Wednesday, January 30, 2013
The county attorney calls the bill to permanently remove the Anne Arundel county executive "premature, because sentencing has not occurred.”
The Anne Arundel County Council introduced legislation that would remove County Executive John R. Leopold from his office, but the county’s attorney said such a decision is may be too hasty. The council cast no vote at its emergency session on Wednesday afternoon, but introduced Bill 7-13, which would declare a vacancy in the executive’s position. The bill draws on a provision recently added to the county's charter after its passage in the November general election. Leopold was found guilty on two counts of misconduct in office on Tuesday. Chief Administrative Officer John Hammond is now serving as acting Anne Arundel county executive as a result of the suspension of Leopold from his duties. County Attorney Jonathan Hodgson argued that …
The Anne Arundel county executive was found guilty on two counts of misconduct in office on Tuesday.
When Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold was found guilty on two counts of misconduct in office, a number of his former employees and political opponents were watching. "I'm very happy about at least two out of the four counts," Joan Harris said. Harris is a former county employee who, along with Karla Hamner, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against Leopold in U.S. District Court. Judge Dennis Sweeney found Leopold guilty on two of the four counts of misconduct in office brought by the state prosecutor's office. Leopold was also found not guilty on the fifth—and most serious—charge of fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary. That count carried a sentence of up to five years in prison. In his decision, Sweeney said Leopold …
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold could be permanently removed from office by a county council vote Wednesday.
The Anne Arundel County Council will meet in an emergency session Wednesday afternoon to introduce legislation that would declare a vacancy in the county executive's office. The emergency session notice came Tuesday, shortly after the verdict was read in the trial for County Executive John R. Leopold. Based on recent charter amendments, the county council can declare a vacancy if an executive is found guilty and convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, misfeasance or malfeasance in office. Chief Administrative Officer John Hammond is now serving as acting Anne Arundel county executive as a result of the suspension of Leopold from his duties. The Maryland Constitution provides for suspension of an elected official upon a …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Councilmen said it wasn't racism, but a rift in leadership within the health department that led to the state's decision.
Anne Arundel County Council voted to remove the county's health officer from her leadership role despite the overwhelming objection of spectators at Tuesday's meeting. More than 100 friends and supporters of former county health officer Angela M. Wakhweya attended the meeting on a frigid Tuesday evening—including Annapolis Alderman Kenneth Kirby (D-6th Ward). Kirby tried to push a resolution through Annapolis City Council in support of Wakhweya at its Jan. 14 meeting, but he failed to secure the votes needed to pass the resolution on its first reading. Council voted 4-2-1 to remove Wakhweya. Councilman Jamie Benoit (D-4th District) of Crownsville abstained, and Councilmen Chris Trumbauer (D-6th District) of Annapolis and Peter Smith (D-1st…
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Annapolis' aldermen and women debated a bill supporting Angela Wakhweya as she faces removal from office from by Anne Arundel County Council.
The debate over whether to fire Angela Wakhweya, Anne Arundel County's health officer, has spilled over to the Annapolis City Council. At its Monday night meeting, the Council spent nearly 30 minutes discussing whether it would vote on a resolution supporting Wakhweya's continued service at the agency. "I just simply have not heard any negatives associated with Dr. Wakhweya," said Alderman Ken Kirby (D-6th Ward), who drafted the bill. County Council hasn't heard any negatives either, which is why they postponed voting on her dismissal at their Jan. 7 meeting until someone from Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene provides an explanation. Joshua Sharfstein, the state Secretary of Mental Health and Hygiene, sent a letter to …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The state concluded an investigation into Dr. Wakhweya, but did not provide findings to Anne Arundel County Council members.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
County police and fire unions won't walk to the negotiations table alone anymore.
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 …
Monday, December 3, 2012
Former Anne Arundel County Councilman Daryl Jones is asking the state’s highest court to return him to office.
The Maryland Court of Appeals is considering a petition by ousted Anne Arundel County Councilman Daryl Jones to return him to his District 1 seat. The Appeals Court heard oral arguments regarding the petition Monday. "I am pleased the court has taken the matter up," Jones said. "I am sure they will render a decision that is devoid of politics." Jones' pleaded guilty in August 2011 to one misdemeanor count of failure to file a tax return. The plea was part of a deal with Maryland's U.S. attorney's office, which discovered that Jones owed more than $100,000 in back taxes from 2002 to 2006. In January, County Council removed Jones from office a few days before he started serving a five-month sentence in a federal prison in South Carolina, …
Friday, November 30, 2012
The councilman says he will run on a campaign of fiscal discipline and initiative.
Anne Arundel County Councilman John Grasso (R–2nd District) plans to officially announce a bid for county executive in 2014. He will formally begin the campaign on Dec. 9 at La Fontaine Bleue in Glen Burnie. Grasso, an outspoken business man who has lived in Anne Arundel County his entire life, said he wants to bring a non-politician to the county executive's office. "I'm a statesman, not a politician. What politicians do is announce in the last 24 hours that they're going to run," Grasso told Patch. Grasso may already have competition for the Republican nomination. Dan Bongino, a Severna Park resident and former Republican candidate for Maryland's U.S. Senate seat, announced last week he was considering a run for county executive. Bongino…
Shank
12:13 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013
This quote sticks in my head with many of today's politicians, "Whenever a man has cast a longing eye on offices, a rottenness begins in his conduct". ~Thomas Jefferson more ›