County Funds

OAKLAND -- Garrett County Sheriff Randy Lee Sines has pleaded guilty to misconduct in office, admitting that he used county funds to pay for personal clothing and entertainment, the Office of the State Prosecutor announced yesterday.Garrett County Circuit Judge Frederick C. Wright III gave Sines a three-year suspended sentence and a $2,500 fine, and ordered him to pay the county at least $4,463.36 in restitution.According to a statement of facts presented at Friday's Circuit Court hearing in Oakland, Sines had been warned by the county state's attorney in late 1995 not to use county money for personal expenses after questions were raised about charges he made on a trip to Texas.

The Rev. Gertie T. Williams feels very much at home when she volunteers at the restored Ellicott City Colored School on Frederick Road. The Howard County native's ease in her surroundings is for good reason: From grades one through seven, she attended a nearly identical two-room schoolhouse for African-American students, located in Elkridge. So when county officials hit upon the idea of holding an open house Jan. 21 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at the Ellicott City facility - the first Howard school for black children built with county funds - Williams was the obvious choice to give the invocation, said Jacque Galke, supervisor of the county's heritage program.

Half of the first county-paid audits of Carroll's 14 volunteer fire companies were kept secret yesterday, even from the commissioners who ordered them done.Those that were made public recommended changes in how the companies manage taxpayer dollars.A Frederick company that audited half of the fire companies recommended that all Carroll fire departments segregate county funds from the rest of their money. Only one of the seven companies did so, according to Richard J. Costantino of Keller Bruner and Co.When funds are "commingled from a number of sources, it is difficult to determine if purchases are made from county funds or general funds of the fire company," Costantino said.

Baltimore County officials announced Thursday that they have launched a $76 million radio system for police, fire and other emergency crew members designed to improve sound quality, cover more territory and make transmission more reliable. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz told a gathering at the Circuit Court building in Towson that emergency communications equipment is "one of the most important public safety investments that any community can make. " Like new bulletproof vests for the police or a new fire engine, he said, the new digital system improves emergency crew members' "ability to protect our community.

Officials for a volunteer fire company will decide later this month whether to pursue further court action against the Carroll firemen's association to obtain county funds or to comply with a mandate to bill $200 for ambulance service. Circuit Judge Luke K. Burns Jr. decided last week not to order the Carroll County Volunteer Firemen's Association to turn over $12,500 in county funds to the Reese and Community Volunteer Fire Company. The association has withheld the money because Reese has refused to institute the minimum billing for ambulance service as other Carroll companies have.

Baltimore County has begun environmental restoration projects using state, federal, local and private funds on two eastern county waterways.The Bird River Water Quality Management Plan will start with a $552,500 county expenditure to restore three miles of eroded stream channels along White Marsh Run, which feeds the river, and create more than 30 acres of wetlands.The county has applied for matching state funds, and has received $214,000 from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and $125,000 from Nottingham Village Inc., a White Marsh developer.

25 Years Ago (Week of June 23-29, 1968):* It was announced this week that Howard County, the first county in the state of Maryland to organize a Head Start program, was in danger of being the first county to drop the program. The county was considering withdrawing support from the Community Action Council, through which the federal funds for the Head Start Program were channeled. The Board of County Commissioners was, however, considering financing Head Start with county funds.* About 37 Howard countians went by bus to Washington, D.C., to participate in Solidarity Day in support of the Poor People's Campaign.

WESTMINSTER -- Falling rain didn't dampen the mood Friday as Marada employees and managers gathered to break ground for their new plant.The festive occasion, celebrated with speeches and jokes from company executives, marked the realization of former general manager John Newman's dream for a multibuilding Marada campus in Westminster."

Fire, aim, ready! THE COLUMBIA Council found itself with a heaping portion of crow two weeks ago. It had rushed through a re-structuring of its tax rate, putting Columbia on a 100 percent valuation system along with the rest of the state. Then, the state attorney general said the change was unnecessary since Columbia is not a city nor a governmental subdivision. Councilwoman Barbara L. Russell, one of those who opposed the change, had asked for the opinion. She did not gloat. The council voted to repeal its earlier action, which had generated some concerns that higher tax rates might have resulted.

