Election Districts

It was east side vs. west side yesterday as City Council members engaged in a heated debate over Mayor Martin O'Malley's proposal to redraw city election districts. The west side won. The council last night approved three minor changes to O'Malley's redistricting proposal by accommodating west-side neighborhoods that asked not to be split into separate election districts. The 12-5 vote -- two members abstained -- advances the bill toward its expected adoption next week. "If we're going to make some constituents happy on the west side but not on the east side, how do we defend this?"

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz recognized the insanity of Baltimore County liquor laws when talking to an acquaintance in Ocean City . The man owned a restaurant and nightclub that had gone out of business, and he was musing about what assets could be salvaged - chairs that could be sold, or windows that could be used somewhere else - when Mr. Kamenetz asked him what he planned to do with his liquor license. Much to Mr. Kamenetz's surprise, the main looked at him in confusion and said he'd hand it back in to the county.

Clever, those Supreme Court justices. They've produced a ruling on the Texas redistricting map that invites such outrageous political mischief that the national movement to take remapping away from politicians may get a backhanded boost. The high court not only rejected the claim that election districts wildly contorted for partisan objectives violate constitutional protections, it also encouraged such maneuvers by ruling that state legislators need not follow the traditional practice of remapping after each decennial census, but may redraw the lines as often as they like.

The menu at Vito's Cafe in Cockeysville boasts Italian standards like veal Parmesan and house specialties including stuffed quail - but if customers want to pair any of that with a glass of Chianti, they have to bring their own. Vito's doesn't have a license to pour. Co-owner Tony Petronelli has wanted one for years, but none has been available. The county limits the number in his area, and other license holders sell them at a premium. When his phone rang a few months ago, someone wanted more than $300,000 for a license.

WESTMINSTER -- The board writing a charter for Carroll government voted last night to create a county council of at least five districts, but rejected a motion that would have eliminated consideration of seven or more districts.The charter board voted, 7-1, to eliminate from consideration a council composed of four or fewer districts. That vote also eliminated the possibility of creating a seven-member council with four members elected by district and three elected at large.The nine-member board, which is writing the document that could change Carroll's government, then voted, 4-3, against eliminating the possibility of creating seven or more districts out of the county's population of 123,372.

COLLEGE PARK -- A federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of voting districts in this college town was settled last night when the City Council agreed on a 6-2 vote to redraw the lines in a way that gives more weight to student residents.The settlement of the lawsuit, filed by five students in August 1989, also makes it easier for students to register in time to cast ballots in an election.As part of the compromise, the city agreed to shorten to 30 days both its 90-day residency requirement and the 90-day period before an election when voter registration books are closed.

The Carroll County Charter Board is hard at work . . . meeting regularly . . . holding public hearings and making changes to the draft, as changes have been deemed necessary.Everywhere you go in Carroll County, the question is the same. What do you think of the charter?The question is asked at business meetings, social gatherings, barber shops, eateries and family picnics.Now is the time to talk about this change to our county's form of government. Now is the time to ask questions and make suggestions, to let your thoughts and feelings be known.

County Democrats, shut out in all but one Carroll race in 1994, plan to expand membership of the local party central committee to have more muscle at the polls next time around.They will expand the local Democratic Central Committee to 20 members, which means 12 more Carroll Democrats will be elected to party office in September."We're one of the few [Maryland] counties that are No. 2" in voter registration behind the Republicans, said Phillip R. Miller, county Democratic Central Committee chairman.

An incumbent and a newcomer yesterday announced their intention to run for the Maryland House of Delegates to represent Carroll and Frederick county districts.Del. Donald B. Elliott, 62, a two-term delegate, and Joseph Hooper Mettle, 60, a retired National Security Agency communications systems engineer, officially joined the race to represent residents of Districts 4B and 5, respectively.The Maryland legislature realigned District 4B in 1990, to eliminate election districts in Howard County and add the Linganore, Johnsville and Emmitsburg election districts in Frederick County.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz recognized the insanity of Baltimore County liquor laws when talking to an acquaintance in Ocean City . The man owned a restaurant and nightclub that had gone out of business, and he was musing about what assets could be salvaged - chairs that could be sold, or windows that could be used somewhere else - when Mr. Kamenetz asked him what he planned to do with his liquor license. Much to Mr. Kamenetz's surprise, the main looked at him in confusion and said he'd hand it back in to the county.

