Strange Bedfellows

Today’s debate over two bills that would reform pensions for members of the County Council might be the first skirmish of the campaign season between two men thought to be the top contenders for county executive in 2010.

Councilman Kevin Kamenetz in November proposed capping pensions for councilmen  at 60 percent for freshman council members elected in 2010. The proposal sounded strangely like an idea Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder said he raised but never filed a bill on nearly a decade ago but could find no supporters.

So in December, Bartenfelder struck back and offered his own bill with language that would not only cap pensions at 60 percent but would also tighten the pension rules that allow so-called double-dipping pensions when council members run for county executive. The bill also seeks to change the age at which retiring members can collect their pensions. (more…)

Last month I wrote about Councilman Bryan McIntire and his decision to start saluting the flag during the Pledge of Allegiance that opens each County Council legislative session.

McIntire said he was following recently passed law that allowed retired and active duty soldiers who are not in uniform to salute the flag during the national anthem and the pledge. I wanted to know more about the change but was unable to find additional information, and a spokesman for the Maryland National Guard also had some difficulty.

I received e-mails from several readers, who also asked for additional information.

Enter Eric Schaffer, an attorney in Frederick County.

Schaffer e-mailed links to two Web sites, including one to a press release issued in 2008 by the Department of Veterans Affairs and another from a group that monitors issues related to the flag. The sites explain the change and provide reference to the specific federal law.

Think this is what Al Gore had in mind when he invented the Internet?

Councilman Bryan McIntire stood out just a little bit last Monday night during the Pledge of Allegiance that opens every council legislative session.

While his six colleagues recited the words with their hands over their hearts, McIntire saluted the flag for the first time in his nearly 15 years on the council.

After the meeting, McIntire said the change was the result of a recent change in military regulations.

McIntire spent 21 years in the Maryland National Guard as part of the 110th Field Artillery unit that was stationed at the Pikesville Armory. McIntire  retired as a major and the executive officer for the unit.

McIntire has a reputation as the unofficial protocol officer on the council. He routinely can be found making sure the lights above the carvings of historic law related figures are turned on before council meetings or explaining to visitors the proper way to display the flag or the meaning behind the county seal.

That unit, which traced its lineage to the Revolutionary War and the Battle of North Point during the War of 1812, was deactivated in August.

McIntire said he decided to go with the salute after learning of the change in the regulations.

“Most people don’t know who was in the military or not,” McIntire said. “I can go either way.”

Lt. Kristopher Baumgartner, a spokesman for the Maryland National Guard, was unable to provide additional information about the change.

The Defense Appropriation Act of 2009 does allow retired members of the military and those not in uniform to salute the flag during the National Anthem and during parades, but he could not confirm (nor deny) that retired military members are authorized to salute during the pledge.

Baumgartner said it’s a little unusual because members of the military do not recite the Pledge of Allegiance and saluting indoors is usually only done when members of the military appear at certain military boards.

Another County Councilman is weighing in on the issue of possible pension reforms for council members.

Bryan McIntire, the council’s lone Republican, said he believes the current council will have to confront the issue.

“It’s out there,” said McIntire, who represents the 3rd district, including Parkton, part of Cockeysville, and Kingsville. “The public is concerned about it, and it must be addressed.”

McIntire made his comments during a Thursday night phone interview. All seven councilmen were called about the pension issue. (more…)

Fred Homan’s influence on county budget and policy is widely discussed among county employees and elected officials, who frequently refer to county operations as “The World of Fred.”

But is the former budget director and current county administrative officer so important that his absence could require the council to stop meeting?

The council was halfway through its 18-minute meeting Monday night and had just finished voting on the five bills on its agenda when Councilman Bryan McIntire asked the question. (more…)

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.

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…)

Prior to the Tuesday evening vote on speed camera legislation, a few councilmen took the time to explain why they were about to vote the way they were about to vote.

Councilman Vince Gardina, a Democrat who represents the 5th District, said his vote was based, at least in part, on what he explained as a month-long “unscientific experiment.”

“Over the last month or so I’ve been trying to drive the speed limit all the time,” said Gardina, who represents Perry Hall, Carney and Towson. (more…)

Councilman Bryan McIntire had an idea when it comes to dealing with all the restaurant fliers and other advertisements that Councilman John Olszewski Sr. says are littering his district: Pick them up and throw them out.

Olszewski is sponsoring a bill — intended to prevent unwanted advertising circulars from becoming litter. The bill would require that businesses using fliers and circulars as advertising to maintain a toll-free number that residents could call to end delivery. The bill would also make it illegal to place those fliers or circulars on cars. (more…)

Opposition to a bill that would exempt some rural properties from the county’s Rental Registration program caused Republican Councilman Bryan McIntire to wax a little nostalgic at today’s council meeting.

McIntire, who represents most of the rural land in the county, sponsored a bill that would exempt homes on the National Register of Historic Places and the county’s inventory of historic places from rental registration, as well as homes on the preliminary or final landmarks list and any home not connected to public water or sewer. (more…)