Columbia Council

Columbia Council members tabled last night a proposal to hire someone to help them with their duties. The proposal stemmed from a discussion at an October work session during which several council members said they wanted the Columbia Association to add a staff member who would help them with research, correspondence and other official business. At the work session, Councilwoman Donna Rice of Town Center said she has had to pay a secretary out of her own pocket to keep up with her volunteer council duties.

State and Howard County officials wished the new Columbia Council well at an induction ceremony at Columbia Association headquarters last night. State Sen. Christopher J. McCabe, Del. Elizabeth Bobo, County Executive James N. Robey and County Council Chairman Guy J. Guzzone also offered to help the council with issues facing the community of 87,000 residents. "You have a friend in county government who cares about this community just as much as you do," Robey said. Seven of the council's 10 seats were decided in elections last month, and five of the members are new. The council will gather for a retreat at Wye River Plantation this weekend.

The Columbia Council plans to distribute a city-wide questionnaire to all residents this summer to get a better idea of how they rate the services offered by the Columbia Association.The survey, prepared by the communications committee of the Columbia Council, will attempt to gauge which services are most important to residents. Council members also hope to get a clearer picture of residents' views on how CA spends the money collected from the annual assessment rate, which is charged to all Columbia residents.

The Columbia Council last week elected John Hansen of Harper's Choice village as its chairman and Karen Kuecker of Owen Brown as its vice chairwoman.The officers were chosen Thursday by acclamation, although Hansen was elected after five ballots in an organizational meeting May 7. Evelyn Richardson of Dorsey's Search and Joseph Merke of Town Center also competed for the chair.Hansen was appointed as the Harper's Choice representative in 1989 to replace now-County Councilman Paul Farragut and was re-elected without opposition in 1990 and last month.

The Columbia Council has approved allowing the county to use land in the Village of Owen Brown as part of a ball field complex the county is planning.The agreement requires that the county assume responsibility for maintaining a sediment control pond nearby.The county Department of Parks and Recreation plans to develop a neighborhood park on land at the corner of Oakland Mills Road and Homespun Lane. The park will include softball, soccer and football fields, and a tot lot.The county owns most of the land as part of a future elementary school site.

Two more members of the Columbia Council have said they will not seek re-election, bringing to four the number of seats that will be open in next month's communitywide elections.Alex Hekimian of Oakland Mills and Chuck Rees of Kings Contrivance will retire from the council -- the Columbia Association's highest governing body -- at the end of April.Hekimian, a former Alliance for a Better Columbia (ABC) activist who would have faced a challenge from Oakland Mills Village Board Chairman Earl Jones, has served three years on the council.

The three newly elected members of the Columbia Council campaigned for better lines of communication between residents and the association. Now, they have their chance to make good on that promise, and the board incumbents are ready to see the results. "This is going to be a major change," said Barbara L. Russell, board representative for Oakland Mills. "The three elections made it very clear that the community has some major concerns about the way the board operates." Last month, residents elected newcomers Cynthia Coyle of Harper's Choice and Philip Kirsch of Wilde Lake to the Columbia Council.

Well, so much for ethics in the pursuit of good government. By a 5 to 4 vote last week, the Columbia Council put aside all pretense that it could police itself and decided to allow one of its members to vote on a proposed new golf course even though he has a conflict of interest on the matter. By allowing Joseph Merke, a council member representing Town Center, to vote on the golf course, the council mocks its conflict of interest policy, which took effect only last month.The fact that Mr. Merke's home abuts the proposed site of the golf course, and that building it would increase his property value significantly, did not deter a majority of council members from their outrageous vote.

Three Columbia Council members expressed outrage yesterday over Columbia Association President Deborah O. McCarty's call for resignation letters from her six vice presidents, and one has requested a special council meeting to discuss the issue before the public. "I'm appalled and outraged by the actions that have been taken," said Earl Jones, the council representative from Oakland Mills village. "I do not perceive this to be in the best interests of the community at all." Said Pearl Atkinson-Stewart, the Owen Brown representative: "I just think it's devastating to the corporation."