Mayor And Council

When Cpl. Clint Cromwell checked the address of the Union Bridge apartment building, he knew why it sounded familiar: He had answered calls there more than 50 times since mid-2002. It was another example, town leaders said, of how the Carroll County sheriff's deputy was spending too much time responding to nuisance calls for loud parties, drinking and fights. So, in an unusual response, the Town Council is proposing to start fining those who generate repeat nuisance calls. Anyone causing a second nuisance call in a year would get a warning and a sign posted on the property.

The Annapolis City Council met in closed session Monday night to discuss the residency issues surrounding Alderman Kenneth A. Kirby, who is without a permanent home, but offered no new details on how the city would proceed on the issue. Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen said the council had a "candid and privileged" discussion with City Attorney Karen Hardwick. Cohen said he instructed Hardwick to draft a memo to address two issues: what the city code and charter say about residency requirements and what role the mayor and council play in determining that those standards are met. He set a two-week deadline.

The Aberdeen board of commissioners has voted itself out of existence and will be replaced next year by a mayor and city council.The five-member board unanimously approved a charter amendment Monday that would transform the Town of Aberdeen into a city governed by an elected mayor and a four-member council in its centennial year.The commissioners will serve until the election in May, when voters will choose their first mayor and two council members.The other council seats would be filled in a 1993 election, allowing commissioners Macon Tucker and Ronald Kupferman to serve out their two-year terms.

Aberdeen's city council election on May 4, the second election since the adoption of a city charter last year, presents voters with a difficult choice to fill two open seats.Two candidates, council president Ronald Kupferman and former state legislator Barbara O. Kreamer, represent opposite poles of thought on the respective authority of the mayor and council. Mr. Kupferman has led the council opposition to Mayor Ruth Elliott. Mrs. Kreamer fully supports the mayor and would bolster the mayor's position.

Aberdeen voters will be asked to choose between two visions of their new city charter government when they go to the polls next Tuesday to elect two members of the city council.Two of the candidates, council president Ronald Kupferman and former state legislator Barbara O. Kreamer stand poles apart on the question of the respective powers of the mayor and council. Mr. Kupferman has led the council opposition to Mayor Ruth Elliott since the charter was adopted last year. Mrs. Kreamer fully supports the mayor and would bolster the mayor's position.

On his first night on the job, New Windsor Mayor Jack A. Gullo Jr., 24, tackled a conflict of interest, halted wandering councilmanic discussions and streamlined the Town Council agenda.The new mayor appeared to come away from the council meeting last night with some accomplishments and the respect of his colleagues."I think that it was very smooth, and everyone cooperated," said Councilwoman Rebecca H. Harman. "I think things will work out very well."Mayor Gullo said the state wants the town to accept and maintain an access road that would be built on property his father owns between Tibbetts Lane and a triangular lot bordered by Wakefield Valley Road.

Joe Jordan joked that the town of Manchester has saved $4 by choosing him to fill a vacancy on the Town Council: He still has his nameplate from his previous term. The Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to have Jordan, 36, fill the term of Councilwoman Mary E. Minderlein, who was re-elected in May but stepped down in November because she moved out of town. There were five applicants to finish her four-year term, although one withdrew. After taking the oath of office, Jordan was seated with the mayor and council, and clipped on his microphone.

The Hampstead Town Council has approved a balanced budget that will keep the property tax rate at 20 cents per $100 of assessed value next fiscal year. The only objection to the budget was the elimination of one $10,000 item: crossing guards at Spring Garden Elementary School. Before the public hearing on the $1.9 million budget Tuesday night, the council received a petition with 207 signatures asking the council to keep the crossing guards. The part-time positions were eliminated because Carroll County school officials decided to bus all elementary pupils next school year.

The decision to suspend Aberdeen's police chief, John R. Jolley, and dock his pay for improperly using city funds and illegally voiding traffic and parking tickets represents minimum punishment for his misdeeds, or "poor judgment."Under a strong, confident city government, the chief would likely have been dismissed, even though a thorough state investigation found insufficient grounds to bring criminal charges against him. But stable government has not existed in the year since Aberdeen elected its first mayor and council under a new charter.

The Manchester Town Council will attempt to set priorities for the next few years during a strategic planning workshop tonight and tomorrow night in the town hall.The meetings, scheduled to run from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m., are open to the public but will not be televised."I want to get people to brainstorm and just bring out all the issues," said Town Manager Terry L. Short, who came up with the idea for the workshop. "Councils don't tend to sit down and do this.""We needed to do it," Manchester Mayor Earl A. J. "Tim" Warehime Jr. said yesterday.