Council Bill

Dozens of residents and elected officials bitterly criticized the operators of Baltimore's Hawkins Point medical waste incinerator last night for their plans to receive waste from anywhere in the country and, in the process, nearly double the amount of refuse they burn.A City Council bill introduced last month would allow the incinerator, for the first time, to receive medical waste from outside Maryland.The bill is sponsored by all three council members from the 6th District -- Melvin Stukes, Dr. Norman A. Handy Sr. and Edward L. Reisinger -- where the incinerator is situated.

City Councilman Bill Henry on Monday plans to introduce a series of bills aimed at reforming City Hall, including two that would curb some of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's power. Henry's four bills will be introduced at what should prove a busy meeting for the council. A bill sponsored by Councilman Carl Stokes that would require many city agencies to be audited every two years is expected to receive a second vote, after failing last month. Plus, City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young is introducing bills aimed at tightening ethics laws and making it tougher for the mayor to close fire companies.

Voters will face two rival plans to shrink the City Council in the November election, one backed by a citizens group and the other a council bill that Mayor Martin O'Malley signed yesterday. O'Malley also vetoed another council-endorsed proposal that would have added a third option to the ballot. The mayor signed a bill that was introduced by council President Sheila Dixon that would cut four seats from the 19-member council. His signature guaranteed that Dixon's measure will appear before voters on Nov. 5, along with a council-cutting initiative brought by a coalition of community activists and labor unions that also would trim four seats.

Few issues in Howard County are as complicated and contentious as affordable-housing policy and growth-management controls. A new County Council bill appears to renew a clash between the two. The tussle erupted at a council public hearing Monday night, but in some ways it echoed past debates. Until now, local lawmakers have been reluctant to relax growth-management laws to allow county-required affordable housing to be built faster. In July, the council sharply restricted an Ulman administration bill that also sought to bend growth controls to speed redevelopment along U.S. 1 - another county priority that includes developments that incorporate lower-priced housing.

THE League of Women Voters is pleased that our political representatives have focused on the question of the most appropriate structure for our Baltimore City Council. Attention is welcome as the League and other organizations are in the final stages of a petition drive to place on the November ballot a proposal for nine single-member districts. Placing this proposal on the ballot is the best way to have forums and discussions on the City Council's future course. The time has come for the voters to consider a specific proposal to restructure the City Council.

Though Councilwoman Theresa M. Pierno's proposal to open up the development approval process to more citizen input failed to pass the County Council last month, its supporters haven't given up.Two more bills designed to publicize zoning information and involve citizens in reviewing development plans are before the council and will be discussed in public hearings Tuesday night."

Pawnshops may have a tougher time opening shop in Baltimore neighborhoods because of a proposed City Council bill that aims to restrict their growth and also please some communities that view the shops as a nuisance and crime magnet.Second District Councilman Anthony J. Ambridge and 3rd District Councilman Martin O'Malley introduced in last evening's City Council meeting a bill that would require the council to approve the placement of pawnshops first. Pawnshops can pop up in any area that is zoned for business use."

Harford's teachers have been cleared to finally get the bonuses set aside for them by County Executive David Craig, after the county council approved a $2.1 million appropriation for the bonus money Tuesday. Teachers were supposed to get the $1,250 bonus along with all other county employees by the end of 2011, but Craig vetoed that bill after the Harford County Education Association teachers' union tried to get more control over the funding distribution. The county board of education finalized a collective bargaining agreement with HCEA on Feb. 13, according to the council bill.

The authors of Question B -- the sweeping zoning procedure changes approved by Howard County voters last fall -- intend to sue the county if the council goes forward tonight with its interpretation of the new charter amendment.Accusing the council of "illegally subverting the voters' decision," Question B supporters charge that tonight's council bill violates both the wording and the spirit of the newly passed amendment in how broadly it can be applied.But county attorneys and council members say the text of the charter amendment is ambiguous, and they fear that carrying it out exactly as its authors want would violate the rights of individual property owners to due process.

Last week's question: When Howard County gave up the commissioner system of government for home rule with a county executive and council in 1969, the population was fewer than 62,000 people. The county charter required that to petition a County Council bill to referendum no more than 5,000 signatures of registered voters were needed. In 2005, the county's population is about 265,000, but a move to increase the number of names needed for referendum was defeated last year. A group of citizens has collected nearly 5,000 signatures to place on the 2006 ballot a council-approved zoning bill that would regulate how dozens of parcels of land may be used.