Pikesville councilman running on a platform of responsive government

Israel “Izzy” Patoka always loved maps.

A child of Holocaust survivors who emigrated from what is now Ukraine, Patoka was often called upon to translate for his parents, who were later-in-life English learners.

Maps, he learned, had their own language. Looking at them, he could figure out how communities flowed together and what were the natural and constructed barriers that separated them.

Patoka, now 67, turned that love of maps into a professional and political career. He graduated from Towson University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in geography and environmental planning. He became an integral part of then-Mayor Martin O’Malley’s neighborhood agenda, serving as the first director of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods and in various state planning roles.

He moved across the city line nearly two decades ago and won a seat on the Baltimore County Council in 2018. After two terms, he said he’s ready for a promotion: He wants to become Baltimore County executive.

In a crowded field, Patoka hopes to distinguish himself with his robust planning background and focus on what he calls “good-government initiatives.”

“The way you articulate public policy is through your budget — your capital budget and your operating budget,” he said in an interview before his announcement at 6 p.m. Monday. “So, if you have specific initiatives you want to do, and you’re not putting them in your budget, then they’re aspirational, rather than something you can actually implement.”

Read full article: Baltimore County executive race: Izzy Patoka announces bid – The Baltimore Banner