Strange Bedfellows

Employees of the county Revenue Authority and their families will be treated tonight to a holiday party at the Reisterstown Sportsplex and it sounds like it will be quite the evening.

The facility is a combination ice rink, indoor soccer and lacrosse facility which the authority built in partnership with the county. The authority manages the rink along with a handful of public golf courses.

“We used to have something (at the Towson office) during the day, but a lot of people couldn’t make it and that just didn’t make any sense,” said authority Chief Executive Lynnie Cook, adding that this year’s event is small “but we expect it to grow” in the future.

Attendees will be treated to ice skating, food, turkey bowling (yes, bowling on the ice rink with a frozen bird) and other goodies. (more…)

The current controversy about pensions for County Council members is a no-win scenario regardless of what the council may or may not do in the way of reform, according to former County Executive Don Hutchinson.

“There’s no way they can win on it,” Hutchinson said, adding that voters would likely see any action as “nothing more than reaction to a story of exposure.”

“I don’t think this council can do anything about it,” Hutchinson said. “I think the council, any council, could have changed it, but they chose not to. The new council can talk about it, consider it, discuss it. I think this council is best to leave it alone.”

The two-term Democratic executive talked about the pension issue during an interview about a possible return to politics.

Hutchinson said he understood why the pension issue has captured the attention of the public.

“I think that the average man and woman always look at somebody else’s life in comparison to their own and what they know,” Hutchinson said. “They know that when they retire, regardless of the job they had or what they’ve done, they know they’re not going to get full compensation for their retired years. They know they’re income is not 100 percent of what it was when they left their job.

“That’s all they know, and that’s what they think is fair. They think what is fair for everybody is what has been fair for them.”

So is the public wrong? (more…)

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…)

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…)

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…)

County Executive Jim Smith’s recent announcement raised questions pertaining to his future and what might happen to the more than $1 million he has raised since being re-elected in 2006.

Smith’s statement (you can read it here) is all we have to go on officially. The county executive declined to be interviewed on the subject before leaving town to visit a daughter (who was expecting to give birth this week).

But sources within the Smith campaign were willing to shed some light on the subject. (more…)

Former County Executive Don Hutchinson may or may not be seriously considering a run for his old office, but the mere mention of the possibility has raised an interesting question involving the County Charter.

Baltimore County executives have been restricted to two consecutive term limits since 1978, when Hutchinson was elected. Since then no executive has served more than two terms. Now the question arises as to what one tiny little clause in the County Charter may really mean. (more…)

Don Hutchinson for county executive in 2010?

The Democrat says his eight years running the county were some of the most enjoyable of his life and he believes he could legally run again.

The question is: Will he? (more…)

The Baltimore County Revenue Authority publicly supported a Senate bill that would require a public hearing before the quasi-governmental agency can close, sell or transfer facilities. But, that support doesn’t mean there weren’t concerns.

Don Hutchinson, a current board member and former state senator and county executive, wondered aloud during the board’s March 26 meeting if hearings “cause complications with communicating with the county.” (more…)