Annapolis I did not raise property taxes and I will vote to lower your taxes when elected. My opponent has voted to raise your property and income taxes. There are other issues listed on my website and I encourage people to email me directly with questions mike@mikeforcountycouncil.com

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

There are many other issues including education, environment, transportation, public housing and development.

I continue to believe that the Opioid Crisis is one of our major health and social challenges as it wreaks havoc on patients, families and our economy. Also we need to support more mental health services, more after school programs, work with the business community to help create more jobs

There are other issues listed on my website and I encourage people to email me directly with questions mike@mikeforcountycouncil.com

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I built the Annapolis Renewable Energy Park an award-winning solar energy park on the city's closed landfill with 54,000 solar panels; it created green jobs and will produce $4 million for the city over 20 years with no cost to the taxpayers. I plan to build more in the county. Also we need to do more to stop stormwater runoff and hold people accountable when they break the law.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

I have a passion for politics and helping people. I am running on a platform of change and bringing bipartisan solutions to local government.

You can find more information about me on my social media pages.

Here is a link to my social media account

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mikef...

Twitter https://twitter.com/VotePantel...

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/vote...

Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channe...

Website http://www.mikeforcountycounci...