Zuryna: Welcome to Operations
Unfiltered, the podcast that
takes you behind the scenes of
influencer and talent management.
I'm your host, Zaina.
Today's episode, we're diving into a
topic you might not have thought about how
local government and social media collide.
I had the chance to have a great convo
with Councilman David, marks of District
five in Baltimore County to get the
scoop on what's happening locally, and
of course to see if our elected officials
are keeping up with the digital age.
If you've ever wondered how social media
can shake up public service, or just want
the inside track on what's going on in
District five, you're in the right place.
So without further ado, let's
get into this week's episode
of Operations Unfiltered.
To start, can you tell us a little
bit about yourself and are you
a Baltimore native and how you
got started as a councilman?
So , I've been on the Baltimore
County Council since 2010.
, I'm actually the senior
member of the county council.
I've lived in Northeastern Baltimore
County almost my entire life.
Uh, grew up.
Yeah, yeah.
Um, I grew up in Perry Hall.
Okay.
Yeah.
So I, I've been here for a while.
Um.
And, uh, I grew up when Perry Hall
was really starting to, to develop.
I've been here for a while.
, I'm 30 now, but I lived in Perry
Hall since I was maybe 14, so
I've been here for quite a while.
So I love the area.
And I was wondering, where
did you go to school?
You mentioned you've been here for a long
time, so where did you go to school and
did that have an impact on you wanting to
get into the community service industry,
or service business, if you will?
I hate to call it a
business, but the service.
Civic service.
Sure, sure.
Yeah.
So I, I, I went to Perry Hall schools.
I graduated from Perry
Hall High School in 1991.
Okay.
Um, I went to College Park, and I've
always remained active in the community.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, the, the best avenue
for anyone interested in, in
getting elected, I think is to,
start small, start local, start.
And so that, that was, you know,
basically where I was introduced to,
to getting things improved in the
community and working for schools
and parks and things like that.
Well, I've definitely heard your name
throughout the community, so I would
say you're definitely leaving your mark.
Oh, thank you.
Yeah, and I would say what has been one
of the most rewarding aspects of serving
as the councilman in Baltimore County?
Is it one particular initiative?
Is it the countless people
you get to, interact with?
What, what gives you that sense of reward?
Like, I've, I've truly
done something good.
I think, number one , is, is interacting
with so many different people.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, we, we live in a society
when, when people are very jaded and
cynical at times, but there's an awful lot
of good people from all walks of life who,
who really wanna do the, the right thing.
Mm-hmm.
And, um, it's been a pleasure to meet.
A lot of them, uh, my district
has changed throughout the years.
I, I used to represent
from Towson to Perry Hall.
Mm-hmm.
And now I represent from Kingsville
to Middle River, so I've, um Oh, wow.
Yeah.
So, so I've, I've covered about
40% of the county's population.
Um, that is insane.
That's, that's a huge number.
And that seems like it's
such drastically different.
Communities, even though
they're all within the same
district or similar districts.
That seems like there's a lot of
different, you know, personalities,
a lot of different community needs.
And I'm wondering how do you manage
dealing with all of that, all the
different requirements, all of the
different needs and wants of, of everyone.
I, I find that people really want
fundamentally the same things for
example, I, I think the physically,
the, the, one of the most, the
proudest things I've, I've gotten
accomplished is, open space and parks.
People value open space and parks and,
um, you know, we, we've been able to
advance more than a dozen parks if you,
if you drive along hunting Boulevard.
It's like a green belt.
You know, they, they want good schools.
Um, and we, we've tried to work
very hard to build new schools and
to reduce overcrowding at schools.
They want infrastructure roads.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, at, at the local
level, you don't see the degree
of partisanship you see at the
federal and state levels For sure.
Um, and, and people really, you
know, they, they don't want excuses.
Um, yeah.
This is, the buck really does stop here.
Absolutely.
I love that.
And can you speak to some of
the key initiatives that you're
currently working on, or that
you've already have completed?
I know you mentioned, the
Green spaces, which I love.
I go to Honey go quite frequently,
so thank you for all the work there.
But are there any other things that you
guys are working on that you would love
to talk to the audience about or, or let
us know what's coming down the pipeline?
Yeah.
I mean, I think, um, traffic safety, uh,
infrastructure improvements, they are key.
Mm-hmm.
Um, the Silver Spring Road
corridor where there's a lot of,
um, been a lot of crashes Yes.
Where the roads were designed basically
based on 1990, the 1950s models, right?
