October 17, 2010|By Arthur Hirsch, The Baltimore Sun
From most angles, Baltimore County executive candidate Kenneth C. Holt resembles another, more famous Republican who also rode horses, looked at ease in blue jeans, and preached lean government and free enterprise. Holt doesn't dwell on the Ronald Reagan parallel, but he's hardly averse to the idea.
"I've heard it a lot," said Holt, an investments executive who raises black Angus beef cattle on a historic 120-acre estate in Kingsville. "Ronald Reagan and I have a lot of similarities. Our speech — we're relatively soft-spoken — our general philosophy of government."
The 59-year-old with a youthful head of brown hair and a gently weathered, outdoorsy complexion will need whatever Reaganesque appeal he can muster in his general election battle against his better-known and more experienced Democratic opponent, Kevin Kamenetz. The 52-year-old lawyer from Owings Mills has served on the County Council since 1994, building a reputation as one of the panel's masters of public policy.
Holt served one term in the Maryland House of Delegates, lost a bid for the state Senate and later helped the administration of former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. shape its slots and horse racing industry proposals. Outside of voluntary work on two commissions, he has no experience in county government, but he means to make virtues of both his outsider status and his connections to Ehrlich, the Baltimore County native who is staging a rematch this year with Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley.
The executive race is the latest turn in the public arena for a man who found his enthusiasm for politics as a teenager in the 1960s, continued the pursuit working on Capitol Hill after college and was spurred to more community activism by a family trauma in the 1980s. A Democrat in his youth, Holt came to his Republicanism by virtue of timing and opportunity.
Holt's campaign signs are often posted next to those of Ehrlich's, who won the county in both of his previous gubernatorial campaigns. Some of the campaign signs spell Holt's name in script that mimics the classic Coca-Cola logo, with the motto: "New and Refreshing."
The slogan marks Holt's bet on an anti-incumbent mood in the county. He's arguing against Kamenetz and others who credit the current Democratic administration of County Executive James T. Smith Jr. for avoiding employee layoffs and furloughs, not raising the property tax rate and sustaining Triple-A status with three bond-rating agencies.
"Clearly, it's my opinion that the status quo of 16 years needs to be changed," Holt said, referring to Kamenetz's tenure on the council. "In my opinion, it's what people are desperately seeking."
He said the county, a $2.56 billion operation, can do better in cutting costs and cultivating private sector jobs. He has not specified exactly how he would do that, except to say that he would expand the Department of Economic Development four- or five-fold — it now has 20 employees — and "conduct a professional analysis, bring in a management consultant" to review county operations.
"I'm confident we could wring 3 to 5 percent minimally in cost savings out of government," said Holt. He mentions the possibility of saving on electricity and fuel, and using technology to streamline certain county operations.
Tough tone
Holt set a tough tone the day after the primary, hours before Kamenetz had even declared victory over Joseph Bartenfelder, a fellow member of the County Council, whom Kamenetz topped 52 percent to 44 percent. In an interview the morning of Sept. 15, Holt said Kamenetz ran an "ugly campaign based on attack ads and false statements. … There's no place for this in a time of economic crisis."
The remarks showed the combative side of a man known more for a genial, moderate style. The senior vice president with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is apparently not one to raise his voice or seek confrontation.
Members of both parties who served with him in the House, where he represented District 6 in four legislative sessions from 1995 to 1998, remember Holt as a thoughtful, mild-mannered and helpful colleague.
Del. James E. Proctor Jr., a Prince George's County Democrat who served with Holt on the Appropriations Committee, said Holt was always helpful with questions involving his full-time profession in finance, but he wasn't apt to show off.
"There are people who try to show how important they are or how smart they are in their other life," said Proctor. "Ken was not like that."
Former delegate and District Court Judge Richard A. Palumbo, another Prince George's Democrat who was on the Appropriations Committee, called Holt "absolutely wonderful" as a colleague.
"When I dealt with him, it was really nonpartisan," Palumbo said, recalling Holt's work to expand opportunities for community college students to transfer to the University of Maryland, College Park. "It was always person to person. He doesn't bully anyone. He's a gentleman with a capital 'G.'"
