Vernon Gray

The County Council unanimously elected C. Vernon Gray as chairman Monday.It is the fourth time he has held the post, but the first since 1987.Republican Charles Feaga was also nominated for the council chairmanship -- by fellow Republican and council newcomer Darrel Drown -- but declined.The council then unanimously voted for Gray.Gray's nominator, outgoing council chairwoman Shane Pendergrass, was elected chairwoman of the Zoning Board, also unanimously, although Feaga stated his reservations that he hasn't "always been pleased in the past" with Pendergrass's performance.

The big white boxes are stacked three deep in C. Vernon Gray's now-cluttered Long Reach, Columbia home office, labeled to denote the categories of things left from his two-decadelong career as a Howard County councilman. Wooden plaques and certificates are atop a photo box, which sits next to tote bags, among wall plaques, papers, files and disconnected computers that litter the sunny, book-lined room. A political pioneer who blazed a trail for African-Americans in this mostly white suburb, Gray, a Democrat, is suddenly without the anchor of public office that kept him in the limelight he relished for so long.

A while back, I wrote with skepticism about Howard County General Hospital's plan to put on an elaborate light show for the holidays at Symphony Woods. My fear at the time was that this event might end up being a tacky extravaganza that would detract from the elegance of Symphony Woods. My hope has always been that this downtown Columbia park would be better utilized, but also protected.Well, now that the hospital's display is up and running, I would like to report that I have seen the light.

Harry Brodie joked that he is the kind of Democrat who "felt like I had to take a shower" after leaving a Republican Party campaign office in Columbia recently. But he is adamantly against the big Maple Lawn Farms development planned near his Fulton home, not to mention two others nearby, and he is backing Republican Sandra B. Schrader for state Senate - not Democrat C. Vernon Gray. Voters like Brodie are vital to Schrader's bid to win election as the new District 13 state senator, because there are 10,533 more registered Democrats than Republicans in the southeastern county district, which also has 11,000 independent voters.

A SEEMINGLY PARENTAL gesture from Howard County Council Chairman Darrel E. Drown, threatening to take away council member C. Vernon Gray's phone privileges, is really a political potshot.Messrs. Drown and Gray are locked in an embarrassingly petty JTC squabble, which may foreshadow the outcome of a future race. Both are possible contenders in 1998 for the Howard County executive seat. At issue is $1,316 spent by Democrat Gray, which Republican Drown says exceeds a cap on expenses that the council set last October.

THIS WAS the right year for Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray to win a major post in the National Association of Counties. A year ago, the Democratic council member lost his bid to become second vice president of the organization after bickering with council colleagues and fumbling a fund-raising issue.This time, his ducks were in line. He gained the endorsement of his fellow County Council members, who put aside party tussling to do the right thing. He again picked up support from Republican County Executive Charles I. Ecker.

The big white boxes are stacked three deep in C. Vernon Gray's now-cluttered Long Reach, Columbia home office, labeled to denote the categories of things left from his two-decadelong career as a Howard County councilman. Wooden plaques and certificates are atop a photo box, which sits next to tote bags, among wall plaques, papers, files and disconnected computers that litter the sunny, book-lined room. A political pioneer who blazed a trail for African-Americans in this mostly white suburb, Gray, a Democrat, is suddenly without the anchor of public office that kept him in the limelight he relished for so long.

An article and caption in the Howard County edition of The Sun yesterday improperly characterized Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray's view of his effort to raise money to pay for his recent unsuccessful bid for a leading office in the National Association of Counties. Gray has said the funds he sought were contributions to a campaign for a nonpublic office ++ and thus were not regulated by state campaign-finance laws.The Howard County Ethics Commission spent two more hours Tuesday night wrestling over a questionable fund-raising campaign by Democratic Councilman C. Vernon Gray.

Vernon Gray to be 'roasted' on SundayCounty Councilman C. Vernon Gray will be "roasted" at a black-tie dinner party beginning at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at the Spear Center in the Rouse Co. in Columbia.Proceeds will benefit the Maryland Museum of African Art in Columbia.Roasters include Wilson Goode, former mayor of Philadelphia, Judge Robert Bell, Claude Ligon and Sandra Gray.Cocktail-hour entertainment will be provided by Damon Foreman performing light jazz and Dawn Cooper-Barnes performing African dance.

A crowd of 230 people paid $75 apiece last night to fete County Councilman C. Vernon Gray, D-3rd."We are here to celebrate a decade of very distinguished public service," said U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes. "He has done just an outstanding job in his third term" on the council.Where Mr. Gray excels, Mr. Sarbanes said, is in his service to the state as president of the Maryland Association of Counties and in his service to the nation as a member of the National Association of Counties.Mr. Gray has provided "really dynamic leadership -- insightful, intelligent, visionary leadership" to both organizations, said Mr. Sarbanes, a Democrat.

