There appears to be no end to the speculation about Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith’s next political post.
I guess $1 million in your campaign war chest will do that for you when you’re a term-limited county executive.
Smith’s future was a topic of discussion Tuesday night during the first hour Marc Steiner’s show on WEAA 88.9 FM. (more…)
A bill that would require daily electronic reporting of sales of scrap metal has been withdrawn.
The bill was to have a hearing tomorrow before the County Council.
Don Mohler, a spokesman for County Executive Jim Smith, said the administration pulled the bill so that some changes could be made.
“We could have moved forward with amendments, but we think this will make for a cleaner bill,” Mohler said. (more…)
If you missed it this morning, here’s my conversation about county politics this morning with Bill Vanko, a reporter with the Maryland Morning News program on WBAL AM 1090.
We talk about an animal activist group that has set up a political action committee, windmill regulations in the county and a lawsuit filed against Republican Del. Rick Impallaria that links him to a group that targeted a Democrat challenger in the 2006 primary.
Local elected officials who support deer hunting could be targets at the ballot box next year if one local animal rights activist has her way.
Enid Feinberg, a Phoenix resident who has opposed deer hunting in the Loch Raven reservoir, said she would like to see three county officials unseated in 2010 because of their support of deer hunting — Democratic Sen. Jim Brochin, and Del. Joseph Boteler and Councilman Bryan McIntire, both Republicans.
“Knowing what I know about them, they’re certainly high on my list,” Feinberg said.
Brochin and McIntire have been supportive of expanded deer hunting in the reservoir area. And Boteler sponsored a bill in the General Assembly last year that would have allowed hunting on Sundays on private property in Baltimore County. Boteler’s bill did not pass.
“In my opinion, hunting is legalized animal cruelty,” said Feinberg.
Feinberg said she has joined an organization called Maryland Votes for Animals. Carolyn Kilborn, who is the only attributed writer on the Web site, was not immediately available for an interview. The site states that the group has “one overriding mission: To create an ever-growing voting bloc of animal advocates who will elect representatives willing to champion and vote for animal protection legislation, and to hold politicians accountable to their constituents.”
The organization lists a Towson mailing address on it’s Web site, but Kilborn lives in Annapolis.
“There’s no way to win for animals other than at the ballot box,” said Feinberg, who said she was speaking for herself, not for Maryland Votes for Animals.
“Our politicians are truly failing us,” Feinberg said.
Feinberg said one strategy could be the formation of a political action committee that could provide financial support to candidates who favor issues such as stronger laws against animal cruelty or are against hunting.
Maryland Votes for Animals formed a political action committee to participate in the 2010 state elections. State Board of Elections records show that Votes For Animals registered as a PAC on June 15. Kilborn is listed as the chairman of the committee, Jared DeMarinis, director of candidacy and campaign finance for the State Board of Elections.
State Republican Party Chairman Jim Pelura’s resignation announcement last week could have an effect on the Republican party here in Baltimore County.
Chris Cavey, the chairman of the party’s central committee in the county, said he is considering the possibility of replacing Pelura.
“I honestly don’t know right now,” said Cavey, who is also the first vice president for the GOP in Maryland. “I need some time to think about it. It could be fun. I just have to see.”
The position does not come without a cost. If Cavey wants to guide the state party, he’ll have to give up his position as chairman of the Baltimore County Central Committee.
Last week, former Del. Al Redmer sent an e-mail to supporters saying he was not interested in the position.
Ellen Sauerbrey’s name has also been mentioned, according to a report by Alan Brody of The Gazette.
The state party is expected to elect its next chairman at its state convention in Bowie on Nov. 14.
Sorry for the late notice but I’ll be tweeting some of the more interesting comments from tonight’s planning board meeting on windmills.
Meeting is scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
Today’s local government lesson: You have to be fast if you want to claim credit for something good.
That comes courtesy of Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who was one of a half-dozen county officials who were present to announce that crime in Baltimore County decreased during the first six months of 2009. The decrease is a continuation of a trend that stretches back more than a decade and has resulted in crime rates per 100,000 people that are as low as the rates in 1976, when the county had fewer people within its borders, according to Police Chief Jim Johnson. (more…)
Republican Councilman Bryan McIntire had debt on the brain — specifically the growing state debt.
The County Council unanimously approved Monday night a debt policy statement that is now required to be submitted to the state.
The General Assembly passed a law earlier this year requiring each jurisdiction to provide a document that governs how bonds are issued and which types of debt are used in each county. (more…)
Just a quick note for the weekend:
I’ll be talking local politics with former Gov. Robert Ehrlich and his wife Kendel Ehrlich tomorrow from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on WBAL AM 1090.
As I noted on this blog this morning, State Del. Jon Cardin deny a request for the release of information on the number of voluntary furlough days he took in January.
Cardin, a Democrat who represents the 11th District, which includes Owings Mills, Pikesville and part of Timonium, was one of 25 state legislators from Baltimore County who gave up some of his $43,500 state salary in a first round of voluntary furloughs in January — his name was on a list of legislators who participated — but he declined to provide information on how many days’ salary he gave up.
Legislators took days off as part of a request made to all senators and delegates by legislative leaders. Patuxent Publishing Co. is asking the county’s 29 senators and delegates to voluntarily release documentation showing the number of days each volunteered to have withheld from their pay earlier this year.
Since that blog entry, Cardin called to say he has now signed a waiver allowing the legislature to release similar information related to verifying a second round of days without pay. Last month, House Speaker Michael Busch and Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller asked legislators to take another eight to 10 days without pay.
When asked if he would now provide documentation on the number of days he took without pay in January, Cardin said: “No, I don’t think so.”