Commissioners

Dixon makes pitch for Md. gun legislation Mayor Sheila Dixon and other Baltimore officials urged state lawmakers yesterday to adopt two proposals that the city police commissioner says would "take guns out of the hands of bad guys." One measure would prevent bail commissioners from releasing convicted gun offenders if they are arrested anew, and another would increase the time that a felon found in possession of a firearm spends in prison. "We need your help," Dixon told members of the House Judiciary Committee.

The Carroll County commissioners have voted to create a county police department with an appointed chief to replace a resident trooper program that has been based at the state police barracks in Westminster for 33 years. Carroll County is the last jurisdiction in Maryland to rely on the state police as its primary law enforcement agency. Yesterday's decision came after years of discussion among county and police officials about dissolving the state program because of the expense and a shortage of available troopers.

Maryland's new secretary of transportation is discouraging a Carroll County commissioner from lobbying for federal dollars for a highway project that is also underscoring growing tensions on the local board. Commissioner Michael D. Zimmer's proposed extension of U.S. 29 from Howard County would bisect Carroll and include bypasses of Westminster and Taneytown. "We would encourage the county not to pursue separate federal ... funding for independent projects," Secretary John D. Porcari recently wrote in a letter to Zimmer.

As the German-owned Lehigh Cement Co. prepares for growth at its Union Bridge plant, company officials hope to gain permission soon from Carroll County commissioners to permanently store an alternative fuel source and to expand mining at a higher-quality limestone quarry in nearby New Windsor. The county commissioners said they are close to approving an amendment allowing Lehigh to continue storing treated sewage sludge on its grounds. Lehigh officials said theirs is the first cement plant in North America to burn the pelletized sludge, known as biosolids, as an alternative fuel to power the plant's cement kiln.

Organized resident opposition to the proposed runway expansion for the Carroll County Regional Airport in Westminster will be weighed against potential economic benefits as the county commissioners consider a plan for adoption June 12. The commissioners have to choose among four options for the airport. Consultants from United Research Services (URS) have recommended relocating the runway 250 feet west and 600 feet north -- a $56 million option. Other options include leaving the runaway as is, which would require $8.7 million in surface improvements; extending the runway for $42.8 million; or relocating it 375 feet west for $59.3 million.

County staff and local law enforcement representatives presented to the Carroll commissioners a proposed code amendment to impose local regulations on pawnbrokers and secondhand dealers. The amendment would: define terms; set forth defined hours of operation and other operating requirements; prohibit transactions with minors; specify certain record keeping requirements; specify holding periods; order the release of stolen property to law enforcement; grant law enforcement the right to enter and inspect; and provide for notices of violations and penalties.

Carroll County commissioners will unveil a package of six bills tomorrow before members of the state delegation to Annapolis for consideration in the 2007 General Assembly session. Noticeably absent from this package is any proposal to enact a transfer tax -- a levy on real estate transactions the previous board had lobbied for since 2002. Instead, the commissioners are pushing for the local regulation of pawnshops, a stronger county cleanup law and tax credits for residents who renovate their properties in gateway areas near the county's borders.

A new proposal from a Carroll County state delegate aims to resolve a protracted struggle to create districts that would pave the way for a five-member Board of Commissioners, as approved in a referendum vote nearly three years ago. The plan, designed by Del. Donald Elliott calls for one commissioner-at-large and four others elected by district, essentially allowing the county's citizens to vote for two commissioners, Elliott said. Now, there are three members on Carroll's Board of Commissioners.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has a message for the developers of a controversial waterfront development in Queen Anne's County: Let the county commissioners speak. Troubled by a gag order imposed on the commissioners, Franchot requested yesterdaythat the developers of a Four Seasons community on Kent Island suspend part of their settlement agreement with the county and allow the officials to testify at the next Board of Public Works meeting. The Four Seasons project, a long-fought development slated for the eastern shoreline of Kent Island, has hit a snag at the board where Franchot and other members have expressed reservations about the environmental impact of building 1,300 homes in land designated as a Chesapeake Bay "critical area."

The tiny town of Sudlersville (population 391) advertises itself as "the most beautiful and progressive town on the Eastern Shore." If the former claim is open to dispute, the latter was nearly disproved this week by Sudlersville's town commissioners. The five-member board came close to resurrecting the kind of civil rights debacle that recalls the bad old days of Eastern Shore voter discrimination cases. But in the end, reason prevailed. On Wednesday evening, the commissioners unanimously chose to reject a charter amendment they had previously approved on a 3-2 vote that would have required any future candidate for elected town office to own property in the town.

