County Executive Jim Smith is all about making public statements of support for various causes that involve a dash of color.
Today, Smith announced he was ordering that the Old Courthouse in Towson be bathed in purple lights in a show of support for the Baltimore Ravens making the playoffs this weekend.
A few years ago another show of support didn’t quite go as planned. (more…)
A look back at the politics and government stories of 2008 in the words of those involved. Look for part three of four tomorrow.
April
• “The highlights are slim,” County Executive Jim Smith said April 16 about his proposed $1.72 billion budget for fiscal year 2009. Smith called called it “austere” as it offered no cost of living raises or other frills. The budget is on pace to produce a $14 million surplus and the county is not furloughing employees this year as is the state and other local governments. (more…)
A look back at the politics and government stories of 2008 in the words of those involved. I’m posting the first three months today. Look for part two of four tomorrow.
January
• “I was sitting in my office looking out my window about six months ago, and I saw the garages,” Bob Barrett, county Recreation and Parks director said Jan. 3 regarding the need for additional gymnasium space in Towson. “I wondered if we could go up another level and add a gym.”
So far, the idea has not been acted upon.
• “Jim Smith loves public service and is definitely going to run in 2010,” Don Mohler, Smith’s spokesman, said Jan. 16 in response to questions about his boss’ political future which could include challenging Democratic state Comptroller Peter Franchot in 2010. (more…)
If you happened to be in Cafe Troia in Towson today for lunch you might have seen Democratic Sen. Jim Brochin lunching with John Fiastro, president of the 42nd District Republican Club.
Politics was not only on the menu, it was the reason the two were there as Fiastro was making good on a wager the two made about the outcome of one precinct in the Sen. Andy Harris - Frank Kratovil congressional race. (more…)
Gov. Martin O’Malley and Maryland legislators want state employees facing unpaid days off this holiday season to know they feel their pain.
The guv and the others are taking a pay cut, too, after all.
But not all are taking quite as big a cut, relatively speaking. State workers will lose full before-taxes pay while O’Malley and the legislators are giving back an amount based on their net, or after-taxes, income. (more…)
Jim Smith became one of the onlookers at his own press conference to announce the purchase of four new digital license-plate readers that will be used by county police.
The car-mounted cameras link to a laptop inside the patrol car and can capture and read license plates on vehicles moving at up to 100 mph or when the police car is moving at 60 mph. The system then checks the tags in a national crime database and alerts the officer if, for example, the car or tags have been reported stolen or expired.
Smith was beaming as he made the announcement but soon reporters and television cameras were crowding around the police car used in the Dec. 18 demonstration in Loch Raven Village. Smith couldn’t help but join and acknowledge that the gear was going to get all the attention on the noon, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts. (more…)
The public lost out when the quasi-public county Revenue Authority board awarded a $5,500 severance payment to Nevins and Associates at its Dec. 4 meeting.
The five-member board voted unanimously to close the meeting at the request of Hanan Sibel, the board’s chairman, who said he wished to discuss a “matter pertaining to compensation and personnel.” That’s one of 14 exemptions recognized by the state Open Meetings Act.
The act is designed to ensure that public officials do the people’s business in the open. (more…)
Barack Obama needs some extra police officers for his inauguration and Councilman Vince Gardina is happy to help.
Gardina voted along with the other six councilmen Dec. 15 in favor of a bill that allows the county police department to send 55 officers to assist with security at the Jan. 20 inauguration. The federal government is reimbursing the county $98,000 for overtime and other related expenses. (more…)
The dust-up over raises to Mayor Sheila Dixon and other city elected officials raises the question:
Could mid-term raises happen here?
The short answer is no, because the two jurisdictions set raises for their respective elected officials differently. (more…)
Michael Pappas, a Perry Hall resident, might be the first Republican to declare his interest in running for Maryland governor in 2010.
On Dec. 9, Pappas, who has never run for public office, formed an exploratory committee to look at a possible run for governor in two years. (more…)