Councilmen

Responding to citizens who feel legally overwhelmed and outguessed by developers' lawyers, two freshman Howard County councilmen are proposing an independent people's counsel as a way to level the playing field.The idea is to use taxpayer funds to hire a lawyer who would serve as an independent public advocate. Such attorneys often help community groups not versed in the law fight zoning changes that are proposed to allow new developments.Baltimore, Harford and Montgomery counties all have a people's counsel -- though Montgomery hasn't hired anyone for the recently funded job.A citizens committee appointed this year to suggest ways of updating Howard's General Plan also recommended such a move.

The agreement to provide pay raises for Baltimore County's next group of elected officials was hammered out by councilmen over a private dinner and put on a fast track for approval -- moves designed to limit controversy.The amounts of the raises -- boosting a council member's salary from $30,900 to $38,500 -- emerged April 30, when the seven councilmen had dinner at M. Gettier's Orchard Inn. After a bit of haggling, they lowered the pay proposal, ending at a spot thousands of dollars less than a study had recommended.

Although most of Baltimore County's seven councilmen abstained from campaign fund raising last year during the quadrennial comprehensive rezoning process, they are making up for it now -- but the link to their zoning work remains.Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat and former council chairman, said he hopes that many of the $100 tickets to his May 1 fund-raiser will be bought by people he helped last year with zoning changes they requested, or by business owners who support him.The council made hundreds of decisions on zoning changes in October.

Imagine this: Politicians saying no to campaign contributions.In Baltimore County, where the memory of scandal lingers in the halls of government -- with portraits of two disgraced former county executives hanging on the wall -- the current crop of council members is taking pains to avoid any hint of influence-peddling.Mindful of past ethical uproars over rezoning, most councilmen declined to hold fund-raisers this year amid the countywide rezoning.The one who did hold a fund-raiser during the rezoning process, Douglas B. Riley of Towson, returned more than $3,000 from people seeking zoning changes.

All three 6th District councilmen say they have little choice but to back a controversial City Council bill that could double the amount of waste burned at Maryland's largest medical waste incinerator.But are they telling residents of Brooklyn and Curtis Bay -- where the bill to boost burning at the Hawkins Point facility faces its stiffest opposition -- the whole story? Or are they presenting residents with a false choice?"No," insists Councilman Edward L. Reisinger. "If we don't go forward with this, you're going to have a lot of hospitals that will have to burn medical waste and really pollute the air," he said.

Another article Wednesday should have stated that an incident in which bottles and batteries were thrown at Councilmen Lawrence A. Bell III and Martin O'Malley occurred at the intersection of Park Heights and Belvedere avenues.The Sun regrets the error.Baltimore City Councilmen Lawrence A. Bell III and Martin O'Malley made a late-night tour of Park Heights Avenue yesterday in an effort to document the need for a curfew.They got a graphic demonstration of the kind of thing that convinces them one is needed when a group of youths threw batteries and soda bottles at them.

Another article Tuesday should have stated that an incident in which bottles and batteries were thrown at Councilmen Lawrence A. Bell III and Martin O'Malley occurred at the intersection of Park Heights and Belvedere avenues.The Sun regrets the error.

Daryl K. Doxzen is continuing a family tradition in Sykesville.With his appointment to the Town Council on Monday, Mr. Doxzen became the third generation of his family to serve the municipality."

Council Move On Jolley A DisgraceThe latest action, or perhaps I should say, inaction, by the Aberdeen City councilmen with regard to the misconduct of the chief of police, Jack R. Jolley, is deplorable.The recent 4-1 vote by the council to give the city administrator, Peter Dacey, the responsibility for taking disciplinary action against Chief Jolley is, at best cowardly; at worst downright crooked, yet a clever move on their part.It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see through the council's plan -- by unloading their responsibility onto Mr. Dacey, the councilmen not only protected their friend, Chief Jolley, but they also preserved his position as chief of our police department.

ANNAPOLIS -- Citing community pressure, two companies have decided to withdraw their request for commercial licenses that would have allowed them to install video peep shows in their Anne Arundel County stores.Timothy F. Umbreit, an attorney for the two companies, said yesterday that he will be sending county councilmen letters of his clients' intentions.The companies, Magura and Tokai enterprises, had initially sought to install the video machines in stores in Glen Burnie and in Odenton.

