Republicans Lose Control Of Calvert Board As Parran Seeks Middle Road To Compromise

Calvert County Commissioner John Douglas Parran, newly reinvented as an independent commissioner, started off at the swearing in last December right in the middle, as shown in this photo taken that day.

By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY'S TODAY

ST. LEONARD --- After waiting for 40 years to gain control of the courthouse politics in Calvert County the Republican Party lost power on Wednesday when County Commissioner John Douglas Parran changed his party affiliation from Republican to independent status.

"I thought it was a good move air I wouldn't have done it," Parran told ST. MARY'S TODAY in a telephone interview on Wednesday evening. "With me now an independent, we will have two Democrats and two Republicans and it will make us get along better, with less bickering,"

In some recent votes there has been a great deal of arguing between the commissioners with Commissioner President Linda Kelley running the Board with an iron thumb.

On occasions Kelley has lectured Parran and apparently after Tuesday's meeting, he decided to get the pressure of him by changing his registration.

Parran says that he will now approach every issue on it's own merit and not feel that it is incumbent upon him to vote a certain way because of his party affiliation.

"The voting tends to support that there really is no pattern," said Parran. "On the growth management issue, I kept my cards close to my vest, until today. I am going to continue to do the same thing now as an independent."

Will Parran suffer retaliation from members of the GOP angry over his action which snatches away the long-sought victory that the party won at the polls last November? If so, he isn't worried about that being a problem.

"Some people won't be happy, but I was elected by all the voters, I was elected to serve all of the citizens, whether they be Republicans, Democrats or independents," said Parran. "I feel that without that partisan label I will get along better with Democratic Commissioners Buehler and Stinnett as well as the Republicans."

Parran said that there will always be a few diehard Republicans who will be upset with him and that he had already run into that attitude.

" I had a Rep turn his back on me today when I told him," said Parran. "But I think its the best thing for Calvert and that is what I was elected to do, what is best for Calvert. I will vote with either party depending on the issue, not on my party."

Parran said that if the Democrats had put less pressure on him over the growth management issue, that he would likely have voted with them for the 25% proposal.

"There will be more compromise and we will work better as a board together," said Parran. "I could see what happened in St. Mary's with the last bosard happening here, I didn't want to see that. We need to have respect for each other and get along and do what is best for the county and I hope that is the way people see it."

"Republicans may say that they put money into my campaign, but I put $18,000 of my own money to get elected and I don't feel obligated to anyone," said Parran. "Nobody can take me for granted, not that they did before, but it will give Pat and Barbara a chance to believe that they have a fair chance, that they aren't outnumbered."

Parran said that he opposed the Republicans meeting secretly on Monday nights.

"I raised the issue that the Monday night meetings with all of us in the courthouse with the doors locked and how it would appear," said Parran. "I understand Commissioner Stinnett's concerns and I would feel the same way with the shoe on the other foot. If Pat Buehler and Barbara had approached mer earlier, I may have supported the 25 percent, I think it was a bad move the way the did it, with people writing letters and insulting me."

"It s a move in the right direction, I'll the bottom line this is the way to benefit all of the citizens. My Dad sort of discouraged me from doing it before, my Dad is a tried and true Democrat."

Parran's grandfather represented this area in Congress from 1910 until 1912, the only Republican House member from Maryland at the time. He then ran for the U.S. Senate in that year and lost the nomination to Sidney Mudd and Blair Lee won the election.

"My goal is to bring compromise to county government, to get everyone to get along, to bring both sides together, I'm not saying that I will be the swing vote. I have great respect for all the commissioners, I don't always agree with Linda Kelley and David Hale, but this way the Democrats won't feel they are outnumbered and I will vote on each issue".

Kelly was not available for comment on Wednesday having attended a meeting of the three commissioner Boards at Tony's Restaurant in Benedict.

 

By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY'S TODAY

ST. LEONARD --- After waiting for 40 years to gain control of the courthouse politics in Calvert County the Republican Party lost power on Wednesday when County Commissioner John Douglas Parran changed his party affiliation from Republican to independent status.

"I thought it was a good move air I wouldn't have done it," Parran told ST. MARY'S TODAY in a telephone interview on Wednesday evening. "With me now an independent we will have two Democrats and two Republicans and it will make us get along better, with less bickering,"

In some recent votes there has been a great deal of arguing between the commissioners with Commissioner President Linda Kelley running the Board with an iron hand.

