Today, Tom's guest is Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski. In his first year in office, Mr. Oszewski has made several high- profile appointments, including hiring women for the first time in County history to lead the Police and Fire Departments.

He was able to do what his predecessor, Kevin Kamenetz, was unable to do: pass the HOME Act, which obliges landlords to accept Federal government subsidies like Section 8 Vouchers as rent payment.

Olszewski, a former state delegate and public school teacher, faces some daunting challenges in the year ahead, among them addressing a spike in violent crime in the County and funding for school construction.

Our conversation was livestreamed on the WYPR Facebook page. You can watch here.

WYPR Reporter John Lee contributed to this show.