In uncertain economic times, every $200,000 copier contract helps.
Rob Stradling, director of the county’s Office of Information Technology, appeared before the County Council Nov. 25 seeking approval for a five-year contract to lease a high-speed copier for the county’s central printing office. The contract includes maintenance, toner and emergency repairs and is not to exceed $200,000 over the life of the lease. (more…)
It’s in the spirit of the holidays that I can report that Don Mohler and Les Pittler have made up.
You may remember there was some contention after Pittler, a county Revenue Authority board member and longtime council observer, alleged that Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith, pushed him from behind after a Nov. 17 council meeting. (more…)
It’s not uncommon for Mike Field, an assistant county attorney, to appear before the County Council to testify on bills that correct technical errors in county law.
His Nov. 25 appearance was a little different because the error he sought to correct was an oversight in a bill he wrote earlier this year.
“I’ve come back for a mulligan,” Field, an assistant county attorney, told the council during its Nov. 25 work session. “Is that the right word, a mulligan? I’m not a golfer.” (more…)
A fund raiser hosted by Republican Del. William Frank has Del. Pat McDonough hot under the collar.
“We’re not happy,” said Del. Pat McDonough, describing sentiments he says he shares with Del. Rick Impallaria. “Bill Frank is interloping into this district by holding a fundraiser for his cousin.”
Frank hosted the Nov. 22 event at the Kingsville Volunteer Fire Department for Marilyn Booker, a Republican who is eying a run for the House of Delegates in the 7th District. The district. which is currently represented by McDonough, Impallaria and Del. J.B. Jennings. includes Cockeysville, Kingsville, Middle River and part of Perry Hall. (more…)
Those raspberries you’re enjoying this winter are contributing to global warming
So says David Carroll, the county’s environmental czar.
Carroll was appointed director of sustainability in May. He explained that a big portion of his mandate is looking at changing “how we live today, so we don’t diminish the quality of life tomorrow; looking at how we use energy, how we use products.”
And that brings us to raspberries. Those winter berries are grown in places such s South America and flown up here.
“Are raspberries really necessary in the middle of winter?” Carroll asked. “All these uses of energy for a product that is not absolutely necessary all have high energy costs and high greenhouse gas costs.” (more…)
The ongoing scuttlebutt about President-elect Barack Obama’s cabinet has generated an interesting scenario that’s filling e-mail boxes and has local tongues wagging.
It seems to have started after Republican Del. Pat McDonough talked about a musical chairs set of appointments during his Saturday radio program on WCBM.
It goes something like this:
Attorney General Doug Gansler, who co-chaired Obama’s Maryland campaign, is in line for a big-time appointment from the incoming president, most likely to the Department of Justice. From there, Gov. Martin O’Malley would appoint County Executive Jim Smith to replace Gansler. To complete the cycle, the County Council would replace Smith with out-going Council Chairman Kevin Kamenetz, who already has the needed votes. (more…)
County officials seem less than worried that John Vontran, a Perry Hall resident, will be able to complete the purchase of a county-owned property in Dundalk.
If Vontran doesn’t come up with the $1.6 million purchase price, the county keeps the land it bought for $21 million, said Don Mohler, a county spokesman.
There’s no reason to believe Vontran won’t come through, Mohler said. Settlement should happen sometime in early 2009.
Some of that confidence may come from who else is believed to be involved in redeveloping the property that was home to the Yorkway apartments. Officials were comfortable with Vontran’s bid on the the 9.8 acre site because they were told Ryland Homes was also going to be involved in the development, according to a county source familiar with the sale.
The county is not the first to rely on the reputations of others when it comes to dealing with Vontran. (more…)
One final piece of business from the Nov. 4 general election.
Blaine Taylor, a Towson resident, author and presidential candidate, received three votes, according to information available on the State Board of Elections Web site. Those votes came from Carroll, Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, respectively. (more…)
County Council meetings in Baltimore County can sometimes become heated. Reasonable people will disagree. Sometimes strongly disagree.
They never get physical.
Depending on whom you talk to, things might have gotten physical between Don Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith, and Leslie Pittler, a county Revenue Authority board member, after the council’s Nov. 17 meeting. (more…)
If Sen. Andy Harris is bitter about his recent defeat in the 1st Congressional District, he certainly isn’t showing it.
“You don’t get in the game if you can’t take a loss,” Harris said after a Nov. 11 press conference in White Marsh where he conceded the race to Democrat Frank Kratovil.
Harris came up more than 2,000 votes short against Kratovil, a state’s attorney from Queen Anne’s County. The vote was so close on election night (just 916 votes between the two) that both sent teams of watchers to observe absentee and provisional ballot counts at election boards from Baltimore County to the Eastern Shore. It wasn’t until last Thursday that Harris ultimately conceded. (more…)