On Tuesday morning in Hunt Valley, Howard County school board member Allen Dyer asked an administrative law judge to dismiss his fellow board members' request to have him removed. Later that afternoon in Ellicott City, County Executive Ken Ulman and state Del. Frank Turner announced a bill that would transform the school board from its current seven-member, at-large, elected format to one with five members elected by district and two at-large appointments. It's coincidental that the two developments occurred on the same day, but Ulman acknowledged that they were related.

One of the great ironies of education reform in Maryland is that for all the standardization and testing directed at the classroom, the one place where there's no clear-cut formula for success is how school boards should be selected. Some boards are elected by voters (with candidates running at-large or by district), some are appointed (or appointed and then affirmed by vote) while others are hybrids of the two. There are arguments for and against various approaches, and the fact that so many of Maryland's public schools and school systems are well-regarded nationally (regardless of their governance structure)

A commission appointed by County Executive Ken Ulman to recommend a way to make the school board more diverse appears to have gotten a lot right, but not all. The panel, which will present its proposal on Monday, voted this week to propose a system in which five of the seven board members would be elected by districts corresponding to existing County Council districts and two would be appointed. Having the county executive choose board members is where the commission, headed by former state schools Superintendent Nancy Grasmick, went wrong.

A commission created to study the Howard County school board's diversity voted Monday to recommend scrapping the current format of seven at-large elected members in favor of five members elected by County Council district plus two appointed members. The county's School Board Study Commission was crafted by County Executive Ken Ulman to address some residents' concerns about racial and geographic diversity. Ulman has given the commission until next Monday to present a recommendation.

Clever, those Supreme Court justices. They've produced a ruling on the Texas redistricting map that invites such outrageous political mischief that the national movement to take remapping away from politicians may get a backhanded boost. The high court not only rejected the claim that election districts wildly contorted for partisan objectives violate constitutional protections, it also encouraged such maneuvers by ruling that state legislators need not follow the traditional practice of remapping after each decennial census, but may redraw the lines as often as they like.

State Sen. Brian E. Frosh, a Montgomery County Democrat who had been weighing a potential candidacy for attorney general, has decided to pass up a statewide campaign and seek re-election. For now, Frosh's decision leaves the Democratic primary to succeed Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. as a contest between Montgomery County State's Attorney Douglas F. Gansler and Montgomery County Councilman Thomas E. Perez. With less than two weeks before the July 3 filing deadline for the Sept.

MEMBERS of Congress are just concluding a five-week summer recess euphemistically titled a "district work period." But only the most dedicated and most insecure burned a lot of shoe leather bounding from barbecues to ice cream socials and vying for attention with Elvis impersonators at senior sock hops. Indeed, Democrats and Republicans in California's delegation joined forces instead in a fierce campaign to protect a redistricting process that makes such voter contact superfluous. They're waging a cynical battle for political insulation from their constituents that would make an old-style machine boss blush.

Worcester County was ordered yesterday by a U.S. District Court judge in Baltimore to change how it elects its government so that minority voters can have a better chance of winning a seat on the County Commission.Judge Joseph H. Young gave Worcester officials 60 days to prepare a new election plan that would enable blacks, who make up about 21 percent of the county's 35,000 residents, to elect the first minority commissioner in the county's 252-year history.Because the Eastern Shore county uses an at-large election system easily controlled by white voters, plaintiffs in the voting rights case argued, it is impossible for a black to gain a seat on the five-member commission.

MEMBERS of Congress are just concluding a five-week summer recess euphemistically titled a "district work period." But only the most dedicated and most insecure burned a lot of shoe leather bounding from barbecues to ice cream socials and vying for attention with Elvis impersonators at senior sock hops. Indeed, Democrats and Republicans in California's delegation joined forces instead in a fierce campaign to protect a redistricting process that makes such voter contact superfluous. They're waging a cynical battle for political insulation from their constituents that would make an old-style machine boss blush.

An expanded board of Carroll County commissioners will mean better government, more individualized representation and less deadlock, said supporters of the referendum that won approval by more than 5,000 votes. Republican Del. Donald B. Elliott, who pushed to expand the board from three at-large seats to five members elected by district, argued at political forums that five commissioners would come up with more innovative solutions to the county's burgeoning growth problems. But even he was surprised that the ballot question won by such a large margin.