County Executive

AT THE SECOND Dutch Ruppersberger-Jim Ports debate last week in Baltimore County, an interesting character emerged from the audience: Bill Bralove, 49, part-time appliance salesman, president of a Randallstown community group, Renew, and a provocateur with poster board. Bralove opposes Senate Bill 509, Dutch's ambitious neighborhood renewal law that critics have blasted as a "land grab." County residents get to vote on the issue Nov. 7. Dutch and Ports, another opponent of the law, have been debating it at public forums.

Harford County Councilman Dion Guthrie noticed a bit of smoke in his home on a recent morning and immediately called 9-1-1. The Joppa-Magnolia Volunteer Fire Co. arrived within minutes and doused a fire that had begun in mulch on the side of the house, he said. "Ours is a volunteer service that is doing an outstanding job," said Guthrie. "Why would we want to change it?" However, County Executive David R. Craig said sweeping changes are critical to keeping the service viable and oversight is critical given the county's $10 million annual contribution to its 12 volunteer companies.

After a seven-year delay, Randallstown residents cheered Monday over an announcement that a Walmart will open on Liberty Road next year. Officials and residents have long hoped that the store — a planned $9 million, 160,000-square-foot supercenter with groceries and a pharmacy — would revitalize the aging commercial corridor, encouraging other national retailers and restaurants to set up shop in the affluent, largely black community....

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is a Marylander right down to his board shorts. Born in Lochearn, he attend Gilman School, the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Baltimore School of Law. Elected county executive in 2010, he also served for 16 years as a county councilman. So it's no surprise that when asked about his favorite vacation destination, he named the state's summertime staple, Ocean City . He and his wife, Jill, "love to go to beaches," Kamenetz said.

Four trucks laden with 100 slot machines arrived early Wednesday morning at the nearly completed casino at Arundel Mills mall. For the next two hours, workers wheeled banks of the gleaming new machines, one by one, inside on hand trucks. Installation of the first set of slots moved Maryland Live! Casino, the state's largest, another step closer to its scheduled opening in three months. That's progress for Maryland's lackluster gambling program, which has yet to be fully implemented more than three years after voters approved five slots locations statewide.

Albert Lord doesn't like to wait - not in business or on the golf course. The colorful chairman of student loan behemoth Sallie Mae, who's embroiled in a nasty fight over the failed sale of the company, has spent 40 years in the accounting and banking industries. He said that experience should have instilled in him a measure of patience, but it hasn't. Whether in traffic, at the office or on the links, Lord said, he just doesn't like to wait. He can't do much about the first two, but he's got a sure-fire solution for the last one: He's building his own, an 18-hole golf course on land he's acquired amid shuttered tobacco farms and grazing horses in southern Anne Arundel County.

Harford County Executive David R. Craig will host a public hearing on the FY13 budget on Wednesday, Jan. 18. The 6 p.m. budget hearing in the school auditorium is open to the public and will be held at Havre de Grace High School. "The purpose of the budget hearing is to allow the citizens of Harford County to make known the priorities that they would like to see funded in the budget for fiscal year 2013," Craig said in a press release. Craig will be joined at the hearing by members of his cabinet and county budget officials.

With a little more than two months before the November election, Leopold has $568,000 cash on hand. Conti, an Annapolis business executive, has $81,000, and Green Party candidate Mike Shay has $3,100, according to campaign documents filed with the state elections board last week. "The county executive is encouraged by the numbers, because they reflect support for him in the community," said his spokesman, Dave Abrams. "But the strength of Mr. Leopold's campaign has always been personal contact with county voters.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold's secretary Patty Medlin was questioned Friday, a county official confirmed, as the state prosecutor's office investigates whether Leopold improperly used his county-funded security detail to work on his recent campaign. Leopold's spokesman Dave Abrams said Medlin appeared at the circuit courthouse Friday. The (Annapolis) Capital newspaper first reported Saturday on her appearance. She could not be reached for comment. Three of the five officers assigned to Leopold's detail were subpoenaed and testified before an Anne Arundel grand jury last month, the officers' lawyers have confirmed.

