Legislative Delegation

Carroll County's state legislative delegation will hold a public hearing Saturday morning to discuss bills for the 2002 General Assembly session. Members will discuss the first three weeks of the session and will take questions and comments from residents. The meeting will be held at 9 a.m. in Room 003 of the county office building in Westminster.

Wine growlers are coming to Maryland and the music at Merriweather Post Pavilion can play at the usual volume under Howard County-based legislation adopted in the 2013 General Assembly session. The Howard legislative delegation got just about everything it asked for in the session, which ended this week, either by having bills passed, folded into statewide legislation or included in the state's capital budget. The legislature approved bills to allow the county to create a property tax credit to encourage improvement of certain neighborhoods and give library employees the right to form a union.

The Broadneck Federation of Community Associations will hold a legislative reception from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 27 in the Economic Matters Committee Room, Lowe Building, Rowe Boulevard and College Avenue in Annapolis.The reception is being held for District 30's members of the General Assembly and to give community association members a chance to meet and discuss concerns with legislators. Drinks and dinner will be served. For information, call 410-757-3715.Pub Date: 12/16/98

Some years back, Carroll County Republicans, lacking serious competition from the county's Democratic Party, divided into what I consider two factions — a pro-growth group and the slow-growth group. The pro-growth faction dominated the legislative delegation, while the slow-growthers dominated the Board of County Commissioners. But the pro-growthers dominated the primary process. So to break up the monopoly of the slow-growthers in county government, they pushed through the five commissioner system, and created a district map that made it difficult for the incumbent commissioners at the time to win. Many of those who voted for five commissioners thought that they would have the opportunity to vote for all five.

IF THERE WAS any doubt about the breakdown in relations between Carroll County's legislative delegation and its commissioners, the General Assembly session that ended this month should sweep them aside.More than a jealous division of authority, there appears to be cynical disrespect. There's no creative tension at work here, but a counterproductive competition that threatens to undermine the already limited influence of the county in Annapolis. Local decisions, or at least the laws to enable those decisions to be made, need the approval of the legislature.

NO MORE taxes. Carroll County's legislative delegation has taken that unmistakable stance as the General Assembly opens its 90-day session for 1999. No increase in real estate transfer taxes, even though funds would be earmarked for the county's agricultural land preservation program. No increase in gasoline taxes, despite the need to pay for urgent transportation projects. No increase in the cigarette tax, despite its intent to deter younger smokers. No increase in liquor license fees, despite local requests The all-Republican delegation also disagrees with Democratic Gov. Parris Glendening's proposed 7 percent spending increase in the new state budget.

Congratulations on the excellent piece by May Gail Hare on the new regime in Carroll County government ("Carroll commissioners break with past on growth, housing, transit," June 23). Let me point out a few things that may not be obvious to those who do not live in Carroll: First: No matter what the office, the Republican candidate wins in the general election. Thus the real election is the Republican primary. The Democratic Party plays the role of the Washington Generals againsttheHarlem Globetrotters.

Howard County school board members say they intend to ask the General Assembly to increase their salaries to as much as $15,000 a year, arguing that the current $6,000 is too little compensation for their growing responsibilities.But members of the county's legislative delegation are divided on how much of an increase to give the five-member board, already the highest paid in the Baltimore metropolitan area. While agreeing that board members are underpaid, some legislators question the timing and the size of a possible raise.

An additional public hearing has been scheduled to discuss the creation of a Carroll County police force, county officials said yesterday. The move was made in response to comments from residents at a Saturday hearing held by the Carroll legislative delegation. Yesterday, the delegation decided to draft legislation that would call for the voters to ratify any county police-force ordinance passed by the Board of Commissioners before it goes into effect, said state Sen. Allan Kittleman.

