Candidate Profile: Allan Kittleman Running For County Executive Again

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Candidates in the Democratic and Republican parties will be competing on Tuesday in their respective primaries to see who will be on the Nov. 8 ballot.

Former Howard County Executive Allan Kittleman is running for the position again. He's going up against candidates Moisen Haghighat, Darren Vilus, Harry Dunbar and incumbent Calvin Ball.

Patch has asked each of the candidates running in select races to fill out a questionnaire, sharing facts about themselves and why voters should choose them to represent their party in November.

Let's start with your name.

Allan Kittleman

What email should be used to contact your campaign?

phil@kittleman.com

Does your campaign have a website?

https://kittleman.com/

What city or town do you live in?
West Friendship

What office are you seeking?
Howard County Executive

What is your party affiliation?
Republican

Please share with us with your education.
I received my undergraduate degree from UMBC, which was a B.A. in political science, and then while working during the day, I attended the University of Maryland School of Law at night to receive my J.D.

What is your occupation?
I have been a Maryland Workers' Compensation Commissioner since December 2018, and previously, I worked as a lawyer handling workers' compensation claims for over 25 years.

Do you have a family? If so, please tell us about them.
I am lucky to have a wonderful wife, who is a teacher, and four amazing kids. One of my daughters followed her mother’s footsteps and became a teacher at Glenelg High School. I am also lucky to have one 2-year old granddaughter and another on the way.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?
No, I don’t have any family members who work in Howard County Government, though I do have a stepmother who is a State Delegate in District 9A.

Have you ever held a public office, whether appointive or elective?
Yes, I was honored to serve Howard County in a number of capacities, including as a County Councilmember (1998-2004), State Senator (2004-2014), and most recently, as County Executive (2014-2018).

How old will you be as of Election Day?
I will be 64 years old on Election Day.

Why are you seeking this office?
Howard County is my family, my community, my life. These past few years, we have seen our community go in the wrong direction: we’re more divided, more taxed and more worried about our shared future. Throughout my time as a public official, I established a strong record of accessibility, accountability, and equity. As Howard County Executive, I tackled the issues that struck at the heart of our community. Many Howard County residents have expressed their disappointment, even sadness, over the direction our County has taken since 2018.

We live in a special place, but now our community is splintering, taxes are increasing, critical projects, including those to save Historic Ellicott City, are lagging, and we are less safe.

It is for these reasons, and because I love Howard County and its people, I’m running to, once again, be Howard County Executive.

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

There is no doubt our top issues are the education of our children, protecting our neighborhoods, and making Howard County more affordable, which I will address below. Another pressing issue is the lack of integrity and transparency of the current county leadership. Recent revelations about County Executive Ball’s pervasive use of his county office for campaigning underscore the need for strong action to restore the integrity of our leadership.

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

The County Executive’s Office should focus on the interests of the community, not the County Executive’s personal political future. Further, we need to establish an independent county Inspector General to ensure officeholders remain accountable to the citizens.

Unlike the current County Executive, I am not accepting any special interest money, including from development companies, to ensure that if elected, there will be no question that the focus of my decisions will be on what’s best for the people of Howard County.

I have a strong record of working across the aisle and delivering common sense solutions focused on what’s best for our community. Unfortunately, it’s clear that over the past few years, national politics has affected our local decision-making as our current County Executive focuses on his personal political future.

School redistricting has become more political–no longer focused on capacity and proximity. County Executive Ball removed School Resource Officers from our Middle Schools and has limited their interactions in High Schools.

In addition, our police officers are nervous to be active in the community because they do not feel they have the support of leadership should something go wrong while they are doing their jobs. As a result, violent crime rates are at record highs. Homicides in 2021 were the highest we have seen since 1984, which is the most in history. Carjackings have more than doubled over the past few years.

Lastly, Howard County has become less affordable under County Executive Ball as he has raised our Fire Tax 34%, our trash fee 48%, and our transfer tax up 25%, among others.

As County Executive, I held the line on taxes and fees, had a plan to expand our School Resource Officer program, and brought communities together to tackle the serious issues, and I would continue that focus moving forward.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?
Howard County is less safe, more expensive, and it’s clear national politics is driving decisions across our community, even in our schools. Not only that, but integrity in our leaders should matter. When he took office, County Executive Ball hired his campaign manager to work in his office. Not only did he continue to pay her thousands of dollars from the campaign, but she was also tasked with deciding what information the public received from his office. Incredibly, it was recently learned that she wrongfully denied access to nearly 500 hundred emails between County Executive Ball and a local developer’s attorney. This is a huge breach of trust and transparency. Howard County deserves better.

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

I will make Howard County more affordable by reducing unnecessary taxes and fees, more safe by giving our officers the resources and support they need to protect our communities, and ensure that our students have a safe and secure learning environment in their neighborhood schools.

Lastly, I will fight to get big money out of politics. For the first time, Howard County voters will have the opportunity to pick a candidate who is not funded by big donors. As the only County Executive candidate participating in the Citizens’ Election Fund, I do not accept any donations from PACs, businesses, including development companies, and other special interests. I am only accepting donations from individuals, and no one can donate more than $250 for the entire campaign, unlike County Executive Ball who has decided to not participate in the program. And when I am elected in November, I will remain in the Citizens’ Election Fund. Therefore, I will be the first county executive to not accept donations from special interests while in office.

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

As County Executive, I expanded our school capacity by leading the process to build an elementary school in Turf Valley, replace Talbott Springs Elementary School, accelerated the Hammond High School renovation/addition, and began the process to build the 13th high school. I put our schools on a path to being safer by expanding the School Resource Officer program and enhancing school security measures.

I worked to deliver key community enhancements that had been talked about for decades with little progress, such as the dualization of MD 32, a new Circuit Courthouse, Bridge Columbia, preserving the Harriet Tubman School (Howard County’s last segregated high school), building the Community Resources Campus, and much more.

I did all of that while holding the line on taxes and fees, and I would look to build on that strong record with the sole focus of improving our community.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
I was very close to my father, former State Senator Bob Kittleman. The night he passed away in September, 2004, he told me and my family, “Love each other, work hard, trust each other, and be happy when others succeed.” This has stuck with me ever since, and has helped direct my thoughts and actions both in my personal and professional life.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?
While I was the first of my family born in Maryland, I have been a Howard County resident all of my life. My heart and my soul are in this community. It has been hard to watch the division that has taken place these past few years. I am running because we need a change in leadership if we hope to bring Howard County back together. I believe we need a leader focused on what’s best for Howard County–not on their own personal political future. That’s why I’m running for Howard County Executive and I hope to earn your vote.