MFUME for Senate

Firefighter running for House seat
District 11

05/25/06
By Louis Llovio
Owings Mills Times

Julian Jones, a firefighter and real estate agent from Randallstown, is a Democrat seeking the District 11 seat in the House of Delegates.

Julian Jones, of Randallstown, has spent the last 21 years running into burning buildings.

Now the firefighter is hoping to run into an altogether different fire: the House of Delegates in Annapolis.

Jones is a candidate for the open 11th District house seat.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Jones moved to Randallstown in 1986 but has made his living working in Anne Arundel County.

"It doesn't matter what county you live in," he said. "The problems facing families today are the same wherever you go."

Jones said the problems families face include rising home heating costs, skyrocketing gas prices and barely affordable health insurance.

And, he said, he knows all too well about one of those subjects: the cost of health insurance.

"I've answered too many calls where people who are hurt, who need help, refuse to go to the hospital because they can't afford it," he said.

Although Jones' experience is limited to emergency situations, he said people across the state are making the same decisions on a daily, nonemergency basis. To make matters worse, the uninsured aren't getting the preventive care they need. They wind up going to hospital emergency rooms for injuries that could have been taken care of in a doctor's office.

Jones' solution to the health care illustrates why he's a "different kind of candidate," he said.

A Democrat, Jones said he bucks labels: "I'm beyond a liberal. I'm beyond progressive."

He said following the example of Massachusetts' governor Mitt Romney is the key to making heath insurance available to the masses.

Romney, a Republican and a 2008 presidential candidate, pushed through legislation earlier this year creating state-subsidized insurance.

Romney convinced insurance companies to lower rates and made sure everyone who qualified for state- funded Medicaid registered. He also subsidized insurance coverage for those who fell through the cracks by using funds currently appropriated for emergency room treatment of the uninsured. The plan is said to provide universal insurance coverage without raising taxes.

Jones said that by following the Massachusetts example, Maryland could cover the uninsured, and also help drive down costs for others by creating market pressure on private insurance companies.

Another cost-reducing solution, Jones said, is for Maryland to get tough with malpractice insurance providers.

A deal worked out during a special General Assembly session last year helped lower the costs doctors pay for medical malpractice insurance by charging HMO customers a 2 percent tax.

He said while there is no doubt that doctors need the cost of their insurance lowered, malpractice insurance shouldn't cost the public. If elected, Jones hopes to overturn the tax.

Jones' second profession has him thinking about home buyers and economic growth.

Jones, a real estate agent and investor for 20 years, said he "understands the plight of people."

He said he doesn't believe the so- called housing bubble has burst, but he said the state needs to help spur the housing market by exempting first-time buyers from property taxes for a year.

Not only would this keep the economy strong, he said, but it would also encourage people who otherwise might not be able to afford it to purchase homes.

If voters are concerned about Jones taking on a third profession and an even bigger challenge, fear not, he said. He can handle it.

Jones said he was Anne Arundel County's first black firefighter, fire captain, lieutenant and battalion chief. As battalion chief, he was elected president of the Maryland's chiefs association.

"The leaders picked me as their leader," he said. "They had the faith in me. So should the people of District 11."