Strange Bedfellows

Quick update on Mike Davis.

The Towson land-use attorney and former top aide to one-time County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is back in the hospital battling an infection in his chest.

Davis underwent an emergency liver transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital on July 5. He came home later that month. Recently he had even taken up e-mailing friends from his PDA.

Ann Davis, Mike’s wife, tells me in an e-mail that a leak in a bile duct allowed fluid to build up around one of his lungs. Then he picked up an infection that made a home in the same area.

“So, it is specific to Michael’s case,” Ann Davis wrote. “However, it still falls within the general thought that being a transplant patient, he is very susceptible to infections. There seems to be a general range of events during the recovery of transplant patients, but individual recovery and setbacks can greatly vary. Michael has the unique ability to thrive where other patients would have failed much sooner.”

As a child, I was often told my mouth would get me in trouble.

A few weeks ago, after Michael Phelps won his eighth gold medal, I was speaking with a county spokeswoman about the inevitable county tribute.

Being the smart aleck that I am, I suggested recycling the orange 8s that were painted on streets around the county in July 2007 in honor of Cal Ripken Jr.’s induction into the baseball Hall of Fame.

Those 8s were painted with orange paint bought at Home Depot. The expectation was that, in a year or so, wear and weather would erase them. But they’re still there, including the two painted near the Old Courthouse - one on Washington Avenue, the other in the intersection of Pennsylvania and Baltimore avenues.

“You could paint them gold,” I said, believing my tongue was firmly planted in my cheek. Apparently, Ed Adams, the director of the county Department of Public Works also made the suggestion about the same time.

This morning, County Executive Jim Smith and Debbie Phelps, the swimming star’s ever-present mother/stand-in, officiated over repainting of the 8 in the intersection of Pennsylvania and Baltimore Avenue gold (technically, it’s goldenrod, I’m told).

Add political memorabilia collecting to the list of things people get competitive over.

In a Towson Times story, Mike Gimbel talked about how he and Bob Hughes, now the county library system spokesman, got into the hobby when they both worked for then-County Executive Don Hutchinson.

“Both of us started just picking stuff up and the next thing you know we were, like, really into it and we got kind of fanatical about it,” Gimbel said. “I think we got a little bit competitive.”

Hughes was recovering from knee surgery and was unavailable for an interview for that story. He called to discuss his shared interest when he returned to work this week.

Gimbel, then the county substance abuse services coordinator, and Hughes, then the county’s juvenile justice coordinator, would travel to flea markets and yard sales around the area and in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

“Whereever we happened to be, we would look for a place,” Hughes said.

Many times they went together. Sometimes, they went alone.

“We would call each other and tell the other one about some flea market or other place that had really good stuff,” Hughes said. “But those calls always seemed to come after the person (calling) had already been there first.”

It’s no surprise that Councilman Vince Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, supports two other Democrats: presidential candidate Barack Obama and congressional candidate and Queen Anne’s County State’s Attorney Frank Kratovil, a candidate in the 1st District congressional race.

But placing the stickers on his county-owned Ford Escape Hybrid is a violation of county rules governing the use of the vehicle, which bar the display of political paraphernalia. Drivers of county-owned vehicles are also prohibited from affixing other types of bumper stickers or otherwise altering the vehicle without permission.

The photo above was taken by a reporter in July outside the Old Courthouse in Towson after a council meeting. The vehicle shown is assigned to Gardina, according to county records. Since then, Gardina has added a Kratovil sticker , according to a recent e-mail from David Nawrocki, president of Republican Club of Northeast Baltimore County.

“There are many of us Baltimore County taxpayers that live in Perry Hall that do not want this partisan display on a Baltimore County owned car,” Nawrocki wrote. Nawrocki is a Perry Hall Republican who has worked for various campaigns, including Wayne Skinner’s council run against Gardina in 2006 and is volunteering for Republican state Sen. Andy Harris, Kratovil’s opponent in November.

Gardina, the first councilman in county history to win five terms, did not return a call from a reporter seeking comment about the issue.

Gardina is believed to be interested in running in 2010 for the 7th District Senate seat currently held by Harris.

It’s not the first time Gardina has violated this rule. In 2006, Gardina was asked by his fellow councilmen to remove a bumper sticker supporting Martin O’Malley’s run for governor from the county-owned Jeep Liberty he was driving. He did remove that bumper sticker.

A war is coming over the proposed conversion of the Gunpowder Falls Golf course into a 200-acre park in Kingsville.

That’s Revenue Authority Board Member and former County Executive Don Hutchinson’s prediction about community reaction.

“There will be a war over it,” Hutchinson told his colleagues on the board at their Aug. 28 meeting. “And the people, the wrench throwers that haven’t started to throw wrenches yet, won’t be seen for several months. And you just have to understand that.”

Hutchinson monologued about the issue for nearly six minutes.

“I speak of this from two perspectives” he said. “I lived there right next door to the golf course for several years. I don’t any more but I lived there, in Kingsville, so I know the community. I lived on Cedar Lane, right around the corner.”

“And, as a guy who’s been through those wars, representing that district in the legislature, that was my district for 10 years, and then having been county executive for eight I can just tell you, there will be a war over this and it will be like Roland Park and the Baltimore Country Club.”

