They said it, Part 1

By Bryan P. Sears
Posted: December 30, 2008

A look back at the politics and government stories of 2008 in the words of those involved. I’m posting the first three months today. Look for part two of four tomorrow.

January

• “I was sitting in my office looking out my window about six months ago, and I saw the garages,” Bob Barrett, county Recreation and Parks director said Jan. 3 regarding the need for additional gymnasium space in Towson. “I wondered if we could go up another level and add a gym.”
So far, the idea has not been acted upon.

• “Jim Smith loves public service and is definitely going to run in 2010,” Don Mohler, Smith’s spokesman, said Jan. 16 in response to questions about his boss’ political future which could include challenging Democratic state Comptroller Peter Franchot in 2010.

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  Vigilance
  
  

• “That doesn’t mean it was something I didn’t want or meant to do,” then-county Health Officer Pierre Vigilance said Jan. 16 in response to questions about an agreement he made with county Administrative Officer Fred Homan. Vigilance, who graduated medical school, promised to get his license after a 2007 Patuxent Publishing Co. story revealed he was not licensed as required by the state. Vigilance said the promise “was not a contract.” Vigilance left the county in March to become the top health officer in DC. He never earned his medical license.

• “Would you want to live in the city?” Councilman Vince Gardina asked. “They’ve got plenty of affordable housing there.” The comments were part of a Jan. 23 story about affordable housing in the county. Gardina responded by comparing county neighborhoods with cheaper housing stock to troubled neighborhoods in Baltimore City.

• “The county will finally stop being the dumping ground for troubled kids from around the state,” Sen. Bobby Zirkin  said Jan. 23 after Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that the Charles H. Hickey Jr. juvenile detention facility will be upgraded and focus on housing county youth rather than those from the city.

• “That’s not what my check stub says,” Councilman Ken Oliver said in a Jan. 30 article in which he disputed a review of his campaign finances by Patuxent Publishing Co. that revealed he made a loan to his wife from the account. Oliver, in that same interview, declined to provide a copy of the check stub. Two weeks later Oliver wrote the state Board of Elections and acknowledged making the loan and one other that had not yet been reported.
February

• “You don’t catch up to Pat Jessamy, ever,” said Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, referring to the $225,000 salary for the city state’s attorney in a Feb. 6  story. Shellenberger asked state legislators to alter how his salary is calculated. The request was the fulfillment of a promise he and other county officials made in May after Patuxent Publishing, the publisher of the Towson Times and this Web site, reported that Shellenberger, using an interpretation of a 1982 law, received a 5 percent increase after being sworn in January. Under that interpretation, the increases would continue each year and ultimately result in a state’s attorney making $1 million by 2042.

•”The thought process is that I’m the only incumbent Democrat living in (Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder’s) district so I have to consider it,” said Del. Todd Schuler in a  Feb. 13 story. Schuler, who is in his first term, said in that story that he was seriously considering running for Bartenfelder’s council seat if the councilman runs for county executive in 2010.

• “If you only have four quarters in your pocket, you can only buy an hour’s worth of time,” George Hale, chief executive of the county Revenue Authority, said Feb 20. The authority is installing electronic, multi-space parking meters that will allow for debit- and credit-card payments. Officials expect collections at meters to rise as a result.

• “It is important to note that the disbursements were faithfully listed on my reports to the State Board of Elections Supervisors,” Councilman Ken Oliver wrote in a letter to the Maryland State Board of Elections as reported in a Feb. 26 story. “There was nothing hidden, no subterfuge, I thought I was doing what was required of me. However, now that it has been brought to my attention that my actions were campaign finance violations, I want to bring this to the Board’s attention and to take whatever corrective action necessary.” The board turned the matter over to the State Prosecutor’s office for investigation.

• “This is a proposal to allow a unique cultural institution to operate in Baltimore County without taxpayer expense,” council chairman Kevin Kamenetz said at a Feb. 26 work session after discussion on a bill that would allow the Robert Meyerhoff home on Dance Mill Road to be converted into a museum. The home is host to 125 pieces of artwork considered important. Opponents complained the county was “pimping for special interests.”
March

• “Sometimes it makes more sense to build new,” Don Mohler said in a March 5 story in which county officials said they were considering building a new high school on the site of the Carver Center for Arts and Technology in Towson. The county could break ground on the school next year.

• “Did you see my name on any of those checks?” Lisa Smith a Milford Mill CPA and former treasurer for Councilman Ken Oliver said on March 5. Smith was responding to questions about an ongoing review of Oliver’s campaign account which found that  40 checks totaling about $15,000 made out to Oliver.

• “The waiver fees would be very, very high,” said Councilman Vince Gardina, a Democrat who represents the 5th District, which includes Towson and Perry Hall. “Given the significant decline in the (housing) market and the cost of the project, the open space fee would eliminate this project. It’s very restrictive.” Gardina urged the council to wave about $1 million in fees for a 160-townhouse development proposed by Bozzuto Homes for 10 acres bordering Burke Ave and York Road. The council ultimately approved the waiving the fees that are required in lieu of a developer setting aside a portion of the property as open space.

• “It’s the whole (Smith) holds the purse strings,’” Kathy Forbes, a Towson activist who has been campaigning for a solution to overcrowding at Rodgers Forge Elementary, said March 26. “I really feel for (board members) if they’re feeling that kind of pressure.” Legislators and activists accused Smith of applying pressure to support expanding Ridge Ruxton school rather than build a new elementary school.

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