Neall

The "Neall Police" were on alert Tuesday night.was 8:40 p.m. at the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections office in Glen Burnie, with the deadline for filing to run for office fast approaching."

There is little fault to find and little controversy to forecast in Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall's fiscal 1995 spending plan. The $711 million operating budget -- Mr. Neall's last -- marks the culmination of a new kind of government, crafted by the executive over four lean, difficult years in preparation for an even more difficult future. During fiscal 1993 and 1994, as Mr. Neall completed the dirty work of reorganization and paring down the work force, many questioned the wisdom of what he was trying to accomplish.

Former state Sen. Robert R. Neall created a big stir with a recent letter to the governor. It predicted disaster for the city's plan to bail out Baltimore schools. But here's the real shocker: the 2 1/2 -page letter was handwritten. People who didn't like what Neall had to say were quick to note that the letter was longhand, as if that discredited the message. Asked about the letter, the first words out of Mayor Martin O'Malley's mouth were that this kind of correspondence "used to be typewritten."

County executive Robert R. Neall's transition team yesterday urged greater coordination of environmental protection, control of school spending and a review of the county's merit system aimed at making it easier to fire rank-and-file employees.After six months of study, the 13-member panel released a 66-page report recommending that county agencies develop mission statements and an annual survey to evaluate public services.The report, culled from analyses conducted by 275 citizen volunteers on 17 subcommittees, found that county government is basically sound.

An article in yesterday's editions incorrectly stated the number of terms Robert R. Neall served as Anne Arundel County executive. The correct number is one.The Sun regrets the error.The Maryland Chamber of Commerce, determined to persuade next year's General Assembly to cut taxes and enact other measures to improve the state's business climate, will announce today that it has hired former legislator and two-term Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall as its lead lobbyist.The chamber also will announce that it has retained Ronald Nelson, a former deputy secretary in the state Department of Environment, to lobby on behalf of Maryland businesses that believe environmental regulations are overly burdensome or unnecessary.

Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall has nominated Thomas Florestano, the retiring president of Anne Arundel Community College, to fill in for five months on the county Board of Education.More than 30 applicants have been scrambling for the seat, vacated abruptly earlier this month by Jo Ann Tollenger for what she called "personal reasons."The choice of who will complete her term, which expires June 30, is up to Gov. William Donald Schaefer. In past years, the governor has always chosen the county executive's preferred candidate to fill vacant board seats.

County Executive Robert R. Neall plans to appoint a business development commission, taking his first step toward fulfilling an inauguration promise to build a recession-proof economy.The group will prepare a long-term development strategy for Anne Arundel, as business leaders recommended Thursday during a conference on the county's economic climate.The permanent commission will help promote economic growth without the haphazard patterns of development that threaten the county's environment and suburban lifestyle, Neall's spokeswoman, Louise Hayman,said yesterday.

Maybe Bobby Neall should make that proposed new jail a little bigger.Because that is where the kids at the Careers Center say teen-agers like themselves will end up now that he has killed their program.The deletion of the 15-year-old Careers Center, which provides job training, education and counseling for troubled teens, is by far the most callous aspect of Mr. Neall's 1994 fiscal budget -- a piece of work that otherwise does a remarkable job of making government smaller and less expensive without getting rid of the services people care about most.

County Executive Robert R. Neall officially leaves office tomorrow, handing the mantle of leadership to his friend, John G. Gary.Mr. Neall's tenure was not an easy one, with a recession, an unprecedented $65 million reduction in state aid and a tax cap that limits the increase in the amount of property tax revenue that the county can collect.Mr. Neall responded by trimming the work force by 12 percent through an early retirement incentive program and by eliminating 393 positions -- without laying off a single merit-system employee.

County Executive Robert R. Neall will set in motion this week a process that will change the way the government works -- making recommendations on ways to change the county's 28-year-old charter.Neall will ask the Charter Review Commission this week to allow voters to decide next fall whether the county should set up an ethics commission. He also will ask for charter amendments that would empower him to significantly cut spending without General Assembly approval and give him more flexibility in organizing county departments.