UPDATED (10:30 p.m.)—Trims to this year's budget could be the smallest in recent memory if today's budget hearings are any indication. Three agencies—sheriff, Office of Information Technology and Permits, Approvals and Inspections—appeared in front of the Baltimore County Council for annual budget reviews. The three departments combined account for about $33.6 million in general fund budget dollars. The county auditor recommended a total of  about $68,000 in reductions—about two-tenths of a percent of the combined budgets of the three agencies. The bulk of the recommended reductions—about $53…

More than a decade ago, the Baltimore County Council had never had an African-American member. It was during the redistricting effort following the 2000 Census that the County Council created the 4th Council District in northwest Baltimore County, establishing the county's first majority-minority district. A decade later, the council faces another redistricting effort, and some, including county Republican Central Committee Chairman Tony Campbell, are calling for a second such district to be added. Campbell's comments during a redistricting commission meeting last night were the second time …

A former planning board member has been named the head of the county's code enforcement division, an agency he once worked for as an inspector. Lionel van Dommelen, a Dundalk resident, took over as the head of code enforcement early last month, according to Ellen Kobler, a county spokeswoman. Van Dommelen previously worked for code enforcement as an inspector for about a year beginning in 2006. He said he took the position after business at a the Seahorse Inn, a bar he and Ed Crizer formerly owned, fell off after the Wise Avenue drawbridge was closed. "County Executive [Jim] Smith was good …

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz issued a statement today regarding the attack on Chrissy Polis, a transgender woman, in a Rosedale McDonald's. "Last week's beating of Chrissy Lee Polis in Rosedale once again reminds us of our responsibility as citizens to do all that we can to ensure that our neighborhoods provide a safe and welcoming environment for residents and visitors. Although this vicious attack was an isolated incident and in no way reflects on the Baltimore County or Rosedale communities, it does serve as a wake-up call that we all have a role to play in moving society forward. It is…

Kevin Kamenetz has another title to add to his governmental resume. The four-term councilman-turned county executive was named vice chair of the Baltimore Metropolitan Council. The regional group, made up of elected officials from Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford and Howard counties, works on regional transportation, planning and environmental issues. Earlier this year, Kamenetz was elected to the board of the Maryland Association of Counties.

A new law granting in-state tuition for illegal immigrants attending community colleges in Maryland won't have a dramatic effect on the Community College of Baltimore County. Sandra Kurtinitis, CCBC president, told council members Monday night that only 20 of the college's 74,000 students could potentially qualify under the law. Kurtinitis called the issue "challenging" but said CCBC has not broken state law and allowed illegal immigrants to pay lower rates "like our colleagues down the road." Kurtinitis later acknowledged she was speaking about Montgomery College, which is the subject of a …

It seems like everyone who grew up in the Baltimore area or lived here long enough has a story about William Donald Schaefer. Add Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz to that club. Kamenetz's Schaefer experience dates to the summer of 1979. Kamenetz was 21. The future political leader of Baltimore County had just graduated from Johns Hopkins and was preparing to enter Schaefer's alma mater, the University of Baltimore School of Law, when he took a job with Schaefer's campaign for a third term as mayor. "Obviously, it was a great opportunity and I did every political task that needed to …

The standoff between Patch and the Baltimore County Public Schools system about the salary of a newly hired deputy superintendent is over. Bob Barrett, the school system's executive officer for community outreach, released the figure to Patch this morning. The Baltimore Sun first reported Foose's $214,000 salary, but school officials refused to release the number to Patch, citing a policy requiring a written request. Patch verbally requested the information on March 11 but declined to file the Public Information Act request on the basis that state law does not cover answering a question, and …

Baltimore County Council Chairman John A. Olszewski Sr. said Tuesday that schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston should consider freezing administrative hiring as it looks to eliminate nearly 200 teaching positions. "You've had some administrative positions open for nine months to a year. I think that the administration should be looking at hiring freezes as well," Olszewski told George Sarris, budget director for the Baltimore County Public Schools system. "If we're going to be asking our teachers to have hiring freezes, I think the administration level should look at hiring freezes." During…

Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz doesn't "want to create a war" with Baltimore County Public Schools officials, but in an interview Monday he said he would like more of a say in "the schools system's budgetary process.""In general government budgets, the county executive has the authority to approve or disapprove spending categories. Here we don't have that direct hands-on ability to do so," said Kamenetz in an interview with Patch. "Yet, we have to pay the bill." Kamenetz made his comments during an interview in Annapolis as the General Assembly is wrapping up the final hours of its…

