County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz hasn’t formally declared his intent to run for county executive in 2010, but some of his constituents declared their wishes in cake Monday night.
Kamenetz showed off the cake and offered pieces to some council staff (and then to me) after last night’s council meeting.
The box was placed up on a refrigerator. (Perhaps out of sight of other potential “next Baltimore County Executives?”) (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…)
Everyone ready for the answers to the pop quiz on the County Council and county government that I posted on Tuesday?
If you haven’t had the opportunity to take it you can find it here. Remember, you’re on the honor system — no internet and no lifelines. Hey, I’m not Regis Philbin here.
Here are the answers to all 60 questions. Look for the special bragging rights questions I left in the answers. Feel free to leave the answers in the comments section — if you think you know them. (more…)
A bill that some say offered a more comprehensive approach to reforming pensions for County Council members would have been legal under federal retirement law, according to a five-page memo prepared by the county Office of Law.
The issue of legality came up last week after the council passed a 60 percent pension cap for any freshman councilman who takes office this December. The council voted that same night to kill a more restrictive bill sponsored by Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder. (more…)
Check out this story on WBAL.com for my discussion with Robert Lang about the $1.1 million in cash on hand raised by Councilman Kevin Kamenetz.
Sorry for the delay in posting. There were some technical issues on my end. I hope to get you all caught up with some stuff that happened Thursday. Here’s the first of them
Here’s this week’s installment of my weekly chat with Maryland Morning News anchor Bill Vanko. We covered the county’s expectations for the 90-day General Assembly session that began on Wednesday and the politics of the competing pension reform bills before the County Council.
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…)
Add 2nd District County Council candidate Vicki Almond to the list of candidates interviewed by Michael Paul Smith, the son of County Executive Jim Smith, and David Gildea, a former law clerk to Smith during his time as a Circuit Court Judge.
Almond said she interviewed with Smith and Gildea in October. The pair, who each has a land-use practice, are throwing high-priced fundraisers for select candidates in open council districts in the 2010 election.
Almond said the meeting, which took place in Gildea’s Towson law office, covered a wide range of subjects, such as public safety, education and development. The meeting sounded much like a conversation Towson Democrat Mike Ertel said he had with Smith and Gildea around the same time last year.
I asked Almond, a self-described “community person,” if she had concerns about attorneys with land-use practices putting together a slate of candidates who could be friendly to development interests if elected. (more…)
When the County Council meets tonight, the first order of business will be to select a new chairman.
Democratic Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder served his fourth, and by his account final, year as chairman in December. Three Democrats, including Vince Gardina, Ken Oliver and John Olszewski Sr., have expressed an interest in the job that pays $60,000 annually — about $6,000 more than the salary for a councilman who is not chairman.
Odds are that the councilman who is sometimes known as Johnny O will be elected to serve for the third time in as many terms, according to council observers.
Four councilmen have controlled the position since 1996 — Bartenfelder, Olszewski, Kevin Kamenetz and Sam Moxley.
“It’s worked out ahead of time,” said Republican former Councilman Wayne Skinner, who served on the council from 1998 to 2002. “Those four decided.”
Those who have served previously as chairman have denied there is a deal in place or that Olszewski is a lock for the position.
Here’s part two of my top five list of Baltimore County political stories for 2009. (Part one can be found here).
2. Pensions and Salaries. Pocketbook issues continued to dominate the news in the county after it was reported by the Baltimore Sun that five-term Democratic Councilman Vince Gardina was eligible to retire at age 53 and earn a pension equal to 100 percent of his $54,000 annual salary. Four other councilmen have served four terms each and are eligible to collect 80 percent of their salaries immediately at the conclusion of the current term.
A month later, the county Personnel and Salary Advisory Board proposed raises of 8 percent and 2 percent respectively for the county executive and council that would take office in 2010. The reason for the difference between the two was apparently hashed out in a closed door meeting that violated the state’s Open Meetings Act, but clearly was influenced by the ongoing pension flap.
Then-council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder said he would not introduce the salary increase bill as long as he was chairman. Later, County Executive Jim Smith announced he would not send such a bill to the council.
Next month, the council will consider two pension reform bills — one sponsored by Councilman Kevin Kamenetz and the other by Councilmen Joseph Bartenfelder.
Watchdog groups aren’t happy with either, and are expected to call for publicly-funded defined benefits pension plans to be replaced with 401K-style plans.
1. Council Kingmakers. The fact that developers and their attorneys give money to county executive and council candidates in Baltimore County is as surprising as the faux outrage of Claude Raines — as the corrupt gambling Capt. Renault – shutting down Humphrey Bogart’s club because he is “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” … just as a club employee hands the captain his winnings for the night.
What IS news here is the way in which Michael Paul Smith, the son of County Executive Jim Smith, and David Gildea, a former law clerk to Smith when the county exec was a Circuit Court judge, have gone about backing unknown and untested potential candidates in three open council races, and are said to be seeking a candidate for at least one more race (but possibly two). The private fund raising events in Smith and Gildea’s homes, with their suggested $1,000 per person donations, caught the attention of other candidates and the public.
The council wields a great deal of power when it comes to zoning and development decisions, and community associations and activists didn’t need 20-20 vision to make the connections between those open seats and attorneys with land use practices who might be interested in seeing friendly faces making those calls.
So there it is, my list of the top five political stories for the county for 2009.
Do you agree, disagree? Did I overlook something that should have been on the list? Feel free to leave me a comment below.
Happy new year to everyone and I’ll see you in 2010.