Sixth case of Legionnaire's diagnosed at Stadium Place The Baltimore Health Department reported Thursday that a sixth resident of the senior living facility Stadium Place has been diagnosed with Legionnaire's disease since the outbreak began in early October. One resident has died, but the conditions of the others are unknown. City officials, along with the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, continue to look for the source of the problem.

When Baltimore's liquor board commissioners were sworn into office in April 2007, they took over an agency reeling from threats, lawsuits and internal backbiting. Charged by Gov. Martin O'Malley with restoring public trust, the three-member panel has virtually cut out the infighting. But some observers argue that the commissioners have also taken a heavy-handed approach to their oversight responsibilities, dishing out substantial fines and suspensions and revoking more licenses than is necessary.

Life plus 30 in man's death A 26-year-old man was convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and sentenced to life plus 30 years in prison Thursday in the killing of a handyman who drug dealers believed was disrupting their business. Prosecutors said Kevin Armstead was one of three men who confronted and repeatedly shot Ricardo "Pops" Paige, 54, on March 20, 2007, in a house in the 500 block of E. 43rd St. where Paige was living and working. Armstead was captured last year in Georgia after Paige's killing was featured on the television show America's Most Wanted, prosecutor Kevin Wiggins said.

City liquor board commissioners will receive a $10,000 pay increase in May, raises that board commissioners say put them in line with similar state agencies. On Wednesday, the city Board of Estimates approved an increase from $18,000 to $28,000 for two liquor board commissioners. The chairman of the three-member board will make $500 more. Noting that this is the board's first raise since 1990, Commissioner Elizabeth C. Smith also said the raises for liquor board commissioners were committed to last year by the state legislature.

Dixon makes pitch for Md. gun legislation Mayor Sheila Dixon and other Baltimore officials urged state lawmakers yesterday to adopt two proposals that the city police commissioner says would "take guns out of the hands of bad guys." One measure would prevent bail commissioners from releasing convicted gun offenders if they are arrested anew, and another would increase the time that a felon found in possession of a firearm spends in prison. "We need your help," Dixon told members of the House Judiciary Committee.

A lawyer for poor defendants in Baltimore told Maryland's highest court yesterday that his clients and others like them are entitled to taxpayer-funded lawyers at bail hearings held within 24 hours of their arrest. Should a majority of the court agree, the case would have wide-ranging consequences for the state's criminal justice system and require more public defenders, more space at central booking facilities statewide and more court commissioners, who are the first to set bail. But the lawyer for the Baltimore firm arguing the class-action suit pro bono said that giving poor defendants counsel at "all stages" of the criminal justice process would save the state money because it would mean jailing fewer people.

Members of Baltimore's Board of Fire Commissioners will receive their final paychecks at the end of this month, after a recent discovery by the city's Finance Department that the members have not been eligible for a city stipend since 1996. A provision authorizing pay for the commissioners was removed from the city's charter when it was revised under Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's administration more than a decade ago. But, apparently, neither the commissioners nor the city department that writes the checks realized it. The board members have continued to receive nominal pay from the city - roughly $3,600 a year for each member and $4,200 for the president.

While many jurisdictions across Maryland are awaiting the repercussions of the projected $432 million state budget shortfall, Carroll County leaders announced yesterday cost-cutting measures aimed at offsetting any losses in funding from Annapolis. The measures, which are adopted for fiscal year 2010, include a hiring freeze on the 26 open positions within the county, a measure expected to save $533,079 in salary and an additional 40 percent of that amount in benefits. Travel for training and conferences will be restricted to the Mid-Atlantic region and take-home county vehicles will be restricted to county use only.

The creation of a Carroll County police force was put on hold yesterday after the Board of Commissioners voted to take no action on an ordinance to form the agency. Instead, the commissioners might set up a committee to look further into addressing the growing county's law-enforcement needs. Had it been adopted, the ordinance would have gone to referendum in November, allowing residents a say on whether the county should have its own police force with an appointed police chief. The deadline for adding the item to the ballot is later this month.

The Carroll County commissioners have proposed maintaining the current real property tax rate, which would mean higher bills for property owners because of rising state assessments. Reducing the rate would offset the effect of the 8.6 percent increase in assessments, according to a public notice the county released, and retaining the current $1.048 per $100 of assessed value would generate more than $13 million in additional revenue, county officials said. "Property taxes are the major revenue for all county governments," Steve Powell, the commissioners' chief of staff, said during the board's open session yesterday morning.