Strange Bedfellows

One by one the county’s seven councilmen are speaking about the possibility of reforming the pension plan that has been in place for the last 50 years.

The issue attracted attention after it was revealed that Democratic Councilman Vince Gardina would retire after completing an unprecedented fifth term and be eligible immediately for a pension equal to 100 percent of his current $54,000 annual salary.

Since then, some on the council, including Gardina, have expressed an opinion about possible changes to the system. Not everyone, however, has made up his mind.

“It’s something I haven’t thought about,” said Councilman John Olszewski Sr., a three-term Democrat who represents the 7th District, including Dundalk, Essex and part of Rosedale.

Current Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder said he wanted to cap council pensions at 60 percent 10 years ago but had no support. Two weeks ago, he said he’d sponsor a bill with a similar cap if he could find at least three more votes.

Olszewski said he couldn’t comment on Bartenfelder’s idea, repeating that it wasn’t something he had thought about.

Would you support an effort to reform the pension system, I asked Olszewski.

Olszewski smiled and said, “You never say never.”

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…)

Speed camera legislation is the big item on today’s 2 p.m. council work session.

But that bill has all but masked another issue on the agenda — the re-introduction of a bill that will ban the delivery of unwanted fliers and circulars. That bill, sponsored by Councilman John Olszewski Sr., will also receive a hearing this afternoon.

The bill is identical to one filed by Olszewski earlier this year, before he amended it in an attempt to make it clear the law would not target small community newspapers. (more…)

In Baltimore County, vetoes of County Council bills are rare.

Unanimous passage of most bills usually signals that the council — with two more votes than the five required for a veto override — can overturn any attempt to thwart its legislative will. (more…)

The County Council will vote tonight on a bill sponsored by Councilman John Olszewski Sr. that would create a so-called do not distribute list for advertisements and fliers that are left on the doors of county homes.

Several councilmen expressed concerns that the bill runs afoul of free speech rights in the Constitution.

Not so, Olszewski said last week and said he had an opinion from the state Attorney General bolstering to back him up. (more…)

There are lots of ways one can spend his retirement. Charles “Buzz” Beeler, a former  Baltimore County Police officer who retired in 2005, is looking to spend his time as the next county councilman from the 7th District.

Beeler, 60, is planning to run against Democratic incumbent John Olszewski Sr. in the Democratic primary next election.

“I look around and see the changes down here, and I don’t think they are good,” Beeler said. (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…)

Last week several councilman grilled county school system officials on the subject of air conditioning in some schools, specifically Ridgely Middle School.

But not everyone felt the focus should be solely on comfort.

Councilman Vince Gardina, a 5th District Democrat who represents aan area that stretches from Perry Hall to Towson, is the council’s conscience when it comes to green issues, and last Thursday’s budget hearing with the schools system was no different. For about five minutes, Gardina turned the focus on sweltering classrooms into a discussion about energy conservation. (more…)

The 18 months or so before an election, especially one that promises to be particularly exciting or filled with change, generates a lot of chatter.

Last week, several e-mails popped up in my in box containing messages claiming that Councilman John Olszewski Sr. had endorsed fellow Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder’s bid for county executive. Olszewski, the e-mails said, did this at an eastside Democratic club meeting last week. The endorsement would essentially mean Olszewski had removed himself from the race. (more…)

A 9.8-acre parcel of county-owned land in Dundalk isn’t going to pass into private hands until March, but that’s not stopping developer John Vontran from seeking County Council approval for a proposed Planned Unit Development plan for the property.

Councilman John Olszewski Sr. will introduce a resolution seeking preliminary approval for the plan at tonight’s council meeting. The resolution is a necessary step before such a plan could be considered by the county Planning Board. (more…)