CHILDCARE

We have buildings sitting empty.

Families need affordable childcare.

So let’s put those buildings to use.

We can find experienced childcare operators, provide cheap space to use, cut the overhead and have them operate the center at cost.

If we take high rent and overhead out of the equation, suddenly childcare under $300 a week isn't crazy.

Keep me in the loop

Cory Shaffer

Independent for Baltimore
County Council District 5

How We Lower Costs

HOUSING

The county owns lots of land below the URDL. Residents need housing. So let’s build houses on land that we have.

We hire local builders to build smaller, quality homes.

We build a home for $150,000. Sell it for $200,000. A family gets an affordable home and the county gets its money back to build another.

We build them. Sell them. And build some more.

EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS

The County already buys food and supplies in enormous quantities. They get huge bulk discounts.

Families need those same things. And we're all feeling it each week at the grocery store.

So let's buy more of what people need and provide it to families at cost.

The residents who paid for it should get the lower prices too.

ENERGY

BGE will always keep raising rates. They know we don't have any other option.

But Baltimore County already produces energy of its own.

We should start making a hell of a lot more of it.

Let's put solar over parking lots and on buildings. We can use landfills and hydroelectric to create power, as well.

And we can do it without sacrificing the farms and green space we're trying to protect.

We produce our own power. We save money. And we reduce dependency on BGE.

Baltimore county has assets and resources. Lots of them.

We just don't use them to benefit regular people.

I'm running to solve problems and bring new ideas instead of the same old political arguments.

THINK WE SHOULD TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

We don't need another politician telling us everything that's wrong.

We need someone with ideas to actually fix them.

Lower costs are
just the start

Authority: Cory Shaffer For Baltimore County Council (Jaclyn Shaffer, Treasurer).

Housing and high prices aren't the only problems we need to solve.

Infrastructure. Schools. Public safety. Over-Development.

The community members who live with these problems every day usually have a good idea of what they'd like to see happen.

My job isn't just to listen.

It's to use the powers of the office to fight for the solution the community wants.

If we need a bridge built faster, I'd put enormous pressure on every authority standing between us and getting it done.

When a neighborhood doesn't feel safe, stop waiting for the same problems to keep happening.

Start with the people who live there and implement the solutions they actually need.

When something isn't working in our schools, start with what parents and teachers actually want to see changed.

The Community Sets the priorities

The Council member should get to work.

I'm not waiting until i'm elected

Cory Shaffer | Baltimore County Council District 5 Independent Candidate speaking in Towson at the Stop Data Centers in Baltimore County Rally on July 18th. This image is him speaking to a small group and having one-on-one conversations

I'm already putting this into practice.

When Baltimore County started considering data centers, I didn't just complain about it.

I started organizing.

I formed Stop Data Centers in Baltimore County.

We held a rally.

And now we're organizing residents to speak out at the September 3rd public input meeting.

One Voice gets ignored, thousands don't

This is what our elected officials should be doing.

Imagine if every council member spent weeks getting residents informed, organized and ready to speak before a major decision was made.

That's real community input.

That's the difference between representing a community and actually building its power.

click here to Get involved or learn more

I'm Cory Shaffer

County Council

District 5

Independent

for Baltimore

I'm a husband, a dad, and a small business owner.

I started a mental health clinic during the height of the opioid crisis because I saw something that wasn't working and I thought we could do it better.

That's how I've always approached problems.

When something isn't working, I don't just keep doing things the same way.

I ask what do people actually need?

What assets and resources do we already have?

And how can we put the two together?

That's how I came up with the ideas you've just read.

And it's how I'll approach the problems we haven't thought of yet.

Listen to the people living with the problem.

Figure out what's actually getting in the way.

Look at every tool and resource we have.

Then get to work solving it.

That's what I mean when I say elect a problem solver.

Baltimore County
New District 5
(Currently District 3)

Lowering the cost of living is the only way we build a county where people have real economic stability.

Because when people are financially secure, they're less divided. Less afraid.

When that happens, everyone finally has the opportunity to be themselves.

To live up to their fullest potential.

To build a better county and a better community.

Policy & Initiatives

Turn the County Council Office into a Tool for the Community

I want to use this office to represent our district. But I also want to use it to organize our communities. We'll build neighborhood networks and we'll teach residents to have a voice around the decisions affecting their lives. No more backroom deals. The residents are the first to know and there's already a plan in place to stop it.

Give Residents the Power to Fight Back

There are already groups and organizers fighting development and infrastructure projects. And we're all tired of rising costs and powerful interests taking over Baltimore County. Instead of all of us fighting alone, my office will help connect people. We'd give them the information and resources needed to fight back. And that way these isolated battles can become connected. Which in turn builds organized community power.

Make Developers Work For Us

I'll introduce and push for a community benefit ordinance. If you want to build here, you don't get all the benefit and leave our community picking up the tab. With a community benefit ordinance, large projects have to provide defined benefits to the community. If it doesn't work for us. They don't get the permits or zoning change. This mainly applies to large businesses. If a developer wants a permit to build more homes here, then they have to help with our overcrowded schools. And some of those homes have to be affordable so people can start a life. It has to be a mutually beneficial situation.

Fight Back Against BGE

Not only can we start producing our own energy, but we can use bulk buying power to get better electricity rates. Instead of hundreds of households buying electricity individually, the county can combine them into one customer base that has more power. The county can use that buying power as leverage to negotiate better rates.

Education

Countless examples show that spending alone doesn't improve outcomes. The best-performing school systems consistently measure results, identify problems, and intervene when something isn't working. I support public school performance dashboards that give people more transparency. We have to track outcomes and measure the statistics that matter to success. We also provide alternative options like workforce pathways and apprenticeship partnerships. But the main portion in tracking is budget transparency. We have to know where our money is going and how it's being used. Then if there are issues, we implement targeted intervention protocols when students and schools fall behind. I would introduce a bill and pressure the school board to implement each of these practices.

Public Safety

Residents see the same problems happening over and over. The same properties. The same areas. The same trouble spots. It happens because agencies often work separately instead of together. What policy would I introduce? Require coordinated tracking between: police code enforcement public works schools community organizations and publicly report repeat hotspots. How does that improve people's lives? Problems get solved instead of repeatedly managed. Communities become safer. Residents see actual progress instead of temporary fixes.

Get Updates

It's only when life is affordable, that we can build something better.

Authority: Cory Shaffer For Baltimore County Council,
(Jaclyn Shaffer, Treasurer).

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