Democrat Arinze Ifekauche’s campaign for Howard County Council is centered on improving affordability. The Oakland Mills resident says his focus is on creating job growth and reducing costs of childcare and housing.
He kicked off his campaign for the District 2 seat in early May.
“I just want to make sure that people have great jobs, affordable homes, safe neighborhoods and great schools,” Ifekauche said. “Affordability really has to do with people’s economic viability.”
Democrat Opel Jones has held the District 2 seat since 2018 and has not yet announced whether he will run for a third term. Jessica Nichols, a Democrat, has filed to run for the seat as well.
Ifekauche, 39, said he would address affordability by first targeting the price of homes in the county. He would do so through a program that would focus on giving tax incentivizes to longtime residents to move out of their homes and into smaller units. This would free up more large single-family homes for younger families, bring down prices and spur economic growth, he said.
He said he hopes to also pilot a version of the Michigan Tri-Share program in Howard County. The childcare model in Michigan splits childcare costs equally among an employee, an employer and the state. Ifekauche’s proposal would have employees, employers and Howard County share the cost. This program stops “forcing families to decide,” between working and childcare, Ifekauche said.
Families benefit because their costs for childcare are subsidized; the county benefits because there are two working parents and businesses can use the program as a recruitment tool, he added.
“I see it as a win, win, win for everybody involved,” Ifekauche said. “It’s an awesome way to tackle our affordability crisis and actually bring benefits to everyone involved. I think that’s a worthwhile investment.”
Ifekauche has been involved in government for the past 17 years, getting his start in 2008 working on a congressional campaign in Alabama.
He also worked as the director of communications for the Maryland Democratic Party during the passage of the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future legislation and is a former a public relations officer for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office.
“I have been everywhere when it comes to government — I understand how local, state and federal policy intersect,” Ifekauche said. “I’m the person that’s going to be looking out for people’s wallets.”
Ifekauche is passionate about youth engagement. He manages a program at Elkridge Landing Middle School teaching social emotional learning to boys who are struggling to navigate conflict and relationships in school. He also runs a Kappa League program through the Columbia alumni chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. in which boys in sixth to 12th grades can participate in a variety of activities and field trips.
“Youth empowerment, youth enrichment is super important to this conversation, especially seeing the violence that we’ve seen in Columbia that has centered around young men, specifically, young men of color,” Ifekauche said.
Ifekauche said he believes his current position as a deputy director of communications and legislative affairs at the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy gives him a unique vantage point for the handling of juvenile justice and crime in Howard County.
“Everybody is so focused on being at the head of the pack to sort of create a solution when the solution probably already exists,” Ifekauche said. “That is part of that leadership that I’m talking about. How do we bring people together? How do we make sure that the left hand always knows what the right hand is doing, and how do we leverage the people, the resources, the information that people already have without duplicating efforts.”
Ifekauche said he will not use the Citizens Election Fund that provides matching county funding for candidates because he anticipates being able to privately fund his campaign.
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