Mm-hmm.
Uh, their expressways, they're
not really roads where people can
walk or bike, or safely travel.
Yeah.
Um, I, I, I'm working right
now to try to get a library
built in the Middle River area.
I did see that.
That, yes.
Can you speak a little bit
more about how that came about?
Sure, sure.
That's a great initiative because
it's an example of how during times
with limited means, government
can get things done, so mm-hmm.
Uh, the developer of the greenlea
community of, uh, Maryland 43, uh, will
be building the structure and the county
will lease it from the developer 4 25
years, um, at about $800,000 a year.
Mm-hmm.
So that allows us to get
a library in that area.
Yeah, quicker.
And also it helps the developer and the
businesses around there because they can
get new tenants coming to those stores.
Absolutely.
They'll go to the library,
they'll go to lunch.
Yeah, for sure.
And that is a, I, I noticed, uh, that area
is sort of like a food desert as well.
Mm-hmm.
Um, I've seen it through social
media, which is something
that I'll talk about later.
But they've also been
asking for a supermarket.
I even saw that there was a
petition for Trader Joe's.
Can you also speak a little bit
about what's on the horizon for
that, if you can speak to that?
Sure.
Well, they, they have, they
have grocery store interested.
It's, it's just not kind of the,
should I say, I don't wanna use
the word upscale, but the kind of
the, the nature, the trade Joe's.
Yeah, for sure.
They have kind of a, a mid-range grocery
store that's interested in going in there.
I, you know, I would like to see some
sort of, business in there that does
provide, groceries in that area.
There, I think you're gonna see an
announcement probably there within the
next six months, but it is a food desert.
Yeah.
F food deserts are in all places.
Right?
For sure.
And there's, there's an example of a place
that just does not have a grocery store.
I agree.
I agree.
And I'll be interested to see what comes
along from that and, and what we can
do to make that area a little bit more.
Food safe, I would say.
Yeah, absolutely.
And in addition to, you know, the
food insecurities or food desert
areas, traffic situations, are there
other challenges that are facing your
specific area, and if so, what are you
planning to do to address those concerns?
I.
One of our biggest challenges is the fact
that we're a county that, , developed very
fast in the 1950s, sixties and seventies.
, and our infrastructure, our schools
are just deteriorating their aging.
Mm.
So we have to replace those.
Areas, but we also have to provide
for new services and growth areas.
Mm-hmm.
So we have to kind of do both.
I think you, you develop solutions
by working with private sector
like we're doing with the library.
Mm-hmm.
Um, you know, people don't wanna
be taxed more to be very frank.
For sure.
So, yeah, so, so you
know, there's sort of.
Affordability issue.
Mm-hmm.
Um, so I, I think, you know,
we're trying to find other
ways of financing improvements.
For example, we need to build
new volunteer fire companies.
So, uh, whenever someone is
picked up in an ambulance, they
pay, billing, they pay fees.
That money goes right into the,
the county general fund now.
We're working to return that
money back to the volunteer
fire company so they can use it.
So it's, it's kind of looking
at things very creatively.
Yeah.
And, and it is about having
the right amount of growth.
Mm-hmm.
I mean, a lot of people don't want any
new development, and I understand that.
But on the other hand, if
you, you don't develop mm-hmm.
You, you don't, you
don't regenerate, right.
You don't get, you don't get more
sophistic, more diversity, more
sophistication, more, you know, vibrancy.
And you also don't get
the revenue you need to.
Take care of things.
Yeah.
So it's refine that balance.
Do you find that, do you find that
you're having to, when you do have
these in-person conversations that
you're having to reiterate this
messaging to your constituents?
And if so, are they receptive
when you're telling them this?
Because I know to your point, a
lot of people are like, I just
don't wanna see all of this growth.
I miss how things work.
But I, I do see your point, and I
do see that the need for growth.
So I'm wondering if this is something
that you're echoing and, and how
are people receiving it when you're
telling this to them in person?
I think once you explain things,
people are more likely to understand.
For sure.
For example, a White Marsh Mall.
It's very interesting.
If you ask people, uh, about White Marsh
Mall, they'll tell you, well, they don't
want any apartments going in there.
They don't want any houses going there.
And then you'll say to them,
well, what should go there?
And they'll say, well, we don't
like apartments because of the
traffic, but we'll take a, a Wegmans.
Right?
Which doesn't make sense because a Wegmans
brings more traffic, so it's more traffic.
