Vernon Gray

After months of bickering over each other's expense accounts, Howard County Council members unanimously approved Monday a new budgeting process to limit their spending on travel, lodging meals and car phones.The issue is not dead, however. The main antagonists in the debate -- council President Darrel E. Drown and Councilman C. Vernon Gray -- still are feuding over the amount of the new limit, which the council plans to set next month.Drown, an Ellicott City Republican, and Gray, an East Columbia Democrat, have quarreled over the expense limit since last year, when Drown sought to limit council expenses -- a tiny but politically sensitive fraction of the county's spending.

County Councilman C. Vernon Gray is the only local Democrat to win office in the last four county elections, dating back to 1982.An article in Thursday's edition of The Sun for Howard County incorrectly reported the number of elections.The Sun regrets the error.Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray, the only local Democrat to survive the past three elections, quietly began this week what may be his long-anticipated run for the county executive's office.Mr. Gray was the focus of a $250-a-person private fund-raiser held Wednesday night at the Gaither's Farm home of Columbia attorney David Abramson, former chairman of the board of directors of Howard County General Hospital.

No objections to rangeFrom: David W. FeagaMarriottsvilleI am writing with my concerns and views on the comments against the proposed gun range for the Hoods Mill Road area in Carroll County.I live in Howard County, in Marriottsville, 1 1/2 miles (8,000 feet) from the Marriottsville gun range. Therefore, I feel I have a good view of the situation at hand.First, about noise levels: I could not tell you the last time I noticed the shooting at the range. In fact, the trap range shoots in my direction and until 10 p.m. at times, and it goes unnoticed and holds no comparison to the train's whistle, which also goes unnoticed by the residents here.

Route 100: Plan D Not As DestructiveI am appalled that my county councilman, Vernon Gray, is once again at the lead to push Route 100 through Hunt Country Estates. It is known that Mr. Gray has received numerous contributions from the developer, Macks and Macks. . . . I'm sure that this connection is driving Mr. Gray to push this road literally through my neighborhood.The first time this occurred was back in 1985 when the State Highway Administration and the county said that they didn't know that Hunt Country Estates existed.

Political sniping over Howard County Councilman C. Vernon Gray's cellular telephone bills -- their relatively large size and whether they include unreimbursed personal calls -- erupted yesterday and likely will continue at a crs recently imposed on themselves, says the council's chairman and top Republican, Charles C. Feaga.And Mr. Feaga now wants to examine each of the bills to determine whether Mr. Gray, the council's top Democrat, has been making personal calls without sufficiently reimbursing the county.

Howard voters will decide Tuesday whether national sentiment for congressional term limitations will trickle down to the County Council.Carol Arscott, chairwoman of the local Republican Central Committee, thinks Question C, a proposal to limit service on the council to 12 years, will pass with a strong majority. The central committee has unanimously endorsed the proposal.Councilman C. Vernon Gray, a three-term incumbent Democrat, opposes the move to limit council terms. But like Ms. Arscott, he expects Question C to pass.

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.

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.

Analysis: There's much more than just $1,300 at stake in the continuing political acrimony between Howard County Council members Darrel Drown and C. Vernon Gray over Mr. Gray's council expenses perhaps who will be the next county executive. In politics, there are tips of icebergs and there are the icebergs.As a tip, the squabble over Howard County Council member C. Vernon Gray's $1,300 in county-related expenses is a small matter. After all, the county government spends that much every 30 seconds.

Two bills that grew from ethical issues involving Howard County councilmen last year met different fates at the recently ended General Assembly session.A bill requiring applicants in Zoning Board cases to disclose business dealings with board members -- which grew from an ethics case involving Councilman Charles C. Feaga -- passed the Assembly.But another bill, requiring full disclosure of contributions for elections to nonpublic offices -- which grew from a case involving Councilman C. Vernon Gray -- died in committee.