The Howard County Council tentatively approved nearly all of County Executive James N. Robey's proposed $97.1 million capital budget yesterday, but held back on several projects some members wanted to examine more closely. While Councilman Allan H. Kittleman pondered the $2.5 million road proposed for a 25-acre county government office complex in Ellicott City and member Mary C. Lorsung considered using $400,000 in trash collection fees to pay half the cost of a new tax billing system, Chairman C. Vernon Gray knew exactly what he wanted.

No candidates slated for C. Vernon Gray's County Council seat Everyone interested in Howard County politics has known for three years that east Columbia Democrat C. Vernon Gray's County Council seat will be up for grabs next year. The five-term veteran and the council's sole African-American member cannot run for re-election because of a three-term limit adopted in 1992, halfway through his 20-year tenure. But despite the advance notice, and with just a year until the 2002 primary election, no one has come forward to announce a run for Gray's council seat, although several are considering it. Neither African-American groups nor Democrats have endorsed anyone.

In some parts of Howard County, people worry about how to keep a good thing going. Can the U.S. 1 corridor continue a revival from decades of decline? Can Columbia's older village centers survive competition from the newer "big box" shopping centers? Will racial and economic segregation supplant the egalitarian ideals that helped launch the planned town? In west Columbia, County Council Chairwoman Mary C. Lorsung works with a 4-year-old community-based citizens group to keep corporate and government officials working to prevent blight.

The Howard County Planning Board endorsed a zoning amendment last night restricting development in areas near reservoirs, but said a disputed residential project in rural Dayton should be allowed to proceed.The amendment -- drafted by Democratic County Council Chairman C. Vernon Gray -- would change the zoning code to prohibit the building of homes on lots of fewer than two acres in developments of 20 acres or more.Those rules, which match state standards, apply to development proposed within 2,500 feet of a reservoir in a rural conservation district.

THESE SHOULD be happy times for veteran Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray. All three of his Republican nemeses left the council last year. He has ascended, finally, to the chairmanship of that now Democratic-controlled body. Later this year, he will be sworn in as president of the National Association of Counties.But someone is raining on the Gray parade. Freshman Councilman Allan H. Kittleman hasn't missed a beat in assuming a role often played by his Republican predecessors -- grand inquisitor into Mr. Gray's spending habits.

It has the makings of a political kamikaze mission: a Republican taking on a four-term Democratic incumbent in the second-most Democratic district in the county.County Council candidate Susan J. Cook, though, is the most experienced of several Republicans attempting to win seemingly safe Democratic seats in county politics this year. The former school board chairwoman kicks off her campaign today against C. Vernon Gray, the Democrat who has represented east Columbia on the council since 1982, at Long Reach Village Center.

Calling Vernon GrayFrom: Valerie McGuireEllicott CityI am writing this letter in the hope that I might finally receive Councilman Vernon Gray's undivided attention.I wrote Councilman Gray on Jan. 31 about the need for better coordination in the permit application process at various levels: county, state and federal. Although I have written and called, I have yet to receive communication of any sort from Mr. Gray.Yooo hooo . . . Mr. Gray! I've been patiently waiting four months for a reply to correspondence dated Jan. 31.I think it is deplorable that a person in public office can't or won't respond to a constituent's concerns.

The Howard County Council tentatively approved nearly all of County Executive James N. Robey's proposed $97.1 million capital budget yesterday, but held back on several projects some members wanted to examine more closely. While Councilman Allan H. Kittleman pondered the $2.5 million road proposed for a 25-acre county government office complex in Ellicott City and member Mary C. Lorsung considered using $400,000 in trash collection fees to pay half the cost of a new tax billing system, Chairman C. Vernon Gray knew exactly what he wanted.

The Howard County Zoning Board appears divided over a decision on the proposed rezoning the Rouse Co. needs to build a 522-acre Columbia-style project in North Laurel.After hearing closing arguments in the contentious case at a public hearing Wednesday night, four board members made statements that put them at odds over the case -- two in favor of the zoning change, two against.Now one board member, C. Vernon Gray, appears to have the swing vote in the decision, which could pave the way for the largest real estate development in Howard County in nearly 30 years.

Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray -- who grew up on the Southern Maryland tobacco farm where his grandfather was a sharecropper -- began a two-week official visit to China yesterday that marks a high point in a lifetime of political striving.As vice president of the National Association of Counties, the east Columbia Democrat will be the guest of the Chinese government, traveling from Hong Kong to Shanghai to Beijing, visiting local officials in counties a world away.The trip, coming shortly before the 15th anniversary of Gray's election to the council, illustrates how far he has come -- and how far he might go.Since his election in July as vice president of the counties group, known as NACo, Gray, 58, has visited the White House twice, had dinner at the Chinese Embassy and gone to conferences for county officials in four states.