Comptroller

THE CITIZENS of Baltimore deserve a fresh, new and highly skilled manager to oversee the city's Department of Audits, Real Estate, Insurance and other departments under the direct supervision of the comptroller.Throughout my campaign, I have been quite often asked by many, "Why do you want to be the comptroller of Baltimore?" The answers are many and varied.Yet each time this question is raised, it provides me another opportunity to articulate more of my reasons. They include a strong desire to marry more than 20 years of auditing, tax and financial-analysis experience with my sincere commitment to serve the citizens of Baltimore.

Faced with an unexpected challenge by the Baltimore City Council, the Schmoke administration is lobbying to save a proposal that would strip the comptroller's office of its power over municipal real estate transactions and the purchase of insurance.A majority of council members rejected the proposed revision of the city charter Monday night, signaling their frustration with the control of the executive branch over virtually all aspects of the government.Shifting two of the independently elected comptroller's main functions to the administration was among a series of recommendations by an 11-member commission that studied the structure of city government for 2 1/2 years.

At least three more checks from the Baltimore comptroller's office went to a bank account that Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean opened under the name of an apparently phony women's group, city auditors have discovered.The checks, released to the public yesterday, were issued to Resources for Women Inc., which has the same address as a Northwest Baltimore hair salon owned by Mrs. McLean's sister and brother-in-law. They provide the latest link tying Mrs. McLean to city payments.Auditors found a total of five city checks issued in the last year and a half to Resources for Women, the city solicitor's office said yesterday.

THERE'S A high-paying job available in Baltimore and it's one of those rare occasions these days when it's an advantage to be a 40-year-old white male even though the boss is an equal opportunity employer.The job is comptroller of the city and the pay is $53,000 a year, including an attractive package of go-withs. The contest to succeed the durable Hyman A. Pressman as comptroller is one that political rubberneckers are watching closely.It's a tight little competition among three elected officials who are trying to move up a notch from their current jobs.

In the race to be Baltimore's next comptroller, City Council members Jacqueline F. McLean and Joseph T. "Jody" Landers III have each raised more than $60,000. But Mrs. McLean, a successful businesswoman, has more cash on hand to help win the Democratic primary nomination.Of the $64,747 he raised, Mr. Landers has spent all but $3,132. Mrs. McLean, who collected $61,277, has $25,259 left in her campaign treasury, according to campaign finance reports made public yesterday and Tuesday. The Democratic primary is Sept.

In a ceremony that Gov. Parris N. Glendening described as bittersweet, Robert L. "Bobby" Swann was sworn in yesterday as Maryland's interim comptroller and reciprocated with an endorsement of the governor -- and one from his beloved former boss.Swann was appointed after a tumultuous week in Maryland politics in which the governor's first choice withdrew from the post, left vacant by the sudden death of Louis L. Goldstein, because of the candidacy of former Gov. William Donald Schaefer.A longtime aide to Goldstein, Swann, 62, promised to carry on the work until a permanent replacement is elected in November for the man who had been the state's comptroller for almost 40 years.

If these walls could talk, they'd probably say: "God bless y'all real good."They are the walls that for so many years surrounded Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein in his Annapolis office. Their wood panels were covered by grip-and-grin photos, commemorative plaques and other artifacts of Goldstein's unprecedented longevity in Maryland politics.As the state capital awaits its first new comptroller in four decades, everything -- including the paneling -- has been stripped from the walls.

The race to succeed Hyman A. Pressman as comptroller of Baltimore is emerging as the hottest contest in this summer's Democratic primary campaign, with all three candidates on the attack but none yet emerging as the favorite."

A special grand jury indicted Baltimore Comptroller Jacqueline F. McLean this morning on charges of felony theft and misconduct in office. The indictments charge that she authorized more than $25,000 in payments to a fictitious consultant and organization, and that she arranged a lucrative city lease for a family-owned building.The 23-member grand jury handed down the indictment at noon, after meeting over a space of more than two months.Mrs. McLean, who is on a leave of absence since Dec. 20, is charged in one indictment with one count of felony theft and one count of misconduct for allegedly stealing $25,189.