Village Manager

Erin Peacock, a Columbia resident for 21 years, has been hired by the Oakland Mills village board as the new village manager."This seems like the perfect job for me," Mrs. Peacock said. "It's a good marriage of my community-oriented interests and my administrative background."She replaces Susan Schmugge, the village manager for the past 10 years, who resigned to move to France with her husband.Jim Oremland, chairman of the Oakland Mills village board, said Mrs. Peacock was the unanimous choice of the board.

Columbia Association board members heard requests from residents and village board members, ranging from security improvements to upgrades to aging infrastructure, at a public hearing on how to spend the homeowner group's nearly $60 million annual budget for the next two years. Many of the representatives of the 10 villages that make up Columbia expressed interest in additional security at village offices, while others want funding for upgrades to facilities. Many asked for lake dredging to remain a top priority.

Oakland Mills Village Manager Susan Schmugge, the village's foremost researcher, community organizer and trouble-shooter for the last 10 years, still has plenty of mixed emotions about leaving her post today. But she got an offer she just couldn't refuse -- the chance to live for a year in southern France.Ms. Schmugge, a 22-year Oakland Mills resident who progressed from volunteer to village board member to manager, said she is excited about living overseas but will miss the people she works with and her involvement in the community.

Gregory F. Hamm, regional vice president at General Growth Properties Inc. and general manager of Columbia, will speak to the Oakland Mills community at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 12 at The Other Barn in the Oakland Mills Village Center. He will address the village board and neighbors on the community's Master Plan for the village center area and how the plan relates to the company's plans for downtown Columbia. Discussion will also cover the Route 29 pedestrian overpass and pathways that connect Oakland Mills to Columbia's downtown area.

A former Columbia village manager accused last year of embezzling $121,000 from the village and then using that money for personal expenses and to support her son's struggling restaurant was indicted yesterday by a Howard County grand jury.Anne Darrin, 49, of Baltimore was indicted on seven felony and two misdemeanor counts of theft of more than $70,000, prosecutors said, in a case that revealed lax oversight of village center spending.Neither Darrin nor her attorneys returned messages seeking comment.

The Owen Brown Community Association will celebrate Ruth Bohse's 26 years as village manager and four years as an employee of the association with an open house, to be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 30 at 6800 Cradlerock Way. Bohse will retire Oct. 26. "We will definitely miss her. The village grew up with her because if you look at it, Owen Brown is a little over 30 years old, and she's had a major impact on how Owen Brown developed," said Andy Stack,...

When Anne Dodd became the village manager of Kings Contrivance in 1979, she worked 20 hours a week, earning $4 an hour. Her first office was in a now-gone public works garage on Banneker Road. Before long, she was squeezed out of that space and had to set up shop in her own home, in a bathroom that her husband had converted to a darkroom. Dodd is the only village manager that residents of Kings Contrivance have ever known. (There was an acting manager before her, but she was the first to officially hold the title.

Thirty years ago when Ruth Bohse started working as a receptionist for the Owen Brown Community Center, one of her first assignments was to clean out a closet. "So I neatened it up and I didn't throw anything away, because what did I know?" she said, thinking that some things could be important. Three decades later, Bohse still is at the community center, preparing to retire tomorrow from a career that has included 27 years as the Owen Brown village manager. She knows a lot more now, but she is still reluctant to throw things away.

The Dorsey's Search Community Association has alleged in court papers that former village manager Anne S. Darrin embezzled $121,400 from the center she ran for 10 years.A civil petition filed last week in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Baltimore represents the first public statement by Columbia officials about the extent of the suspected misappropriation of funds.Darrin, 46, allegedly used village center funds to pay personal credit card bills, maintain her son's troubled cyber cafe in Baltimore and repay a personal loan, according to the petition, which confirms earlier reports in The Sun. Columbia officials also allege that her husband, John C. Darrin, 51, aided in the suspected embezzlement.

Howard County police and prosecutors are investigating a financially troubled Columbia village manager in connection with possible embezzlement from the village center.Anne Darrin, who resigned Feb. 27 after 10 years as the Dorsey's Search village manager, would not comment yesterday on the allegations or the investigation.Assistant State's Attorney Bernard Taylor said his office is working with police to investigate alleged thefts at the village center. Asked how much money might be involved, he said, "It has the potential to be large."

