Gardina

On September 27, 2004, CATHERINE A. GARDINA; beloved daughter of the late Joseph and Clara Gardina; dear sister of Josephine De Carlo and the late Rose Gardina, Mary Caprarola, Frank and Vince Gardina. Also survived by nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews. Friends may call at the family owned Leonard J. Ruck, Inc. Funeral Home, 5305 Harford Rd. (at Echodale) on Wednesday, 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 PM. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, 11 AM at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church.

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz's hiring of career politician Vincent Gardina is wrong ( "Baltimore County's familiar faces," Dec. 7). Here is a person who will be eating and drinking at the public trough for several more years after collecting a king's pension as a county councilman for more years than one wants to remember. Stale and cozy politics? Perhaps but a better reason to object would be the need to insert more fresh young blood into the county. He's had his day, move over and give another an opportunity.

Rarely do politicians reach such universal agreement as they have in eastern Baltimore County regarding the ugly controversy about the federal Moving to Opportunity housing program. Fifth District Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, like everyone else running on the east side, has publicly knocked MTO. Yet we know of no other pol who did what he did -- confront a hostile crowd at an open meeting last summer with some facts about MTO and the history of Section 8 housing in Baltimore County. Political suicide?

Amid mounting complaints from homeowners dealing with irresponsible renters in their neighborhoods, the Baltimore County Council is considering a bill that could force landlords to curb tenants' rowdy behavior or face loss of their rental licenses. "Some of these communities are at their wits' ends," said Councilman Vincent Gardina, the bill's sponsor. "We need to be stricter about this." The council enacted a law last year limiting the number of tenants in a single-family home to two unrelated people.

He says someone turned on his outdoor water spigot and left it running. Then, he says, someone damaged his roadside mailbox. Finally, when he found the wires ripped from his satellite dish on Thanksgiving Day, Vincent J. Gardina called police. "It's not just kids in the neighborhood or chance," the longtime Baltimore County councilman said. "It's somebody trying to harass me." Gardina, a Democrat who represents the Perry Hall-Towson area, said he doesn't know who is behind the vandalism that has occurred over the past two years, but he suspects it is politically motivated.

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.

Republicans seeking a political foothold in Perry Hall-White Marsh have accused insurgent Baltimore County Council candidate Vince Gardina of betraying his independent past by running on a Democratic Party slate in the general election campaign.Bolstered by the defection of several former Gardina volunteers, Republican House of Delegates candidate Alfred W. Redmer Jr. declared last week that Gardina now suffers from a "complete lack of trust, credibility and loyalty" for agreeing to run on the party ticket headed by County Executive Dennis F. Rasmussen in the Nov. 6 election.

An Essex printer running for Baltimore County Council against incumbent Vincent J. Gardina signed a criminal complaint yesterday accusing his opponent of stealing campaign signs -- a charge Mr. Gardina denies.Thomas Rzepnicki, a Republican, said he swore out the criminal summons against Mr. Gardina after a campaign volunteer reported encountering Mr. Gardina at a White Marsh intersection after midnight yesterday, taking down signs.The charge is misdemeanor theft, because the signs were worth only about $20."

Vincent J. Gardina, the Baltimore County councilman who has crusaded for more single-family homes and larger lots as the county redevelops the east side, said he plans to ask for less restrictive zoning to allow a townhouse development in the Bird River area. The County Council will vote today on a community development plan for a largely undeveloped 1,000-acre tract in the Middle River and Bird River area. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, said he will submit the zoning change for 50 acres as an amendment to the community plan, although he did not present it when the council discussed the plan at its work session Tuesday.

As the state proclaims the land around the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School off-limits to development, a Baltimore County councilman is eyeing the property as a potential site for a high school. Councilman Vincent J. Gardina says the county could save money - and reduce crowding at nearby schools such as Perry Hall High - if it is able to buy land at the juvenile facility from the state at a below-market price. "While it's not the perfect location, it's certainly reasonable" to build a school there if land were sold at a discount, said Gardina, a Perry Hall-Towson Democrat.