On occasions Kelley has lectured Parran and apparently after Tuesday's meeting, he decided to get the pressure of him by changing his registration.

Parran says that he will now approach every issue on it's own merit and not feel that it is incumbent upon him to vote a certain way because of his party affiliation.

"The voting tends to support that there really is no pattern," said Parran. "On the growth management issue, I kept my cards close to my vest, until today. I am going to continue to do the same thing now as an independent."

Will Parran suffer retaliation from members of the GOP angry over his action which snatches away the long-sought victory that the party won at the polls last November? If so, he isn't worried about that being a problem.

"Some people won't be happy, but I was elected by all the voters, I was elected to serve all of the citizens, whether they be Republicans, Democrats or independents," said Parran. "I feel that without that partisan label I will get along better with Democratic Commissioners Buehler and Stinnett as well as the Republicans."

Parran said that there will always be a few diehard Republicans who will be upset with him and that he had already run into that attitude.

" I had a Rep turn his back on me today when I told him," said Parran. "But I think its the best thing for Calvert and that is what I was elected to do, what is best for Calvert. I will vote with either party depending on the issue, not on my party."

Parran said that if the Democrats had put less pressure on him over the growth management issue, that he would likely have voted with them for the 25% proposal.

"There will be more compromise and we will work better as a board together," said Parran. "I could see what happened in St. Mary's with the last bosard happening here, I didn't want to see that. We need to have respect for each other and get along and do what is best for the county and I hope that is the way people see it."

"Republicans may say that they put money into my campaign, but I put $18,000 of my own money to get elected and I don't feel obligated to anyone," said Parran. "Nobody can take me for granted, not that they did before, but it will give Pat and Barbara a chance to believe that they have a fair chance, that they aren't outnumbered."

Parran said that he opposed the Republicans meeting secretly on Monday nights.

"I raised the issue that the Monday night meetings with all of us in the courthouse with the doors locked and how it would appear," said Parran. "I understand Commissioner Stinnett's concerns and I would feel the same way with the shoe on the other foot. If Pat Buehler and Barbara had approached mer earlier, I may have supported the 25 percent, I think it was a bad move the way the did it, with people writing letters and insulting me."

"It s a move in the right direction, I'll the bottom line this is the way to benefit all of the citizens. My Dad sort of discouraged me from doing it before, my Dad is a tried and true Democrat."

Parran's grandfather represented this area in Congress from 1910 until 1912, the only Republican House member from Maryland at the time. He then ran for the U.S. Senate in that year and lost the nomination to Sidney Mudd and Blair Lee won the election.

"My goal is to bring compromise to county government, to get everyone to get along, to bring both sides together, I'm not saying that I will be the swing vote. I have great respect for all the commissioners, I don't always agree with Linda Kelley and David Hale, but this way the Democrats won't feel they are outnumbered and I will vote on each issue".

Kelly was not available for comment on Wednesday having attended a meeting of the three commissioner Boards at Tony's Restaurant in Benedict.

LEONARDTOWN --- In an appearance before the St. Mary's Commissioners last Tuesday representatives of the Sheriff's Department and the State Police reported that they were responsible for issuing over 20,000 traffic citations in the county last year.

Sgt. David Zylak, the traffic safety unit commander of the Sheriff's Department told the Board that the State Police issued over 15,000 tickets while the Sheriff's Department put out more than 5,100 tickets to motorists for various infractions, most of which were speeding.

That total breaks down to an average of 54 tickets each day, that if they had an average value of $60 per ticket, equals a revenue flow to the state and county of over $1.2 million.

State Police Barracks Commander Lt. Douglas Slacum reported to the Board that a new traffic safety initiative to issue tickets to those running red lights was begun in January and for the three months of this year state troopers issued 182 tickets and 24 warnings. Slacum said that the troopers worked six hours each week on the program and he intends to continue the effort to cut down on red-light-runners on the Rt. 235 corridor between Rt. 4 and the North Gate of the Naval Air Warfare Center-Aircraft Division at Pax River.

Zylak reported that there were 10 fatal crashes in the county in 1994, a figure which rose dramatically in 1997 to 19 fatal crashes with 21 total deaths. Two crashes took the lives of two young men on the same night in January of that year. In 1998, the number of fatalities dropped to 8.