When Rushern L. Baker III took office as Prince George's County executive 14 months ago, he faced a monumental cleanup challenge. His predecessor had just been arrested in one of the most sweeping corruption scandals in Maryland history. Prince George's had a reputation of "pay-to-play" politics in which contractors were expected to grease palms to do business with the county. Some companies were wary of doing business there at all. Now, even as he tries to repair the image of Maryland's second-most-populous county, Baker is playing a high-profile role in Annapolis on key issues before the General Assembly.

Regarding Arthur Hirsch 's thorough article ("Plans for old distillery stir controversy in Dundalk," May 3), I would submit some additional relevant information. First, the rezoning of the property as requested by developer John Vontran and the meetings that were conducted on his behalf by the Dundalk Renaissance Corp. raise concerns. One of those meetings was a private one held at the DRC. That meeting was announced in an e-mail to selected members of the community sent by Scott Holupka, a board member of the DRC and a member of the Baltimore County Planning Board.

A new poll commissioned by an Anne Arundel County police union shows a majority of county residents who are "aware" of the scandal involving County Executive John R. Leopold think he should resign. The survey showed that 58 percent of the respondents think Leopold should step down, while 44 percent said Police Chief Col. James E. Teare, Sr. should stay in his job. The poll was sponsored by the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the union representing the county police's sergeants and lieutenants.

Carl O. Snowden, civil rights chief for the Maryland attorney general's office, was charged in Baltimore District Court with marijuana possession Friday — the same day he announced a voluntary leave of absence from his job — according to online court records. He was under court supervision for a drunken-driving conviction at the time of the arrest, and could face 60 days in jail if Anne Arundel County prosecutors pursue a probation-violation charge against him. "We are confident that Mr. Snowden will not be found guilty," Snowden's lawyer, Carey J. Hansel III, said in an emailed statement.

Anne Arundel County Council members voted 4-3 Monday night to adopt a resolution expressing no confidence in Police Chief Col. James E. Teare Sr., the latest example of increasing pressure on the chief in the aftermath of the indictment of County Executive John R. Leopold. The resolution declares that the council is concerned about Teare's ability to lead the department because of allegations raised in the indictment. It follows no-confidence votes by two police unions, as well as union ads calling for the county executive and the police chief to leave office until the charges against Leopold are resolved.

Anne Arundel County residents would see their property taxes increase under the $1.2 billion budget proposed Monday by County Executive John R. Leopold, but that would be partially offset by a drop in trash pickup frequency and fees. County workers, meanwhile, would see an end to furloughs but receive no raises. Leopold's spending plan for the year that begins July 1 includes boosting the tax rate from 91 cents to 94.1 cents per $100 of assessed value. For a home with an assessed value of $261,200, the forecast countywide average, taxes would go up by about $128 for the year, officials said.

The union that represents Anne Arundel County's upper police ranks plans to run a radio ad beginning Thursday in support of the department's second-in-command, who has called for a federal probe of the department and said the force is "dysfunctional. " The International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents Anne Arundel's police lieutenants and sergeants, paid for the ad that trumpets Deputy Police Chief Lt. Col. Emerson C. Davis as having taken a "brave stand" by testifying in front of the County Council about alleged improprieties by his superiors.

There should be no question that the Baltimore County School Board should be more accountable to the citizens and elected officials of Baltimore County. This is not the case with a board appointed by the governor. Recent revelations of management issues which raise considerable questions about the judgment and accountability of the superintendent and the school board further underscore the need for reform now ("Hairston aide got no-bid contract," Feb. 9). The Baltimore County School Board should consist of four members appointed at large, seven members appointed representing each legislative district in the county and one student member appointed at large.

Late on a Friday afternoon, Anne Arundel County announced that it had conducted an “exhaustive search,” and found nothing to indicate that County Executive John R. Leopold had a political “enemies list”. The response to a Maryland Public Information Act request didn't do much to quiet the criticism that has followed Leopold's March indictment on misconduct charges. He's accused of having county officers collect information about his foes, as well as directing them to drive him to sexual encounters with a county employee.