Council Election

The County Council chose last night two Democrats, Shirley Murphy and Barbara D. Samorajczyk, as its chairwoman and vice chairwoman for the coming year. But Murphy's call for harmony was tested seconds after her election, when the lone dissenter offered a biting criticism of the new team. Councilman Bill D. Burlison, an Odenton Democrat who once represented Missouri in Congress, said the choice was not in the "best interests" of the seven-member council. His comments seemed aimed at Samorajczyk, who has sparred often with County Executive Janet S. Owens, a Democrat closely allied with Burlison.

The Anne Arundel County Council last night chose two Democrats, Shirley Murphy and Barbara D. Samorajczyk, as its chairwoman and vice chairwoman for the coming year. But Murphy's call for harmony was tested seconds after her election, when the lone dissenter offered a biting criticism of the new team. Councilman Bill D. Burlison, an Odenton Democrat who once represented Missouri in Congress, said the choice was not in the "best interests" of the seven-member council. His comments seemed aimed at Samorajczyk, who has sparred often with County Executive Janet S. Owens, a Democrat closely allied with Burlison.

In a 3-2 vote last night that followed party lines, the Howard County Zoning Board approved a plan for Maple Lawn Farms that would make it one of the largest mixed-use developments in the county since Columbia was founded over three decades ago. Earlier yesterday, the County Council, which also acts as the Zoning Board, voted 3-2 to postpone a vote on the new General Plan until November to allot more time to consider possible amendments. The two most senior council members, Columbia Democrats C. Vernon Gray and Mary C. Lorsung, opposed the other three, who wanted the delay.

A third Columbia Council incumbent has been defeated in his re-election bid, losing by seven votes to a challenger who had called the city's governing body "asleep at the wheel." Oakland Mills representative Earl Jones captured 290 votes to challenger Barbara Russell's 297 votes, the elections committee said yesterday. The outcome of Saturday's race -- which attracted unusually high interest -- had been unclear because of uncertainty over the validity of mail-in ballots outstanding. Any such ballots will not be counted.

Columbia residents in five villages will go to the polls this week in an election that could determine the future of the Columbia Association and the fate of its president. The leadership of President Deborah O. McCarty has become the central issue of the Columbia Council contests, with a number of candidates calling for her resignation and for greater openness on the council. The 10-member council governs the Columbia Association, which operates much like a municipal government, providing services and facilities for the city's 87,000 residents.

The mayor of Manchester is among the lowest paid in the county, but a proposed change to the town code would quadruple the salary after the next election, while more than doubling the amount paid to Town Council members. The salary increases are among several proposed changes to the town code that were read at this month's council meeting and will be subject to a public hearing at the next regular council meeting, at 7: 30 p.m. Feb. 8. Other ordinance changes would: Provide for filling mayor or Town Council vacancies by appointment.

Much of Baltimore County's business this year could be negotiated from the seat of a Ford tractor. At its first meeting of the year tonight, the Baltimore County Council is expected to select Joseph Bartenfelder, a Fullerton Democrat, as its chairman. A farmer whose thick hands are covered with calluses from growing tomatoes, corn and kale on his family's farm, Bartenfelder is known to return telephone calls from atop rumbling farm machinery. But don't try to call him there -- only his wife and his mother, he says, have the cell-phone number.

Record numbers of Sykesville voters returned incumbents Michael Burgoyne, William R. Hall and Jeannie Nichols to the six-member council Tuesday. But Michael Kasnia lost his seat to Charlie Mullins, a two-term veteran who left the council in 1991. Nearly 500 of the 1,936 registered voters turned out, the largest number to vote in a town election in anyone's memory. The three hours it took three judges to tally the votes also set a record. "It's a record turnout, the highest ever, and a record count," said Mayor Jonathan Herman, from a seat on Town House porch that afforded a view of the counting room.

Baltimore's next mayor will not be getting a five-year term as some City Council members had proposed.The council voted 9-6, with three members abstaining and one absent, late Thursday night to defeat a plan to move city elections to coincide with the presidential vote.Northeast Baltimore Councilman Robert Curran said the proposal could save $4 million while doubling city voter turnout and drawing more candidates. Council members unwilling to be pushed to the bottom of a ballot topped with presidential races disagreed, pointing to everything from possible blizzards to holiday plans.

Newt Gingrich wasn't on any of the ballots in Howard County Tuesday, but if the Petersens of Columbia are any indication, many people voted against the Republican House speaker and his party in the local elections."