When volunteer Mary Kate Murray says she is game for anything that promotes the Oakland Mills community, she means it - literally. Last summer, Murray took village staff member Ben Hunter up on his idea of forming an adult kickball team for residents. Calling themselves the Oakland Mills Revitalizers, the team boasted players ranging from 17 to 73. "We had a lot of fun with it," said Hunter, who replaced Calvin Ball as the first and only paid community organizer in Columbia history when Ball won election to the Howard County Council in 2006.

Anne Brinker has been hired by the Kings Contrivance Village Board as the new village manager. She will begin her duties next month. A former volunteer high school teacher in the south Bronx, N.Y., she has recently been director of social services and grants manager at the Opportunity Center for the Homeless in El Paso, Texas. Her husband, Joe Brinker, is a graduate of Glenelg High School. Classes for children in etiquette, manners The Long Reach Community Association will offer a six-week session of classes for boys and girls, ages 8 to 13, in etiquette, social skills and manners.

When Anne Dodd became the village manager of Kings Contrivance in 1979, she worked 20 hours a week, earning $4 an hour. Her first office was in a now-gone public works garage on Banneker Road. Before long, she was squeezed out of that space and had to set up shop in her own home, in a bathroom that her husband had converted to a darkroom. Dodd is the only village manager that residents of Kings Contrivance have ever known. (There was an acting manager before her, but she was the first to officially hold the title.

Thirty years ago when Ruth Bohse started working as a receptionist for the Owen Brown Community Center, one of her first assignments was to clean out a closet. "So I neatened it up and I didn't throw anything away, because what did I know?" she said, thinking that some things could be important. Three decades later, Bohse still is at the community center, preparing to retire tomorrow from a career that has included 27 years as the Owen Brown village manager. She knows a lot more now, but she is still reluctant to throw things away.

The Owen Brown Community Association will celebrate Ruth Bohse's 26 years as village manager and four years as an employee of the association with an open house, to be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 30 at 6800 Cradlerock Way. Bohse will retire Oct. 26. "We will definitely miss her. The village grew up with her because if you look at it, Owen Brown is a little over 30 years old, and she's had a major impact on how Owen Brown developed," said Andy Stack,...

One of Columbia's longest-running village events could be discontinued because of lack of interest. Officials of Owen Brown village recently distributed 3,800 questionnaires to its residents, asking if they would like to see the Lake Elkhorn Festival continue. The annual event started in 1974. The event was canceled because of bad weather in 2003 and 2004. Village officials said last year's event suffered from a lack of volunteers and low attendance and lost $1,100. "We want to get a feel from the community to see if they really want us to continue the event," said Neil Dorsey, chairman of the Owen Brown Village Board.

The Neighbors column in yesterday's Howard County edition of The Sun incorrectly spelled the name of Ruth Bohse, the village manager of Columbia's Owen Brown village.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 10/15/97

Gregory F. Hamm, regional vice president at General Growth Properties Inc. and general manager of Columbia, will speak to the Oakland Mills community at 7:45 p.m. Feb. 12 at The Other Barn in the Oakland Mills Village Center. He will address the village board and neighbors on the community's Master Plan for the village center area and how the plan relates to the company's plans for downtown Columbia. Discussion will also cover the Route 29 pedestrian overpass and pathways that connect Oakland Mills to Columbia's downtown area.

Concerned about rising energy costs, Columbia village officials are urging the Columbia Association board to consider an energy contingency fund and other possible solutions as it moves toward a final vote on the association's proposed 2007 and 2008 fiscal year budgets next month. "We don't have an extravagant budget," Bill Woodcock, chairman of the Oakland Mills Village Board, said of his village's finances. "It's just enough to do what we have to do, and utilities are a major concern in the budget.

County Executive James N. Robey and officials of the Department of Citizen Services' Office on Aging will break ground on a new Glenwood Community Center at 11 a.m. Wednesday at 2400 Route 97, adjacent to the Glenwood library. The center, which will be in Western Regional Park, will include activity rooms and classrooms for fine arts and crafts, continuing education, computer training, dance, exercise and meetings. Also planned are a gymnasium with a three-lane jogging and walking track, basketball and volleyball courts, fitness rooms, lockers and showers.