Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Developers can soon begin construction after the County Council approved a loan to benefit the Selby peninsula.
The Anne Arundel County Council unanimously voted Monday to secure a construction loan that allows development to begin for a brand new community center on the Selby peninsula. In 2007, the previous community center was destroyed in a fire, leaving a large hole in the lives of local residents and children who enjoyed its facilities for decades. Its history went as far back as World War II, when local teens enjoyed sock hops and Boy Scout events inside the center. By voting in favor of the community center on Monday, the County Council gave developers the green light to start constructing a new building at the same location where the previous structure once stood. Ever since the building burned down, community leaders have been working to…
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Three of Anne Arundel County's 13 unions will receive their first pay increases in more than four years.
About 25 percent of Anne Arundel County's employees will receive pay raises for the first time in four years thanks to a unanimous vote by the County Council on Monday. The 3 percent pay increase—which will cost the county $650,000—goes to approximately 1,200 employees who are members of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) Lodge 70, AFSCME Local 582 and AFSCME Local 2563. "The last four years, to say the least, have been extremely difficult," said Mike Akers, president of AFSCME Local 582. Akers testified before Council that his members have accepted years without cost of living increases and a growing number of furlough days. The vote itself was a formality because Maryland's Court of Appeals restored binding arbitration to the county in …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Some charter amendments sailed through the polls with a 90 percent approval vote, with the lowest being 61 percent.
Anne Arundel County voters are set to ratify 15 county charter amendments by a landslide, according to early results. All of the county's charter amendments were set to pass as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night—some with as much as 91 percent approval, and as low as 61 percent approval. But the results so far have left no room for middle ground on the issues. Among the charter changes are removing authority from the county executive's veto rights, giving the council the authority to remove a councilman or executive convicted of a felony, and setting the month of August as a legislative recess for the seven-member council. A few of the tighter races are yet to be determined, but Anne Arundel County residents can rest tonight on pretty solid ground …
Friday, November 2, 2012
Some of these items resolve long-standing disputes on the County Council, while others fix newer problems.
When Anne Arundel County voters arrive at the polls, they'll not only be voting on the DREAM Act and same-sex marriage, but also deciding the fate of 15 Anne Arundel County charter amendments—ranging from how convicted county councilmen should be treated to enacting an August recess for the Council. In an attempt to make these 15 items more digestible once you arrive at the polls, I will disassemble the legalese into a more understandable language, and explain context when necessary. Some of these items resolve long-standing disputes on the County Council, while others fix newer problems. Question A—Gives county departments more time to file their budgets. It also moves the start of the 60-day window for budget deliberation by the County …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
The county executive says he will reimburse Anne Arundel County for his attorney fees—reportedly more than $20,000—should there be an unfavorable ruling against him in the discrimination lawsuit.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold has agreed to pay back his attorney fees in an ongoing civil suit filed against him by a former county employee. Leopold's former public information officer Karla Hamner filed a civil suit against the executive in federal court, accusing him of official misconduct and gender discrimination. Private attorneys for the county executive left a $20,000 bill for their first 60 hours of work on the case earlier this month, according to The Capital. In a press release issued Wednesday, Leopold said he was "confident" that the case would end favorably for him. But if not, he has issued a letter to the county's Self Insurance Fund Committee that oversees payment for lawsuits against county employees and …
Councilman warns school officials there will be retaliation next budget season.
A $5 million feud between the Anne Arundel County Council and the Anne Arundel County Board of Education appeared to be settled Monday by withdrawing the needed funds from the county's reserves. That didn't sit well with Councilman John Grasso (R-2nd District), of Glen Burnie, who again threatened the school system with cuts during the next budget session. "I hope they're watching tonight, because I'll tell you what, you can bet I'm going to have one heck of a large appetite next year—$5 million worth," Grasso said. "And I'd assume that most of my colleagues will pretty much want to show who's running the show, and it's not them." Earlier this month, the council sparred with a school system representative over a $5 million bill the council…
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
A councilman said he wants to try educating residents on the proper usage of recycling facilities before punishing them.
A bill that sought to punish people who don't separate their trash for recycling was pulled before a vote on Monday by the Anne Arundel County Council. The bill's sponsor, Councilman John Grasso (R-2nd District) of Glen Burnie, said the function of the bill was to give waste management employees a method of action if they discover residents aren't obeying the rules. Bill 79-12 would have banned individuals from recycling centers who were found to be mixing trash with recycling materials. "We have some individuals who come into our recycling [centers] and think they're too good to separate their trash," Grasso said. But on Monday night, Grasso pulled the legislation, saying he wants to try a different approach first. "We're going to …
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Council members say the school system went back on their deal in May to resolve the missing $5 million to meet the maintenance of effort requirement.
Tempers flared in the Anne Arundel County Council’s chambers on Monday when council members sparred with a school official over a $5 million bill they thought was already paid. The state Board of Education sent county officials a letter in August saying they still owed the school system $5 million to meet the minimum state-required payment to schools, also known as the maintenance of effort. The news came as a shock to council members, who said they thought the issue of maintenance of effort had been squared away during budget discussions in May. The solution to the missing $5 million at the time was to pull the needed money from the school system’s projects fund. It was one of several compromises made to balance the budget. Anne Arundel …
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
As first responders and community members gathered for a moment of silence on the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Anne Arundel's county executive focused on what he said he sees as the next great threat.
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold focused his remarks at a 9/11 memorial on Tuesday on the importance of cybersecurity. "Cyberterrorism will shut down our electrical grids, shut down our air-traffic-control system, shut down our financial networks," Leopold said. "We spend $4 billion on cyberdefense in this country, which is less than what we spend on agricultural subsidies. We need to do more." He called Anne Arundel County the epicenter of national security effort to combat cyberterrorism because of U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade. In 2011, Patch reported on an increase in congestion around Fort Meade as thousands of new workers commuted to the area on a daily basis. And in 2012, discrepancies between how the White House …
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
A regular attendee at council meetings was removed by police during Tuesday's meeting after disputing her allotted public comment period.
The chairman of the Anne Arundel County Council ordered the chambers to be evacuated after a woman refused to take her seat during a public hearing on Tuesday. At the beginning of each council meeting, the chairman opens the floor to public comment. Members of the public are given two minutes to address any topic that's not on the agenda. Karen Delimater of Glen Burnie was ordered to leave by police after she ran longer than her allotted two minutes and refused to step away from the microphone. She was then barred from entry. After that, all attendees were asked to step into the lobby during a brief recess that was called after the disruption. Delimater and several members of her family have become fixtures at the public hearings. They …
Edgewater Dave
3:32 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
I have fond memories of the old clubhouse back in the 50s and 60s. We lived just a couple of blocks away on the corner of Dawson & Beach Drive Blvd. There were weekly Bingo games, summer and Halloween dances, juke box with the corney old song "Where will the dimple be?" and bumper pool & ping pong by the hour. Mrs Reevis ran the snack bar and was kind of a den mother to us all. more ›