How Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka Voted to Loot Your Tax Money Forever (Op-Ed)
EDITOR’S NOTE: While the establishment media was nursing a holiday hangover, The Baltimore County Informer was already inside the vault. Our investigation into the “Pension Heist” (Bill 40-24) was initiated on December 16, 2025, and prepared for release on January 2, 2026.
On January 20, 2026, The Baltimore Brew released their own report on this matter. We welcome the validation; the Brew’s findings confirm the exact legislative maneuvers and million-dollar figures we identified and documented weeks ago. While other outlets wait for the “official” narrative to settle, we find the truth when it’s still being hidden. The receipts for our original December draft—complete with digital timestamps—are available below for those who value transparency over talk.
If you robbed a bank in Baltimore County today, cops would kick down your door, throw you on the ground and slap handcuffs on you faster than faster than the Council can spot a patch of green grass and turn it into a condo! But if you rob the taxpayers from the County Council chambers in Towson? Apparently, you don’t get arrested—you get a pension hike and a promotion.
Why? Because the real bank robbers are wearing suits in the Towson Council chambers.
Councilmen Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka are sitting on a combined $2.3 MILLION+ in campaign cash, funded by the developer and land-use lobby, and they are preparing to run for County Executive. But before they ask for your vote for the top job, they made sure to secure a guaranteed paycheck for life.
Part 1: The Zoning Deception (Your Kids Pay the Price)
Look at the traffic. Look at the overcrowding in your kid’s classroom. That is the result of years of selling out to the developer interests who pour money into Jones and Patoka’s campaign accounts.
Councilman Patoka sponsored the School Overcrowding Bill (Bill 31-24). This bill was supposed to stop development near overcrowded schools. It sounds like good government, right?
But the critics—including affordable housing advocates—say the bill is a sham, designed to placate voters while doing little to fix the crisis. In fact, Jones and Patoka were fighting over which way to appease their donors:
- Jones’s Move: He fought to allow developments (even with affordable units) to move forward, regardless of school crowding, keeping the door open for his developer backers.
- Patoka’s Move: He sponsored a bill so complicated and amended that it risks worsening the affordable housing crisis while failing to solve overcrowding.
They aren’t fighting to fix your school; they are fighting over who gets to keep the developer cash flowing.
Part 2: The Pension Heist (The Ultimate Betrayal)
When they finish their term, they don’t want to rely on the charity of the donor class. They want to rely on your tax money.
On June 3, 2024, the Council passed Bill 40-24. Remember that number. It is the serial number on the gun they used to hold up the treasury.
For decades, county retirees—the people who actually work, like firefighters and teachers—have had their pensions tied to a minimal “Cost of Living Adjustment” (COLA).
Jones and Patoka voted YES to decouple their own pensions from inflation and tie them to the future salaries of active Council members.
The Math of the Steal:
- The Raise: They have already set up future Council salaries to jump to $78,000 (a 13% spike). Their pensions jump automatically.
- The Perpetual Machine: Every future Council raise is a retirement bonus for Jones and Patoka.
- The 5% Club: They gave themselves an unbelievable 5% accrual rate per year of service. This means a 20-year Council member can retire with 100% of their salary as a pension.
The Verdict: They Are Running for Executive to Finish the Job
Jones and Patoka are betting that you are too distracted by the traffic and the rising cost of living to see that the same people causing the problem are the ones securing their futures with your money.
According to the last public filing in January 2025, Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka were sitting on a combined $2.3 MILLION in cash. They have been aggressively fundraising for nearly a year since then, meaning the true figure is likely much higher. They are not public servants, in my humble opinion. They are using their current office to guarantee their wealth while hoarding millions to buy the next one.
Julian Jones ($1.0M+) and Izzy Patoka ($1.3M+) are not running for you. They are running for the Donor Class, and they already gave themselves their severance package.
Prove them wrong!
Draft timestamps:
