County Administrator

For the rest of this week, the new county administrator will be working in what employees call "the office from hell."They are not talking about ambience -- not that the office has any: bare walls, uglyfile cabinet, stark desk, window with a view of the parking lot.They are talking about what happens to people who use the office.The first occupant was one of County Executive Charles I. Ecker'sfirst fires -- let go just before last Christmas. The second person who was to occupy the office never arrived.

William E. "Ned" Eakle, former Howard County executive and county administrator, died Tuesday of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice in Columbia. The former West Friendship resident was 86. "We lost a part of our Howard County family — a great leader and a great friend," said County Executive Kenneth S. Ulman in a statement. "He was an outstanding public servant who believed in his county, his country and his employees. " The son of an electrician and a homemaker, William E. Eakle was born and raised in Elkridge.

Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker today said he has rescinded the appointment of developer John C. Mardall as county administrator to avoid potential conflicts of interest.Ecker said he decided to withdraw the appointment because Mardall currently has developer contracts with the county that could cause a conflict, "perception-wise.""I thought it was just best," Ecker said. "I'm disappointed because I thought he would have done a good job, but we want to be squeaky clean."Developer contracts are agreements between certain developers and the county that lower the developer's costs for securing performance bonds and letters of credit.

An assistant principal at a Howard County high school is on paid administrative leave after she was charged with stealing credit cards from colleagues and admitted using one of them to buy Christmas presents for her family, according to charging documents. Patricia Kelly Murray, 40, is facing more than a dozen counts, according court papers in three separate cases. All three people identified as victims also work for the county's public schools. Murray's attorney, Todd A. Mohink, declined to comment on the charges.

William E. "Ned" Eakle, former Howard County executive and county administrator, died Tuesday of heart failure at Gilchrist Hospice in Columbia. The former West Friendship resident was 86. "We lost a part of our Howard County family — a great leader and a great friend," said County Executive Kenneth S. Ulman in a statement. "He was an outstanding public servant who believed in his county, his country and his employees. " The son of an electrician and a homemaker, William E. Eakle was born and raised in Elkridge.

Howard County officials have selected a Washington, D.C., safety administrator to head the county's 911 communications center, which faced a series of problems after opening in 1991.John Hampton, a Howard County resident, will begin work March 22 as director of the county's Bureau of Central Communications, said County Administrator Raquel Sanudo. He'll be paid about $50,000 to run the center, she said.Mr. Hampton currently serves as acting deputy fire chief, communications director for the Fire and Emergency Management System, and director of the Emergency Communications Center in Washington, Ms. Sanudo said.

A record number of prisoners at the Baltimore County Detention Center has prompted a search for additional cell space at correctional facilities elsewhere in the state, officials said yesterday.County Administrator Merreen E. Kelly said 575 inmates are being housed in the jail, which was designed for a capacity of 320.The overcrowding has forced jail officials to "triple bunk" many inmates, some of whom staged hunger strikes this week to protest unsanitary conditions and medical care, said Jerry Kelly, a detention center spokesman.

Rochard McAfee sat home again last night as his Meade High boys basketball teammates played and lost at Arundel. He and his family have been waiting to hear from the county since his appeal to be reinstated was heard on Monday. After McAfee exceeded the county limit for unexcused class absences, Meade declared the 6-foot swingman ineligible for the rest of the season. "Mrs. [Marlene] Kelly [county administrator] told me she has to talk to one more person before she can give us the decision," said the athlete's father, Nathan McAfee, yesterday.

The Baltimore County Council unanimously approved Merreen E. Kelly as county administrator last night, showering him with praise and support but refusing him the $16,000 pay raise sought for the post by his boss, County Executive Roger B. Hayden.Mr. Kelly, who resigned his $83,000-a-year post as an associate superintendent in the county schools in December to work for Mr. Hayden, thanked council members for their support but declined comment on the salary.Mr. Kelly, 55, is getting a pension of about $49,000 a year as a 33-year school employee.

A self-employed Montgomery County business consultant is being tapped to replace longtime City Manager Neal W. Powell, who is retiring.James White, 44, a financial systems and business adviser to small companies in the Washington-Baltimore corridor, has agreed to accept the $40,000-a-year post, City Attorney Thomas F. Stansfield announcedMonday night.The City Council is expected to approve his appointment before orat its monthly meeting Oct. 14, Stansfield said. White, who was unable to attend Monday's meeting, is expected to assume the post immediately after the vote.

As Annapolis mayor in the 1980s, Dennis M. Callahan was so peeved that a volunteer coach with the city's recreation program had been charged with a drug offense that he canceled the entire athletic season, a decision met with fury by some. Under pressure, he didn't back down, and ultimately required anyone in the city working with children to undergo a background check. It was quintessential Callahan, say those who knew him. "A lot of politicians take polls," said House Speaker Michael E. Busch Monday at a memorial service for Callahan.

Baltimore County Administrative Officer Frederick J. Homan was injured Saturday while riding a horse on the NCR Trail, a police spokeswoman said. Homan suffered serious injuries and was taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center, said Detective Cathy Batton, a police spokeswoman. She did not have an update on his condition Saturday night. Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. appointed Homan to the top position in 2007 after had served as director of the Office of Budget and Finance in 1989.

Berldene Standley "Dean" Pickens, former assistant superintendent in Baltimore County public schools' division of instruction, died April 15 of Parkinson's disease at his Perry Hall home. He was 77. Dr. Pickens was born in Osborne, Kan., and spent his early years there, until the early 1940s when his mother, a schoolteacher, moved with her son to Baltimore after the death of his father. Dr. Pickens attended Patterson Park High School and later graduated in 1951 from Kenwood High School.

Marion W. Francis, the administrator of the Anne Arundel County Public Library, died of cancer June 22 at her Annapolis home. She was 64. Born in New Orleans, La., and raised in Jackson, Miss., she attended Murrah High School and acted and sang in extracurricular clubs. She was also a finalist in the Junior Miss Mississippi pageant. While earning a bachelor's degree in music from Millsaps College, she performed in its theater productions. She was active in Alpha Psi Omega, the national theater fraternity.

The Howard County executive's controversial appointment of homebuilder John C. Mardall as county administrator ended abruptly yesterday when Mr. Mardall announced that he would not take the job because of a potential conflict of interest.Mr. Mardall, president of BBI Homes Inc., said he was withdrawing because agreements he signed with the county as developer of two subdivisions are pending, which could be seen as a conflict.No top-level appointment in recent memory has generated as much criticism as Mr. Mardall's.

After accepting the resignation of his top administrator, Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker says he plans to replace other high-level officials.County Administrator Buddy Roogow ended speculation about his future yesterday when he submitted his resignation to Ecker.And today, Janet Haddad, who has been Howard's personnel administrator for 11 years, resigned after being asked to step down.Ecker, who took office last December after upsetting incumbent Elizabeth Bobo in the general election, asked both officials to resign during recent meetings.