Strange Bedfellows

Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder today restated his support of moving work sessions to a time later in the afternoon — or possibly in the evening.

The issue came up earlier this summer when some community activists said they’d like to see the change in order to make it easier for the public to attend.

Bartenfelder, who is chairman of the council for another four months, said that while he has not had formal conversations with the other six councilmen, he has had some preliminary discussions with folks in the county executive’s office. (more…)

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has announced a new public safety campaign urging residents of our neighbor to the west to come in out of the rain. (more…)

Republican and former Del. Don Murphy is running again — but not for public office.

Murphy, who represented the Catonsville and Arbutus area from 1995 to 2003, only decided last Thursday that he would sign up to run the Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon in Germantown, Maryland. The race was yesterday.

He ran the race in “2-hours 13-minutes and change,” Murphy said in a phone message on Sunday after the race. (more…)

State Del. Steve Lafferty is calling on county officials to hold public meetings to explain how speed camera legislation will be implemented in the county.

Lafferty, a Democrat and supporter of speed cameras, said “it is incumbent upon the county to use (the meetings) as an educational session.”

“I’ve not heard from any community that doesn’t feel (speed cameras) will be a valuable tool if used correctly,” said Lafferty, who represents the 42nd District including Towson, Lutherville-Timonium and part of Pikesville. (more…)

Never let it be said that Sen. Barbara Mikulski can’t stay on message.

Mikulski, 73 and a four-term U.S. Senator, fell and broke her ankle in three places while leaving church in Baltimore on Sunday night. On Monday she’s was waiting to undergo surgery at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, in D.C., her colleagues are debating universal health care with an eye on passing something before they take a break in August. (more…)

County Executive Jim Smith is out of the comptroller’s race, and the conventional wisdom is that he’s going to use his war chest of more than $1 million to set himself up as a king maker.

If he does, Steve Bailey, a Republican state’s attorney candidate in 2006, thinks influencing the 2010 election and Smith anointing his own successor would violate the rules of fair play.

“It’s not a Republican or Democratic issue,” said Bailey, who acknowledged that if Republicans were in power they would use the laws to their advantage. “It’s a good government issue.” (more…)

County Executive Jim Smith’s veto yesterday of a bill that would have created a do-not-deliver flier list got me wondering about when the last time was that a bill was vetoed in the county.

Most of the current County Council members have at least four terms under their belts and have never seen any of their bills vetoed (though a few were allowed to pass into law unsigned, I am told). Some longtime council watchers told me the last veto could have been more than 20 years ago but no one could say for sure.

Well, wonder no more. (more…)

A fundraising event for Jon Cardin has sparked talk that the two-term delegate might be considering a run county executive.

Cardin, the nephew of Sen. Ben Cardin, said he is not “an unofficial or unannounced candidate” but acknowledged that an event scheduled for next month has caused tongues to wag.

“I’ve asked people if they think it’s a legitimate thing,” Cardin said. “I’ve had lots of people tell me they think that it’s possible. I certainly have teased this idea a little bit.” (more…)

In Baltimore County, vetoes of County Council bills are rare.

Unanimous passage of most bills usually signals that the council — with two more votes than the five required for a veto override — can overturn any attempt to thwart its legislative will. (more…)

A week into the official start of the 2010 campaign season and already we’ve had our first surprise announcement: that Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith isn’t running for an office for which he never officially said he was a candidate.

Maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that some criticism in the blogosphere and in political circles has surfaced on where Smith’s announcement originated, rather than the fact that he will not run for state comptroller.

The question centers around how the announcement was made as part of a county press release — and not a campaign release. Smith first e-mailed the announcement to the media on Monday afternoon from his county communications office. That same announcement was also put up on the county Web site. (more…)