Three members of the Baltimore City Council yesterday agreed to sign a boycott commitment against a downtown hotel that has been involved in a long-standing battle with the union representing its employees. City Council Vice President Edward L. Reisinger and city Councilmen Bill Henry and William H. Cole IV were expected to sign boycott pledge cards against the Sheraton Baltimore City Center because of the labor dispute. This month marked two years that doormen, housekeepers and other staff have worked without a contract, according to United Here.

Odum defeated in Long Reach vote for Columbia Council In Columbia Council elections on April 26, the council's vice chair, who plans to move to another village, was beaten by a challenger who was backed by a group advocating significant changes in the Columbia Association's operations. David Hlass defeated Linda Odum, 411-240, to represent Long Reach village in the only contested race for the 10- member council, which governs the 95,000-resident homeowners association. Hlass will serve with two other new members elected to the council, whose members also act as the board of directors for the Columbia Association, which provides a number of recreational amenities and has a nearly $50 million annual budget.

As Baltimore County Council members object to the salary the county executive promised his nominee for the county's No. 2 job and fret about her personality, state legislators who worked with Beverly Swaim-Staley for years can't believe what they are hearing about her. Some councilmen and county employees said Swaim-Staley has been brusque in her first weeks on the job. And a majority of councilmen object to the $140,000 she has been promised by Baltimore...

The Baltimore County Council voted last night to put part of the Sheppard Pratt Health System complex on the historic landmarks list, a blow to preservationists who had wanted the entire property protected. Officials at both Sheppard Pratt and Greater Baltimore Medical Center lobbied to keep four of the 13 structures recommended by the county Landmarks Preservation Commission off the list, saying that landmark designation would prevent them from planned expansion and modernization of their facilities.

The Baltimore County Council paved the way for a new Ravens training facility in Northwest Regional Park last night, and voted to put on November's ballot a charter amendment giving the council more power over county department heads. The councilmen engaged in an unusually spirited debate about the bills, grilling Economic Development Director Robert L. Hannon and Parks and Recreation Director John F. Weber III about the details of the Ravens deal. One councilman, Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, voted against the Ravens bills, which give the team a 25-year lease on 32 acres of parkland.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, preparing for a tough re-election campaign this year, suffered a series of legislative defeats at this week's council meeting, the most tangible sign yet that he's become the council's odd man out. The Perry Hall Democrat saw two bills he'd hoped to use to introduce himself to new constituents go down without even a second to his motion. The same thing happened to an amendment he proposed to tighten security at a nightclub in Towson, a new part of the district he would run in this fall.

Six Baltimore County councilmen introduced a resolution last night calling for a commission to study council redistricting, a process in which they faced strong criticism last spring from community groups who believed there wasn't enough public input. Council Chairman Stephen G. Samuel Moxley, a Catonsville Democrat, said the commission will be appointed next month and will likely include community activists and former elected officials. The resolution sets a target of May 1 for the commission to make its report, potentially allowing amendments to the county's charter to be on the November ballot.

Mount Airy voters elected three councilmen yesterday to serve terms into 2004. Four candidates sought three open seats on the five-member council. Elected were incumbent David W. Pyatt, 57, a nuclear engineer for the Department of Energy in Germantown; incumbent William E. Wagner Jr., 60, co-owner of Wagner Bros./Mount Airy Locker Co.; and Franklin M. Johnson, 38, a Rockville attorney. Voting was from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. yesterday at Mount Airy Volunteer Fire Company Activities Building on Twin Arch Road.

Two of three incumbent councilmen say they'll be on the ballot May 1, when Mount Airy holds its municipal election for three Town Council seats. However, the hours for voting will be shortened, the council decided Monday night. The new times will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Previously, voting began at 9 a.m., but Mayor Gerald R. Johnson said little demand existed during the first two hours. A meeting is scheduled at 7: 30 p.m. Monday at Mount Airy Town Hall to allow candidates to place their names in nomination.

Baltimore County officials have spent a good deal of time lately trying to beef up rules governing development. A bill approved last month is designed to ensure that home construction won't overtax neighborhood schools. In the next few weeks, the County Council will vote on a master plan that will guide residential and commercial growth for the next decade. But those efforts aren't enough for two county councilmen, who fear unchecked development in their districts. Councilmen Joseph Bartenfelder of Fullerton and Vincent J. Gardina of Perry Hall, both Democrats, are proposing six-month bans on issuing residential building permits in parts of their districts.