Yeah, you, you, you kind of walk
through things with them and you
say to them, look, we, we, you
know, residential development.
Has less traffic than
commercial development.
And, and you know,
something has to go there.
Last thing you want is a dead mall.
Exactly.
Exactly.
Yeah.
So most people, when you, when you
explain things, they'll understand,
you kind of have to balance for sure.
And I, I love that.
I love open dialogues and open
communication, and I really think
that's, I have to give kudos to you
because like I said, you are very.
In touch with the community,
so I really appreciate that.
And that brings me to my next
question, which is all about
social media and digital engagement
here on Operations Unfiltered.
We like to talk about the logistics
behind influencer marketing,
management media, all of those things.
And I'm wondering how do you and
your team use social media to
connect with your constituents to
con connect with business owners?
Just the public in general.
I used to hear this rule that if
you're an elected official, you
should post at least once a day.
And, and quite frankly know you, you
really need to do it all the time.
You, you, yeah.
You, you, you need to almost overwhelm
constituents, with information.
. And they can choose to read it or
not, or scroll right past it, but
they, they certainly can't accuse
you of not keeping them informed
So, you know, we had a water main break in
white Marsh yesterday, and we were trying
to post updates as much as we could.
Social media is in, in general, I
think, a very positive force in society.
, certainly people are more educated,
they more, they understand things.
, as an elected official, to be very frank.
. Your name recognition goes up.
Yeah.
You know, PE people appreciate and they
understand you and, and it allows you
to reach folks in an unfiltered manner.
I will tell you, you know, there it
is a double-edged sword sometimes.
Yes.
You have, you, you, you have to
be very careful about responding.
And when you get a negative response,
you know, sometimes you, you just
read it, you pause and you walk away.
People are allowed to, to
express their opinions.
And you have to be very careful about,
, going back and forth with people.,
I agree with that.
And I think that, it shows a lot of
decorum on your end because at the
end of the day, we are human and
it takes a lot to have negativity
just spewed at you all day.
So I, I truly appreciate that advice.
Um, and I'm wondering, has there ever
been an occasion where you've had to
respond to a negative comment or where
you've had to respond to some not so
nice things that people are saying?
Yeah.
And you do it in a very kind
of, clinical way, right?
You say, no, no, thank
you for your comment.
Here's the statistics.
And you move on.
And a lot of times people
will, will defend you.
If it's an unfair comment.
They'll say, look, he's trying his best,
or, uh, you know, you're simply wrong.
Yeah.
And so, and I think that
honestly, that's a direct.
Election of the work that you're doing,
because people do, I've seen it myself.
People will really go to bat for you.
So again, kudos to you for the work
that you and your team are doing,
because people will ride for you.
So I appreciate that.
Oh, thank you.
Thank you.
Yes.
Yeah.
And then I was gonna
ask, with the rise of.
Influencer marketing, social
media management, all of that.
Have you and your team ever worked with
influencers or content creators to get
messaging out about specific initiatives?
Or is that something that you're
interested in doing going forward
if you haven't done so in the past?
Yeah, I think we'd be interested
in a lot of different techniques.
I think the county executive's
office probably does it more.
Because they, they're the, the
county executive's like a CEO
of Wall of Baltimore County.
Okay.
Um, but definitely, you know,
there's a lot of stakeholders.
Yeah, there's a lot of ways
to, to skin a cat as they say.
Yeah.
And I think, you can use all
those tools at your disposal.
Okay, well I Would you
be open to doing that?
Yeah.
You specifically in the Councilman Mar?
Sure.
Okay, perfect.
Well, for anyone who's listening,
Councilman Marx is open to working with
influencers, and I truly think that
with the key initiatives that you have,
especially with the library opening, that
could definitely be an opportunity to
work with some local creators to get the
word about out about those initiatives.
So definitely would love to see how
that, how that can come into fruition.
And then speaking of social media and
the TikTok ban, the looming impact of
that, the economic impact of what losing
TikTok could mean for small business
owners, what are your thoughts and
opinions on that whole TikTok situation?
Hmm, that's very interesting.
Um, you know, I, I, I do hear the,
these people who complain about
the ownership of TikTok, right?
And I think, you know, we would prefer
probably to have someone who, not of,
associated with, , communist China.
But on the other hand, you know,
TikTok is an avenue for many
people, expression and information.
And, um, you know, I, I think in the
end of the day, it's gonna continue.
I teach in my other job.
Uh, I'm, I'm a special education
teacher at a high school, and
honestly, I see the, the, the power
of, of social media and that venue
in particular with young people.
