Strange Bedfellows

Last week I wrote that the Baltimore County Professional Firefighters Association wasn’t tickled about Councilman John Olszewski Sr.’s “endorsement” of Kevin Kamenetz for county executive, and that the union was officially backing fellow Democratic Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder.

It’s easy to see how one might make that leap since the union was clearly irked by Olszewski’s move and they’ve only donated money to one county executive candidate — Bartenfelder.

But Mike Day, president of the union, told me Monday that the support is somewhat less than official — at least for the moment. (more…)

Sorry for the delay in posting but here’s my weekly conversation with Maryland Morning News Anchor Bill Vanko about county politics including last week’s endorsement of Kevin Kamenetz for county executive by fellow Democratic Councilman John Olszewski Sr. We also talk about how other eastside elected officials are lining up and what that might mean.

This three minutes literally left me struggling to catch my breath.

The head of one county union said he and his members are not pleased with last week’s pseudo-endorsement of Kevin Kamenetz by fellow Democratic Councilman John Olszewski Sr.

Mike Day, president of the Baltimore County Professional Firefighters Association, said union leaders were so displeased with Olszewski’s plans that not only did they not attend an Olszewski fundraiser two days before the endorsement, they voted not to make a donation to his campaign.

And Day didn’t have much nice to say about Friday’s announcement, either. (more…)

Council Chairman John Olszewski Sr. didn’t use the word endorsement at a Friday morning announcement, but the message was clear: When Kevin Kamenetz announces his run for county executive, Olszewski will support him.

Olszewski stood in front of Dundalk High School, his alma mater, with a handful of supporters behind him holding signs. Some were hand made, proclaiming an “East - West” partnership. Others were more professionally made and were clearly from Kamenetz’s as yet undeclared campaign, proclaiming Kamenetz as “The next era of excellence.” (more…)

County Council Chairman John Olszewski Sr. is holding a news conference outside Dundalk High School at 11 a.m. today (yes, regardless of weather) to “make an important announcement regarding his intentions in the 2010 County Executive race for Baltimore County,” according to a cryptic one-sentence e-mail sent out on the councilman’s behalf Thursday night.

The announcement of a county executive run is not out of the question but certainly a long shot. There are other possibilities for today’s event each with their own upsides and downsides. (more…)

Steve Bailey, co-chairman of the county chapter of Americans for Prosperity, said he thinks two Baltimore County councilmen who voted Jan. 19 on the council’s pension reform bills should have abstained — because they stood to benefit financially.

Bailey said Democratic Councilmen John Olszewski Sr. and Ken Oliver both benefited from voting to approve a bill that caps pensions at 60 percent for any freshman councilman sworn-in as of December 2010, while voting to table what has been considered a tougher bill that would have imposed limits on both their pensions almost immediately.

Both Oliver, a two-term incumbent, and Olszewski, a three-term incumbent, would have seen their pensions capped at 60 percent under a bill proposed by Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder. That bill was ultimately killed in favor of Councilman Kevin Kamenetz’s bill. (more…)

The Baltimore County Council’s Spending Affordability Committee has a new chairman —  John Olszewski Sr.

Olszewski took over last week after Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder quietly stepped down.

The committee is charged with setting limits on how much the county can increase its budget each year. It will meet later today to try and set the growth limit for County Executive Jim Smith’s last budget, which will be introduced in April.

Bartenfelder became chairman of the committee late last year — and that’s when  grumbling began. Supporters of Olszewski, the current County Council chairman, and Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, who chaired the spending affordability  committee in 2009, complained that the two were not included on this year’s panel because of politics. (more…)

Today’s political chat with Maryland Morning News anchor Bill Vanko.

We discussed a county resolution that would impose sanctions on companies that do business with the county if they also hire illegal immigrants, and Councilman Ken Oliver’s fundraising efforts and a Democratic challenger to his seat.

Two cars driven by Council Chairmam John Olszewski Sr. were vandalized late last year, according to a police report released on Thursday.

The cars, a 2006 Ford Mustang and a 2007 Jeep Laredo, each had punctured tires from an incident that occurred sometime in November, according to a police report filed Dec. 16 by Olszewski at the Dundalk precinct. The Mustang is registered to Olszewski himself while the Laredo is the councilman’s county-owned vehicle, according to police records. (more…)

There wasn’t much to vote on during the County Council meeting Monday night, but Councilman John Olszewski Sr. did find one item on which he felt the need to abstain.

At issue was a contract for on-call snow removal services with Crusse Construction.

Contracts with independent companies for such services are not uncommon. The county has 32 other contractors that augment the county’s snow removal efforts at a rate of $110 to $160 per hour.

This year the county has budgeted $6 million for storm-emergency cleanup, plus an additional $1 million for on-call contractors.

So far, for three storms this winter, the county has spent $4.5 million, including $1 million for payments to snow-removal contractors.

Olszewski said after the meeting he abstained because he was concerned about a “possible conflict of interest.”

Olszewski said Crusse Construction is owned by his wife’s stepbrother.

“I’m not even sure I had to abstain, but I just thought it was best to play it safe,” Olszewski said.