Councilmen Vince Gardina, Ken Oliver and John Olszewski Sr. all say they want to succeed fellow Democrat Joseph Bartenfelder as chairman of the Baltimore County Council for 2010.

Of the three vying for the post, Olszewski has served as chairman twice, in 2002 and 2006, and is considered the favorite to get the nod again. But Bartenfelder said in a phone interview that Olszewski was not a lock.

The chairman is elected in January from among the seven council members -- as opposed to similar positions on the Baltimore City and Harford County councils, where the president is elected by voters across jurisdiction.

In Baltimore County, the chairman is not set up to be in political opposition to the county executive. Instead, the chairman is responsible for running council meetings and work sessions, and other administrative duties.

The one-year position comes with extra pay -- about $6,000 on top of the council's current $54,000 annual salary.

The pay bump has pension ramifications. Retirement pay is calculated on the highest 12 months salary.

That point is not lost on Republican council member Bryan McIntire, who noted that Gardina is set to retire from the council next year as the first councilman ever to get a full pension, $54,000.

If he were to get the county chairmanship, it would increase to $60,000.

McIntire noted that Gardina has not lobbied for the chairmanship, but he believes Gardina is seeking the position, "because he'll get a larger pension."

Gardina, who represents a district that stretches from Perry Hall to Towson, announced in September that he was retiring after five terms in office.

Gardina, who was last elected chairman in 1995, said he'd like to have the position one more time in his final year.

"I haven't gotten a response yet," Gardina said.

Oliver, who is finishing his second term and would be the first black council chairman if he is selected, said he would like to serve in the position and has been lobbying other members for their vote.

"I'm one of two on the council who has never been chairman," Oliver said, adding that McIntire, the council's lone Republican, "had the wrong party affiliation."

Olszewski, who served as chairman in each of his first two terms, said he hopes his experience on the council, and as chairman, will be the deciding factor when it comes to choosing Bartenfelder's successor.

None of the three said they believed they had the votes needed to win the job. Assuming each would vote for himself, that would leave Bartenfelder and fellow Democrats Kevin Kamenetz and Sam Moxley in the driver's seat.

McIntire, who has served four terms on the council, said he knows he won't be selected for the position. He has never been consulted by Democratic colleagues when it comes to selecting the position.

"It's intra-party politics," McIntire said.

Coalition of councilmen?

The hopes of Gardina, Oliver and Olszewski may rest in a group of council members that has controlled who has held the chairmanship post since 1996.

Republican former Councilman Wayne Skinner said that since 1996, four councilmen have controlled the selection of chairman -- Bartenfelder, Olszewski, Kevin Kamenetz and Sam Moxley.

"It's worked out ahead of time," said Skinner, who served on the council from 1998 to 2002. "Those four decided."

Skinner and Republican former councilman Doug Riley, both of whom once represented Towson, said that's not necessarily a bad thing.

"I wouldn't say the fix is in," Riley said. "In a small legislative body of seven people, when you have four who agree on an issue you have a governing majority."

While some current and former councilmen acknowledge the existence of a voting alliance, others do not.

Bartenfelder said such a coalition doesn't exist, and Kamenetz, who represents the 2nd District, repeatedly said "the next chairman has not yet been selected" in response to questions about how the position would be selected for the coming year.

For this round, Riley said he believes Olszewski is the pragmatic choice.

"I don't think the chairman is going to go to Councilman Oliver because he's coming out of a year where he had some legal issues," said Riley, referring to a case in which Oliver pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and received probation before judgment and community service.

"That's why they won't pick him," Riley said.

Gardina is "not someone the council ever took a personal shining to," Riley said. "He wanted to be the outsider and that's how he's always used the office."

The position is generally filled by a member of the majority party -- though that wasn't always so.

In 1990, Republicans controlled three seats on the council but Donald Mason, a Dundalk Democrat, frequently voted with Republicans, which allowed that party to hold the chairmanship for three of his four years of the term.

And Republicans voted in 1993 to support Dutch Ruppersberger, then in his second full term on the council, as chairman.

user comments (0)