I’m getting reports from readers saying there’s trouble listening to the audio of the Personnel and Salary Advisory Board that I posted yesterday. The common link seems to be the use of Internet Explorer.
I hear Firefox works pretty good. There is a load time though so be patient.
Here’s a direct link if you want to try Youtube.
Here’s the audio of Wednesday’s meeting of the Baltimore County Personnel and Salary Advisory Board. During the meeting, the board unanimously approved recommending salary increases for the county executive and the County Council of 8 percent and 2 percent, respectively. If approved by the council, the increases would take effect in December 2010.
Audio was recorded by the board and released upon my request.
This portion of the meeting covers just the discussion and vote on the two salary proposals and was edited by me, as was the video.
Donald Hutchinson won’t seek a third term as county executive.
The two-term Democratic executive confirmed he’s made a handful of phone calls over the last few weeks to friends and supporters telling them he doesn’t have any interest in a year of campaigning.
“If someone wants to appoint me county executive, I’ll take the job because I loved the job,” Hutchinson, 63, told me.”And I think one of the unfortunate things you learn about politics is that when you (become county executive) as young as I did there’s a tremendous amount of knowledge that you accumulate over time and you don’t get to come back and get a do-over.” (more…)
Del. Todd Schuler announced Saturday that he will run for the County Council rather than seek a second term in the House of Delegates.
The announcement, made over the weekend at a campaign fundraising event, was not entirely unexpected. Schuler talked to me about running for the seat back in February 2008.
Schuler, a Democrat from Overlea, now represents the 8th District in the House of Delegates. He said he will run in 2010 for the 6th District council seat currently held by four-term Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder, who is running for county executive in 2010. (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…)
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. (more…)
Summer is winding down and the talk of Don Hutchinson running for a third term for county executive not only won’t go away, they’re heating up.
Hutchinson, the two time county executive, isn’t saying he’s in.
“I’ve just let the rumors fly,” Hutchinson said, acknowledging the talk. “I”ve had a nice summer.”
In June, Hutchinson, 63, tried to play down any talk of another run. (more…)
Del. Pat McDonough says people are talking to him about running for governor and he’s decided to listen — up to a point.
McDonough said he is beginning a “testing the waters” process, which he defined as “something less formal than an exploratory process.”
McDonough, a Republican who represents the 7th District, has previously expressed an interest in running for county executive.
But over the past few months, the three-term delegate said he has been getting calls from listeners to his radio show on WCBM, and also comments from people he meets encouraging him to run for governor. (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…)