So I, I think ideally.
Different ownership, but
continue its operations.
I agree with that.
I agree with that.
And I think a lot of people are
under the same notion as that.
So thank you for sharing that.
And then the last question that I
have surrounding social media and
digital engagement, um, is that with
the rise of digital marketing, we
have a lot of small business owners
in and around Baltimore County.
How can they leverage social media
in this digital age to increase their
sales, or increase their brand awareness?
What do you think they should be doing?
They should be partnering
with like-minded, companies,
agencies, to support one another.
They should be, sharing across
different platforms, but they also
should be involved in the community,
physically involved in the community
because people do prefer that that
one-on-one touch that's very, uh,
very traditional and very important.
And to your point, we do have the
Perry Hall Business Association.
Yeah.
Um, are there other organizations like
that where small business owners could
benefit from, or is that one of the
main, organizations in Baltimore County?
Yeah.
That's one of the main ones, yeah.
And I would also get involved in
those neighborhood pages, Perry Hall,
uh, neighbors, places like that.
Yeah.
The neighborhood pages are where a
lot of the inter interaction occurs.
I def I second that.
Lots of negative comments, but there's
lots of positivity, lots of, information
about what's going on in our community.
So definitely agree there.
And then I guess, how do you see social
media evolving in local government
outreach, especially over the next couple
of years, , what is your vision or what
do you think that social media will,
how, how will that impact the local
government in the next couple of years?
I view social media as an
important part of citizenship.
Engagement, getting projects
finished, elected officials
hearing from their constituents.
Honestly, when you see likes
on a post that tells you.
You're doing the right thing.
Yeah.
And then the comments sometimes tell
you you're doing the wrong thing.
Yeah.
Uh, no.
No, but it, it, social media
is a fundamental part of
citizenship in the 21st century.
It's here to stay.
I agree.
I agree.
The last piece that I wanted to
get into is the personal notes.
How can people, get
involved in their community?
What is the first step that you
would recommend them taking?
I.
Well, people can always contact me, right?
My, I'm, I answer my own Facebook.
I have an Instagram, I answer
my own emails, um, so they
can just go that route.
Um, but, you know, we have a
budget town hall meeting coming
up at Perry Hall High School.
That's when March 19th.
But there's these town hall meetings
all around the county and, and my
colleagues are also very engaged as well.
I mean, all, all seven of us.
Have very active internet, presence.
So go up to one of us, introduce
themselves and we can at least point
you in the right direction toward
community associations and other
ways that you can get involved.
I love that.
Okay.
And then the, on a personal
note, I'm very big on reading.
I'm in my book era.
I'm actually reading, why making
others happy is making you miserable.
I'm also reading the Psychology of Money.
So are there any books that
you have read or are currently
reading that you would suggest?
To our readers, our,
our listeners, rather.
I like a lot of historical books.
I like books about the presidents, the
Robert Caro books on Linda Johnson.
Okay.
Yeah, I like historical reads.
I always enjoy reading
about leadership, right?
Yes.
, Lincoln team of rivals, things like that.
Okay, we'll definitely
add those to our book list.
Okay.
Very good.
And last but not least, how can
people stay up to date with all
the things that you're working on?
I know you mentioned you have your
Facebook, what's your email address?
Is there a newsletter
that people can tune into?
Just give us all of your contact
information so everyone can stay in touch.
Sure.
Our Facebook page is, the handle is
County Councilman David Marks, M-A-R-K-S.,
and then, we are on
Twitter or X, excuse me.
Yeah.
David, David S.
Marks.
And then we've Instagram,
which is Councilman David.
Actually it's David S.
Marks, and then, and then I have a
newsletter, so if, if you drop me an
email, uh DD marks@baltimorecountymd.gov,,
that goes out every month.
Okay.
Per, and then you mentioned
March 19th, I believe, is the
next budget meeting, correct?
That's correct.
So that'll be March 19th, 6:00
PM at Perry Hall High School.
So for anyone who is able to attend,
I strongly recommend it, but.
Thank you so much for the time today.
Sure.
Councilman Mark Instagram
is Councilman David Marks.
There you go.
Councilman David Marks.
Okay, perfect.
Thank you so much.
This has been an absolute pleasure.
Like I said, I love giving an inside look
into all the things and see how we can,
find synergy between different industries
and social media and influencer marketing.
So this is very helpful.
I appreciate it.
Very good.
Thank you.
My pleasure.
Thank you.