The Odenton Town Center is poised to be a key element in our county's future growth and economic development. The center's location in the heart of the Fort Meade BRAC expansion area adds to its importance and the need to implement this project as part of a coordinated plan for West County. The county's planning staff and economic development are working with the property owners in the Town Center to ensure that this growth is effectively managed. The infrastructure needs of this mixed-use community will be met through a combination of state and county funds.

The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast in Anne Arundel County will take place as scheduled in January, but minus the customary $5,000 from the county — which stunned the planners of the event, now in its 31st year. Funding for the annual breakfast was not included in the current fiscal year's budget because the organizing group lacks 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and doesn't meet criteria for a grant, said Dave Abrams, spokesman for County Executive John R. Leopold.

An article in the Dec. 21, 1961, edition of the Herald Argus and Baltimore Countian reported plans to build a community college. For the first time in its history, Baltimore county has committed itself to establishing separate plant and facilities for higher education. This precedent is the result of the County Council's approval last week of a Capital Improvement allocation of $250,000 to the Catonsville Community College. Previously endorsed by the County Executive and the Board of Education, the appropriation will be matched by an equal grant from the State.

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.

Anne Arundel County Board of Education President Patricia Nalley says she is "happy" with Superintendent Kevin Maxwell's $969 million operating budget recommendation, which calls for a $37.5 million increase over last year. After hearing Maxwell outline the budget at Wednesday night's board meeting, Nalley said that she was confident that the board and county executives will work together on funding the budget to keep the school system on its "journey from good to great. " Yet Nalley's optimism comes as county budget officer John Hammond, who on Thursday afternoon said he has seen "a rough outline" of the proposal, repeated earlier comments that the county will give the school system no more than a $5.6 million maintenance-of-effort increase over last year.

Baltimore County Public Schools has presented how it would like to spend the "Race to the Top" funds granted to the county — about $17.4 million. Its priorities are extremely disappointing and do not address the tremendous need for improved technology in many poorly performing schools. Within one category of $5 million, the BCPS proposals include another major expenditure on virtual learning at Chesapeake High School. Didn't this school receive a multimillion-dollar virtual learning center last year?

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman has requested a county audit of the defunct 32-year-old nonprofit that helped victims of sexual abuse but suddenly went out of business late last year. "We have questions," Ulman said, particularly since the 2008 audit revealed no financial problems at the Sexual Trauma Treatment Advocacy and Recovery Center, known as the STTAR Center. "This happened ostensibly out of the blue, but the previous audit did not indicate any problem," he said. "We provide grants to them," Ulman said, noting that county money already paid to the nonprofit was to be used for staff salaries through December, yet the staff was effectively laid off at the end of November.

As the leader of a large, diverse and rapidly urbanizing jurisdiction, Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger is in the difficult position of trying to uphold the county's quality of life while its revenue sources stagnate.Mr. Ruppersberger echoed his predecessor, Republican Roger B. Hayden, in his first budget address yesterday when he said, "The days of unlimited government resources are over and will likely never return." The county has no choice but to "refocus our existing resources."

Baltimore County officials announced Thursday that they have launched a $76 million radio system for police, fire and other emergency crew members designed to improve sound quality, cover more territory and make transmission more reliable. County Executive Kevin Kamenetz told a gathering at the Circuit Court building in Towson that emergency communications equipment is "one of the most important public safety investments that any community can make. " Like new bulletproof vests for the police or a new fire engine, he said, the new digital system improves emergency crew members' "ability to protect our community.

The state Board of Public Works has awarded Harford County $1,031,500 for park expansions and playground equipment. The county will receive $714,000 to partially fund the purchase of 66 acres near Dublin for a new community park. The purchase protects wooded areas and will also offer the northern Harford area new athletic fields, picnic pavilions and a playground, once the project is fully developed. A $212,500 grant will mean Prospect Mill Park in Bel Air grows by more than four acres.