Chris Jahn Runs For Anne Arundel County Executive

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — It's primary election season in Maryland. Early voting runs from Thursday, July 7 through Thursday, July 14. Primary election day is Tuesday, July 19. Voters can also return their ballot by mail or place it in a dropbox.

Residents can learn when, where and how to can vote by clicking here. Voters can see which districts they live in by using this tool. Visit this link to see who is running in each district.

Patch asked County Council and county executive candidates to complete a questionnaire outlining their priorities. Anne Arundel County executive candidate Chris Jahn participated in our survey. Jahn's unedited responses are posted below.

Name

Chris Jahn

Campaign website

https://chrisjahn4aaco.com

City or town of residence

Glen Burnie

Office sought

County Executive

Party affiliation

Republican

Education

I have attended community college and I have worked my way up the corporate ladder through hard work.

Occupation

I have almost 30 years of management\leadership experience. Eight of those years in multi unit management. The past fifteen years have been spenbt working for a franchise of Valvoline Instant Oil Change where I have worked as a store manager, an area manager overseeing 12 locations and currently I am their corporate recruiter.

Family

I am happily married to my wonderful wife Dawn for the past 13 years. I have 2 young adult boys. CJ is 25 and Jason is 23.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Age

51

Previous public office, appointive or elective

No

Why are you seeking this office?

Over the last decade or so, I have watched as our political leaders have all but refused to work together. It's time for a change and I want to be that change. When we witnessed our current County Executive allow more people to go to a casino than he would allow to go to church, I know I had to take a stand.

Please complete this statement: The single most pressing issue facing my constituents is ___, and this is what I intend to do about it.

A healthy business community. A strong business community is vital for all of us. Helping businesses to start up, come back from closing and growing and expanding existing businesses is truly a win / win for everyone. How do we ensure our business community flourishes? County government needs to remove some of the barriers that make it hard for companies to start and compete. Twenty percent of all businesses fail in the first two years. By minimizing start up fees, we will be able to help new businesses thrive during that critical time. Many local businesses closed their doors in 2020 and 2021 due to government COVID restrictions. We need to work with any company that wants to reopen its doors Also, we need to give incentives for businesses to expand. As our businesses grow and prosper, so do we as individuals and the financial health of our community.

What are the major differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

Management and leadership experience. I have almost three decades of management and leadership. Not only leading a small team but as the leader of twelve retail locations. Overseeing twelve different managers taught me that what works for and motivates one person does not necessarily work for and motivate another. At that level you need to vary your management style to fit the person that you are leading. This is a critical difference between my leadership experience and the leadership experience of my competitors. The County Executive office is a management and leadership position. While most of the competition has more legislative experience, non-have almost three decades of management and leadership experience.

If you are challenging an incumbent, in what way has the current officeholder failed the community?

At this point, I am not challenging an incumbent. That said, our current County Executive has failed in his handling of COVID. Unacceptable lock downs and a requirement that county employees receive the COVID shot or submit to weekly testing. Allowing more people to gamble than attend a worship service. His never ending tax increases are all ways that he has failed.

What other issues do you intend to address during your campaign?

Our run away budget and out of control crime must be addressed. Building a bridge between the police and those that do not trust the police must be addressed. Upholding our immigration laws and our second amendment rights are also a critical part of my campaign. I also will work with the county council and the county school board to ensure transparency in school curriculum and add needed life skills classes.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Leading a group of twelve men and woman to successfully oversee their retail location while achieving both financial and customer service goals is one accomplishment. Training and developing many new managers in my career has been a key element to my success. Some of those men and woman are multi unit managers today. I was also inducted into my companies Hall of Fame in 2015.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?

My father told me as a teen, "the world owes you nothing, but you owe it everything". Those words are always in my thoughts.

Is there anything else you would like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

To lead a diverse county such as Anne Arundel, you must reach across the aisle in a real and meaningful way. That starts before long before the election. I have assembled a wonderful non partisan group of people to work with me as I develop my platform. Republicans, Democrats and Independents all working together for the betterment of Anne Arundel County. I want to be the County Executive for all, not just one side or the other. I invite all voters to check out my website to see how my policies work for everyone.