HOW DIFFICULT can it be for Carroll's political leaders to do the right thing when it comes to letting citizens make a choice on their form of government?The latest wrinkle is the refusal of county commissioners and the county's legislative delegation to support a bill to extend the filing deadline for charter-office candidates, in the event charter government is approved by voters in the June 9 special election.The state cutoff for primary election candidates is July 6, or three days before charter government would become effective July again, assuming referendum approval)

Linebacker Joel Gordon had gotten used to playing football on the dusty, stone-strewn field behind City College, so when he stepped back out onto Alumni Field in August, he could hardly believe how it felt to play on the new artificial turf. "It's just a wonderful feeling," Gordon said. "I never thought my senior class would get the experience to play on that. All season, it's just made us work harder, because we know we've got this new field and we just want to make the alumni who paid for it happy with the way we play.

A spokesman for the developer of the Maryland Live Casino received a warm reception from a hometown crowd Thursday morning when he appeared before the Anne Arundel County legislative delegation to warn of grave damage to the Arundel Mills facility if Gov.Martin O'Malley's propoed gambling expansion legislation goes through the General Assembly unchanged. Cordish Cos.executive Joe Weinberg told county senators and delegates that the developer made its original bid to build its giant slots-only casino based on the assumption that there would be no competition from a rival inPrince George's County.

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.

Congratulations on the excellent piece by May Gail Hare on the new regime in Carroll County government ("Carroll commissioners break with past on growth, housing, transit," June 23). Let me point out a few things that may not be obvious to those who do not live in Carroll: First: No matter what the office, the Republican candidate wins in the general election. Thus the real election is the Republican primary. The Democratic Party plays the role of the Washington Generals againsttheHarlem Globetrotters.

The debate over legislation to allow same-sex marriage brought dozens of critics and supporters to Ellicott City on Wednesday night for the annual public hearing on statewide issues held by Howard County's legislative delegation. All three of the county's state senators and one of the county's eight delegates missed the session, however, because of pressing legislative business in Annapolis, according to delegation chairwoman Del. Elizabeth Bobo. Republican Sen. Allan H. Kittleman had surprised his fellow party members by endorsing the bill allowing same-sex marriage in Maryland, but that didn't discourage GOP Central Committee member David L. Bates from blasting the bill in the strongest terms, as his wife, Republican Del. Gail H. Bates, listened.

Lamenting an inability to pool information, Anne Arundel County officials propose creating a center where agencies can share information about troubled children that is otherwise confidential. "I'd like to see a fusion center designed for the key players," Police Chief James Teare Sr. said, explaining that it could provide a framework to help at-risk kids avoid getting pulled into gangs and crime. Restrictions in laws and policies limit what information can be shared among police, social services, schools and juvenile services.

Lamenting an inability to pool information, Anne Arundel County officials propose creating a center where agencies can share information about troubled children that is otherwise confidential. "I'd like to see a fusion center designed for the key players," Police Chief James Teare Sr. said, explaining that it could provide a framework to help at-risk kids avoid getting pulled into gangs and crime. Restrictions in laws and policies limit what information can be shared among police, social services, schools and juvenile services.

DECISIONS OF the Carroll County legislative delegation are sometimes hard to fathom. It often appears that partisan politics or mere whim is the basis.Last year's prime example was a bill the legislators pushed through the General Assembly to expand the number of county commissioners from three to five, subject to voter referendum. No visible group was promoting that idea; the current county commissioners were mute on it. The main grass-roots movement was fighting for charter government and an elected county executive.

An additional public hearing has been scheduled to discuss the creation of a Carroll County police force, county officials said yesterday. The move was made in response to comments from residents at a Saturday hearing held by the Carroll legislative delegation. Yesterday, the delegation decided to draft legislation that would call for the voters to ratify any county police-force ordinance passed by the Board of Commissioners before it goes into effect, said state Sen. Allan Kittleman.

Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is moving to change a seemingly contradictory policy under which people with limited incomes often own a partial share of their subsidized homes but must pay property taxes on the full market value. Ulman, who said during his election campaign that he would like to reduce that burden, asked the local General Assembly delegation this week to help him deliver on that pledge by passing a tax-relief bill. The property tax legislation is one of a package of local bills Ulman is asking county legislators to support in next month's Assembly session.