Reflecting a privately reached consensus, the Baltimore County Council -- with all seven members as sponsors -- introduced two bills last night to raise elected officials' pay after the 1998 elections.
Under one measure, council members' pay would increase 24.6 percent to $38,500 a year and the pay of the council chairman, a post rotated annually among the seven members, would increase 26.8 percent to $43,000.
Under the other measure, the county executive would get a 16.6 percent raise to $105,000 a year.
The last council pay raise was in December 1990.
"It's a compromise," said Councilman Kevin B. Kamenetz, a Pikesville Democrat. "Some wanted more, some wanted less."
Council Chairman Joseph Bartenfelder, a Fullerton Democrat, and other council members said the agreement on what pay levels to introduce was reached during a series of informal discussions over several weeks.
He and other council members said that despite the unanimous sponsorship, the bills represent agreement on a starting point and don't violate the county's open meetings law, which requires all decisions to be reached in public.
"There will still be a public discussion," Bartenfelder said, referring to the public work session that precedes voting sessions.
The private agreement represents a sharp departure from the several rounds of public discussions on elected officials' pay held by the previous council in 1994, the last time the executive's pay was changed. Not every member was comfortable with the council's method this year.
"I don't like the process," Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, said before the council meeting began last night.
Several other council members were uncomfortable answering questions about the private discussions, but all said they are comfortable with the increases proposed in the bills.
"I'm with the guys," said Councilman Louis L. DePazzo, a Dundalk Democrat.
"I think we should debate everything widely and openly," said Councilman T. Bryan McIntire, a north county Republican, while acknowledging that the issue "was batted about in the halls" and on other private occasions.
Councilman Douglas B. Riley, a Towson Republican, said that by the time the members went to dinner before last night's meeting, the only decision left was when to introduce the bills. "Tonight is when it pulled together," he said.
The council introduced salaries lower than those recommended three weeks ago by the Personnel and Salary Advisory Board, which compared elected officials' pay in Maryland. The board called for council pay of $42,500 a year, with the chairman getting $5,000 more, and $109,500 pay for the executive.
Councilmen now earn $30,900, and the chairman an extra $3,000. County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger earns $90,000 a year.
Pub Date: 5/06/97