State legislators who have asked Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz to save nearly 200 teaching positions have their answer—and it's not the one they were hoping to hear. Kamenetz, in a letter released today, cited budgetary constraints and cuts in state aid to the county as the primary factors why the positions cannot be restored. "Unfortunately, while I am appreciative of the efforts of our delegation to increase education funding, restoring the teacher/student ratio positions at the same level as last year's budget does not appear possible at this time," Kamenetz wrote. Last week, …

UPDATE (2:10 p.m.)—Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston is scheduled to meet with some state legislators on Friday, but the meeting will not be public. Sen. Kathy Klausmeier and Del. John Olszewski Jr., who chair the Baltimore County Senate and House delegations, said today they will meet privately with Hairston over breakfast Friday. Klausmeier, a Perry Hall Democrat, said Hairston required a private meeting. "He didn't want to meet with the entire delegation," Klausmeier said.Phyllis Reese, a schools system spokeswoman, was not immediately available for comment. …

Baltimore County received nearly 20 percent of all federal money handed out to Maryland companies and governments under an early retiree program that is part of the recently passed federal health care legislation. The county received nearly $1.8 million of the nearly $9.2 million distributed to Maryland companies and governments under the Early Retirement Reinsurance Program. Baltimore County is one of about 1,300 corporations and state and local governments in 50 states to receive about $1.8 billion in the last year, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which …

Legislators could get their meeting with Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston as early as this week. Del. John A. Olszewski Jr., a Dundalk Democrat and chairman of the county's House Delegation, said Friday that a meeting has tentatively been scheduled for some time this week. The House Delegation typically meets on Fridays. Olszewski said it was unclear whether the meeting would happen during the delegation meeting or at some other time. Also not clear was whether or not the meeting would be open to the public. Hairston could meet with legislators individually or in small …

The selection of two Republicans to serve on the Baltimore County Board of Elections has rankled county Republican Party officials who say Gov. Martin O'Malley ignored the wishes of the local party. “Unfortunately, this was not an April Fools prank, it is business as usual in the State of Maryland,” Tony Campbell, county Republican Central Committee chairman, wrote in a statement released Friday. “The unbridled partisanship of this decision is a clear example of the folly of one party government in Maryland. The fact that Governor O’Malley made this explicit decision of a board that is two to…

Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Joe A. Hairston said in a radio interview that he is "somewhat amused" by charges that the school system is not transparent, and that recent criticisms of his administration come from people who have personal issues with him. Hairston made the comments this afternoon during an interview with Clarence Mitchell IV on the C4 Show on WBAL 1090 AM. Mitchell asked Hairston about claims that the school system is not being transparent—a reference to how it has handled the release of information related to newly hired Deputy Superintendent Renee Foose. …

UPDATED (11 p.m.)—A "grassroots" organization that advocated for expanding Baltimore County's speed camera program is now disclosing on its Facebook page that it is supported by the company that supplies the devices to the county. Slow Down for Baltimore County Schools, a Towson-based group, now carries the following disclosure on its Facebook page: "Slow Down for Baltimore County Schools is supported by Affiliated Computer Services." A similar statement can also be found on the Slow Down for Howard County Schools Facebook page. The relationship between the company that stands to benefit from…

A Baltimore County delegate is asking county legislative leaders to schedule a joint meeting with Baltimore County Schools Superintendent Joe Hairston in the wake of a controversy over a salary for a newly hired deputy. Del. Dan Morhaim, a Democrat, asked Del. John A. Olszewski Jr. and Sen. Kathy Klausmeier, the chairs of the county's House and Senate delegations, to schedule a meeting before the session ends on April 11. "The continuing issues as reported in the media regarding the BCPS School Board deserve focused attention before the end of session," wrote Morhaim in a March 19 e-mail …

Jim Smith stood alone in the State House hallway between the Senate and House chambers on Tuesday. The former Baltimore County executive, who traveled the halls of Annapolis over the last eight years trailed by bodyguards and support staff, came to Annapolis not on behalf of the county but to lobby for a project close to his heart. Smith was waiting to pitch senators on behalf of St. Elizabeth School, a nonpublic middle and high school program that serves students ages 10-21 who have special needs. "I'm trying to help them capture some funds they desperately need for a new roof," Smith said. …

A county school official continued Saturday to refuse to release to Patch the salary of a newly hired deputy superintendent, even after the figure was provided to another media outlet. Phyllis Reese, a Baltimore County Public Schools spokeswoman, said prior to a meeting of the school board Saturday that she would not release the salary of Renee Foose unless Patch filed a written request. Reese said she would release the figure "provided that we receive the information of request." When asked if that meant she was denying the verbal request because it was not written, Reese responded, "I didn'…