Incidents of disorderly conduct around Towson have prompted one Baltimore County Council member to propose a crackdown on landlords who allow tenants to cause a "public nuisance." Some community leaders say measures proposed by 5th District County Council member Vince Gardina are a good start in addressing conduct issues, but don't go far enough because they would only affect properties listed under the county's rental registration law — and wouldn't include apartment complexes.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina will not face charges for his role in breaking up a fight between students at a high school where he was a substitute teacher. The decision was made by the state's attorney's office in Baltimore, to which the case had been referred by the county state's attorney's office because of its political nature. Deputy State's Attorney Haven Kodeck said he reviewed the evidence, including a cell phone video shot by a student, and concluded that Gardina should not be charged.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina said he will quit the substitute teaching job he began last month if the county attorney finds that it violates a county charter provision barring council members from employment by the state or county. The councilman sought legal advice before taking the job and is awaiting a ruling from the county attorney. Gardina said he has been teaching engineering and technology at Patapsco High School as a long-term substitute since Jan. 29. The five-term Democrat has said he plans to retire from politics when his council term ends in December.

Baltimore County Councilman Vincent Gardina's crusade to deter teens from using tanning facilities finally won the support of his colleagues Tuesday, when the council approved two measures intended to make patrons more aware of the risks of ultraviolet rays. By a vote of 6-1, the panel approved a bill that requires tanning salons to post a sign alerting patrons to the link between tanning and skin cancers. The council also voted 6-1 to require owners of tanning businesses to demand written parental permission for patrons under age 18. Councilman Kenneth Oliver cast the dissenting vote on both issues.

Say what you will about Baltimore County Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, he's a survivor. The Perry Hall Democrat was elected in a year when Republicans swept the county. Legislative map changes put him in the same district as a fellow incumbent, but he was re-elected anyway. He's faced tough challenges in each of the last two elections. But now he's hanging it up, coincidentally at the same time that he hits the maximum on his County Council pension. Thanks to his five terms of service, Mr. Gardina will be paid 100 percent of his annual salary, $54,000, for life.

Vincent J. Gardina, the longest-serving member in the 52-year history of the Baltimore County Council, says he will not seek re-election next year to what would have been an unprecedented sixth term. "Twenty years on the council is enough," Gardina said. "It is time to pursue other interests. I would like to work in the engineering and science field. I can't pursue that and still devote time to the council." Gardina, 53, is a high school math teacher who expects to continue in that job throughout this academic year.

Baltimore County's new County Council members won't take office until Monday, but Dundalk's Louis L. DePazzo gave his colleagues a taste of his bare-knuckled political style at an informal get-together yesterday.By the time the Towson lunch was over, Mr. DePazzo had accused one of his new colleagues of lying and said his fellow Democrats had ganged up on him to freeze him out of the chairmanship.The group selected Perry Hall's Vincent J. Gardina, one of only two returning members and the only incumbent Democrat, to lead the new seven-member panel in its first year.

A plan for stringent new residential design standards in the Bird River area ran into opposition yesterday from several Baltimore County councilmen, who criticized the way they were developed. The regulations, proposed by Councilman Vincent J. Gardina, a Perry Hall Democrat, would require minimum 75-foot lot widths and at least 60 feet between the back of a home and the rear property line. They are designed to prevent the profusion of townhomes and apartments in the Windlass Run-Bird River Road area, a 1,000-acre tract being opened for development by the extension of Campbell and White Marsh boulevards.

Baltimore County voters have rejected a referendum question that would have permitted County Council members to be employed by state agencies. Opponents said the change could have led to conflicts of interest. Had it passed, the measure would have triggered a change in the county's charter, which forbids such crossover jobs. With all but three of the county's 219 precincts reporting, 157,514 voters, almost 54 percent, were against the charter amendment, while 135,077 (46 percent) were in favor.