Hutchinson wasn’t alone.

Hanan Sibel, chairman of the authority board, pointed out the lack of a road network around the property.

“I can’t imagine for the life me these people will be very happy with ball games being over at night, that these people will be happy with all the traffic driving through their neighborhoods,” Sibel said.

“They won’t,” added Les Pittler, another board member.

Hutchinson said, “Mt. Vista Road, Raphel Road and Bradshaw Road will all be affected, in my opinion.”

Still, Hutchinson said, those considerations should not stop the authority from transferring the property to the county if it makes sense.

“Again, our conversation has to be what makes sense for the revenue authority and, one, our partnership with the county; two, what makes sense for us from a revenue perspective,” he said. “We have to, in spite of what I said at the outset, we have to disengage ourselves from the political conversation because that’s for the politicals. It’s not for us.”

It’s been a long time since I thought about Fernando Lamas. No, not the actor but the character played by comedian Billy Crystal based on the actor.

Crystal, in character, once said, “You know, my dear, my father used to say to me, ‘Nando, don’t be a schnook. It’s not how you feel; it’s how you look.”

County Executive Jim Smith reminded me of the Lamas character when he light-heartedly talked about the importance of scheduling a vacation before you get your emergency triple-bypass surgery.

As ‘Nando would say: “Remember, my friends. Saludos, it’s better to look good than to feel good.”

And in case you slept through the 80s, Youtube is here to help. Ah, the internet — just the way Al Gore intended.

Councilman Vince Gardina will get his plastic bag study even though his council colleagues killed his resolution on Monday night.

Gardina’s resolution asked the county auditor to determine whether there was an action the county could take to encourage businesses and consumers to stop using plastic shopping bags.

“I consider plastic bags to be a major environmental menace not only to Baltimore County but throughout the country and throughout the world,” Gardina said during the council’s Sept. 15 meeting. “So I consider it to be a priority.”

Most of his colleagues disagreed.

“I’m offended, Mr. Gardina, that you would take the time of the council to bring a matter of this kind before us. It’s not worthy of our time and consideration,” said Councilman Bryan McIntire, who represents the 3rd District, which includes much of northern Baltimore County. including Parkton, Cockeysville and Kingsville. “There’s nothing we are going to do here tonight that couldn’t have been accomplished through a telephone call to the auditor’s office or an interoffice memo if you wanted a memorandum in writing of it.

“It had nothing to do with you getting attention?” McIntire asked.

The council then voted 5-2 to kill the resolution with only Gardina and Councilman John Olszewski Sr. supporting the measure.

But Gardina, whose 5th District includes much of Towson and Perry Hall, would not be denied.

After the meeting, he came up to me and said, “I wrote the auditor a letter on a piece of yellow legal paper, in pencil, requesting the study.”

There’s no timeline for its completion, but Gardina said he’s in no hurry.

Many of us loved Pez as children (I still do). As adults, collecting Pez dispensers is not just a hobby but big business.

And what could be more fun if you live in the County Council’s 3rd District than to have your very own Councilman Bryan McIntire Pez dispenser?

OK, so it’s not really the councilman. The fun candy dispenser pictured above is actually Republican presidential candidate John McCain. It’s available from Herobuilders.com and looks a lot like Baltimore County’s only sitting Republican Councilman.

The Oxford, Conn.-based company offers a line of action figures and candy dispensers that look like political figures. You can get “Beach Blanket Obama” and “Schoolgirl Sarah Palin.” For those of you who want a little change with your sugary treats, the bipartisan company offers a”Barack Obama Pez Candydate” model as well.

You can also have the company build action figures that “look, dress and talk like you.”

Maybe that set of councilmen and county executive figures you’ve been wanting for Christmas is just a click away.

County Executive Jim Smith appeared to be in fine form at today’s announcement of a parade and fireworks for Michael Phelps.

“I want everybody to know how great it feels to be back to work,” Smith told the crowd that gathered in the Towson High School library.

He’s back on the job for a few hours a day several days a week. He said he is doing fine. But Smith is still recovering from a triple bypass operation performed nearly a month ago. Part of that recovery apparently included a small out-patient procedure today after the news conference.

Smith was overheard explaining to a councilman that he was having a small amount of fluid drained from around his lung.

Don Mohler, a Smith spokesman, would not confirm the procedure, calling it a “private matter.” Mohler did confirm that aides were watching the time to ensure Smith left in time to make a 1:30 p.m. appointment with his doctor.

Smith said he plans to take tomorrow off and return to work at the county’s Old Courthouse for a few hours on Thursday.

The sign outside the council conference room advises visitors to turn off their cell phones.

But sometimes people forget. Sometimes, even councilman forget.

Just a few minutes into today’s council work session, Councilman Bryan McIntire’s cell phone chimed out the familiar opening bars of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.

“What does Mrs. McIntire have to say,” Council Chairman Kevin Kamenetz joked.

It is not unusual for McIntire’s wife to call during a work session meeting.

“Out of deference to you, I’m not going to answer it,” McIntire said as he silenced his phone. “I’ll have to pay for that later.”