Thursday, April 25, 2013
A 2012 college teaching position held by Councilman David Marks, while legal, should have triggered an amended financial disclosure report.
Baltimore County Councilman David Marks said Thursday that a 2012 teaching job at a local university should have been part of his required financial disclosures. Marks acknowledged the job and failure to file an amended report last year with the Baltimore County Ethics Commission during an interview. "It was an oversight," Marks, a Perry Hall Republican, said after being asked about the job. The undisclosed teaching job as well as two previously disclosed consulting positions do not appear to violate county law. Marks said the teaching job will appear in disclosure forms that he has already filed that will be made public next month. Following the interview, Marks issued a statement by email: "As soon I was offered a three-month teaching …
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The bill would impose fees on residents, businesses and nonprofits for federally mandated efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.
At least two members of the Baltimore County Council say they would like to delay a vote on proposed stormwater management fees. Vicki Almond and David Marks both said Tuesday they would like to delay the vote for a month. "Considering the enormity of all this and the information that we have I would personally like us to have a little more time to come up with some amendments and really study this even further," said Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat. "I think three weeks really isn't enough to digest all of this," Almond said, speaking of a briefing the council received last month. Almond added that County Executive Kevin Kamenetz developed the new fees without involving the council or holding any public meetings. The council, in its …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Councilwoman Vicki Almond is the lone dissenting vote as an 11th hour push to table the legislation fails.
A change to how county employees appeal pension decisions was approved despite an 11th hour attempt to delay the final vote. The Baltimore County Council Tuesday night voted 6-1 in favor of the legislation that moves the appeals process from a seven-member panel appointed by the council to one of two administrative law judges appointed by the county executive. Councilwoman Vicki Almond, a Reisterstown Democrat, was the lone vote against the bill and three amendments. Almond, reading from a prepared statement, said the bill would affect the integrity of the council and "county employees for years to come." She said conflicting legal opinions offered by County Attorney Michael Field and county legislators in the General Assembly was reason …
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Monday, January 7, 2013
The Catonsville Democrat said the council will have to deal with another difficult budget but there's "no political will" for a tax increase.
Newly-elected Baltimore County Council Chairman Tom Quirk is looking forward to a more collegial relationship between the council and county executive and no new taxes in the coming year. "I think 2013 is the year the county executive and the county council work together collaboratively," Quirk, Catonsville Democrat, said, who was elected unanimously by his colleagues. The relationship between the council and County Executive Kevin Kamenetz has undergone considerable strain. Quirk along with then-Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond, Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, and Councilman David Marks all opposed a pension bill that would have ended the use of overtime in the calculation for pension benefits for some county employees. The bill was part of an …
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Councilwoman Cathy Bevins denies that a bill passed Monday night affects the Middle River Depot project and could thwart a referendum attempt.
A bill passed by the Baltimore County Council Monday appears to provide an alternative development option for the owners of a Middle River industrial property that is the focus of a zoning referendum effort. The council approved the bill by a vote of 6-0 with Councilman Ken Oliver abstaining. Oliver said he abstained from a vote because a referendum involving the property has not yet been decided by voters. Bevins last week said the bill was about finding creative uses for large manufacturing buildings on the east side of the county that can't be torn down because of their historical designations. "Not only does it create a blight for the community but it's a reminder of the jobs lost," Bevins said of the warehouses, adding that her bill "…
Monday, October 15, 2012
First deadline for turning in signatures closes at the end of business Monday.
Two groups that are attempting to force some zoning changes to the 2014 ballot submitted an addition 16,000 signatures Monday. The groups, the Committee for Zoning Integrity and the Committee for Zoning Transparency, delivered the additional signatures to the Baltimore County Board of Elections. On Friday, the groups delivered more than 70,000 total signatures—34,000 signatures for the petition on the 6th district zoning issues and another 36,662 on the 2nd Council District. The additional signatures delivered Monday come as the first deadline passes for the referendum effort. Opponents of the bills, backed by developers including David Cordish and David S. Brown Enterprises, must submit at least 28,826 verified signatures of Baltimore …
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Bill "contravenes 50 years of regulation" and "is simply not good public policy," according to county executive.
UPDATED (6:03 p.m.)—A controversial bill that granted exemptions to the Metro Centre at Owings Mills project will be vetoed, according to County Executive Kevin Kamenetz. The veto is Kamenetz's first since taking office in December 2010. The bill passed unanimously Monday by the Baltimore County Council was amended to protect the proposed redevelopment of the Owings Mills Mall and Solo Cup. Some of the amendments, sponsored by Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond and Councilwoman Cathy Bevins granted exemptions to traffic studies and prohibited county hearing officers from placing additional requirements on the Mall and Solo Cup project known as Foundry Row. Parts of the original bill were also thought to be problematic. Almond said late …
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Councilman Ken Oliver chastises Chairwoman Vicki Almond for late introduction of amendments to his bill affecting the Metro Centre at Owings Mills.
A disagreement Monday night over amendments to a bill impacting an Owings Mills development led Baltimore County Councilman Ken Oliver to publicly accuse two of his colleagues of working for attorneys of a rival development. A clearly irritated Oliver questioned the motives of Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond and Councilwoman Cathy Bevins after several amendments were introduced immediately prior to the vote. Bevins, an Oliver Beach Democrat who represents Essex, Middle River and Parkville, co-sponsored three sets of amendments that affect the Owings Mills area, split by Oliver and Almond. "How are you going to put an amendment on my bill at the last minute without asking me," Oliver said to Almond. "Is this how were going to legislate in …
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Republican Todd Huff went to the 2011 game in Dallas with a shopping center and apartment complex owner.
Todd Huff says he's not a big football fan, but in 2011 he attended at least four games, including taking a trip to Dallas to see the Super Bowl with a local shopping center and apartment complex owner. The games highlight a hole that the State Ethics Commission says exists in legislation passed by the County Council earlier this year. The legislation was meant to bring county law substantially into sync with the state ethics law. Huff, a Timonium Republican, attended at least four games in 2011, including the Super Bowl. He wrote about the games, which include three Baltimore Ravens games, on his official council Facebook page. Tickets to one of the games were provided by Merritt Properties, as first reported by the Baltimore Sun. None of…
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Officials ask the Baltimore County Council to hire an outside attorney for a lawsuit involving subprime mortgages.
Baltimore County pension officials are privately scrambling to meet a deadline to file a lawsuit in an attempt to recover tens of millions of dollars in county pension funds. County Budget Director Keith Dorsey and County Attorney Michael Field met with Council members Vicki Almond, Cathy Bevins, David Marks and Ken Oliver and members of the county auditor’s office late Monday prior to the council’s voting session. The subject of the meeting was the approval of a contract to hire an outside attorney to pursue a lawsuit against Merrill Lynch, multiple sources tell Patch, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the meeting publicly. Almond confirmed the meeting, but said the discussion was …
amdactivist
5:35 am on Tuesday, April 30, 2013
breadman you know nothing and i don't care if i live in annapolis , if a representative of md is doing ok in this corrupt thievery of a state then it should be told. I wonder how many of you have been to hearings opposing the issues you don't want? if you don't complain you don't win. If you really want something to crow about look at your leader. The worst governor and worst record Md has ever … more ›