Riley: Charter doesn’t prevent Hutchinson campaign
It started as an academic exercise for Doug Riley.
The former Republican councilman from Towson, who now works for Pope and Hughes, was talking to Virginia Barnhart, a former county attorney who works with Riley, about whether a two-term county executive would be barred from running for office a third time.
The topic was driven by continued talk that former County Executive Donald Hutchinson might run in 2010 for the office he held from 1978 to 1986. Some believe the County Charter might prevent another Hutchinson run.
The language establishing the term limits for the executive office, which was created in 1978, says simply: “The county executive shall be ineligible to serve for more than two consecutive terms, beginning with the election in 1978.”
Riley took a look at the charter language and shared his conclusion, which he previously e-mailed to Barnhart: “I think as long as there is (four years) in between the two consecutive terms you could run again.”
“The idea was to prevent a county executive from becoming too powerful,” Riley explained during a phone interview.
The law governing the term limits for other executive offices, such as president, are specific and prevent a third term even with a break, Riley said.
“That’s not the language in the County Charter,” he said.
Last month, Hutchinson was noncommittal about a return to politics. The first step in a decision to run would include contacting the attorney general for an opinion on the charter language.
“It will almost certainly be an issue,” said Hutchinson, who also doesn’t think he is ineligible to run.
Charter issues aside, Riley said he thinks Hutchinson was a good executive during his eight years and would be a credible candidate. That’s not to say Riley, who unsuccessfully ran for county executive in 2002, believes the road would be paved for Hutchinson’s return.
Riley served two terms in the County Council from 1990 to 1998. He declined to run for a third term, keeping a campaign promise that included a self-imposed, two-term limit. He ran for executive after an eight-year hiatus.
“I think (Hutchinson) will be surprised at how little people will remember someone who hasn’t been in elected office since the 1980s,” Riley said.