Commissioner Julie Randall asked Zylak if the Sheriff's Department has run any more cooperative programs with private employers as was conducted several years ago with Veda where deputies monitored the number of motorists entering the parking lot with seat belts engaged and later the company encouraged the use of the belts. Zylak responded to her that no such initiative had been conducted in the 3 years he has been in charge of traffic safety.

Zylak reported that the unit had worked with schools to improve the percentage of usage by students and faculty.

Sgt. Zylak told the Board that he has 2 motorcycle deputies who will be devoting their time to working traffic on Rt. 235, particularly to clear accidents when they take place in order to keep traffic flowing.

Slacum told the Board that his agency is now working with the State Highway Commission to quickly clear accident scenes. In the past the police have taken their time in conducting accident investigations, with one accident keeping Rt. 235 blocked for almost three hours during morning rush hour while the police didn't rush to calculate their measurements and take photos.

Slacum promised the Board that would not happen again and that the troopers have been instructed to properly but quickly deal with their investigation, call SHA for assistance in re-routing traffic and quickly remove the wrecks from the roadway, all of which has not been a priority in the past.

After being questioned by Commissioner Randall about the number of radar units the Sheriff's Department uses, Zylak reported that the agency has 2 radar and 12 laser units, with one assigned to each squad, one to each motorcycle deputy and one to each community police officer, in Lexington Park, Leonardtown and Golden Beach.

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Commissioners Actions On Staff Not Legal Without Public Vote

By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY'S TODAY

LEONARDTOWN --- Last week the St. Mary's Commissioners announced that they had decided to replace the county attorney and hire the acting county administrator as well as extend the contracts of three department heads, but since no public vote was taken at their meeting, the decisions lack the authority of law.

Board President Julie Randall announced at the Board's meeting that it was a consensus of the Board at their secret meeting which they refer to as "executive session" to make the decisions which she announced.

Acting on the advise of county attorneys, past Boards have complied with the Open Meetings Act by conducting their official business at the public sessions of the Board, with motions to take action being made and seconded and time for open discussion in support of the motion before a vote is taken.

Section 4-210 (11) (d) of the Open Meetings Act specifically states: "Final adoption of ordinance, resolution, rule, etc. --- An ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, or decision may not be finally adopted at an executive session."

The Board met with heavy criticism for meeting in secret with staff members as well as the elected county treasurer in January, another clear violation of the Open Meetings Act.

As a result of that violation, citizen activist Vernon Gray wrote to St. Mary's State's Attorney Richard Fritz requesting that Fritz prosecute the Board for violating the Open Meetings Act.

Fritz, who just had his budget requests funded by the commissioners allowing him to hire an illegal second deputy state's attorney's position as well as give raises to the attorneys he appointed to office, declined. Maryland law only allows for one position to be designated as Deputy State's Attorney.

Fritz said that the commissioners were new in their posts and "reeling" from the rigors of performing their duties.

Gray, or any citizen, has up to one year from the date of the violation or any other violation of the Open Meetings Act to file a complaint with the Circuit Court.

Gray said on Sunday that he hadn't decided if he was going to pursue the matter.

Commissioner Daniel Raley (D. Lexington Park) said on Sunday that he was not aware of the requirement for a public vote but that the Board had been apprised of the law since last week's meeting. Raley said that the Board would review previous decisions to determine if they complied with the law and, if needed, would take the proper procedural votes to make those decisions legal.

"This wasn't our intention to violate the law, I guess it's time to get out the Open Meetings Act and make sure we are in strict compliance with it every week," said Raley, "we have an obligation to the public to perform the public's business in compliance with the law and I will make it my duty to be sure that we do so."

Under the law, executive sessions must be announced in a public meeting in advance of being conducted, with the justification for doing so laid out for the public.

The law specifically states that only that item be discussed, a part of the law which was blatantly violated by the past Board of Commissioners who argued about politics and personalties to the point of screaming and occasionally a commissioner walking out of the secret session.

A citation in the minutes must include the justification of the secret meeting as well as list those who were in attendance and the times the meeting started and was over.

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St. Mary's Board Makes Major Change In Staff

Smedley Wins Top Post; Durkin Axed

St. Mary's County Administrator Mortimer Smedley ST. MARY'S TODAY photo

LEONARDTOWN (Tuesday, March 23) --- Setting their mark on the county government staff for the first time, the St. Mary's Board of Commissioners acted today to cut loose the county attorney and at the same time skipped what has proven to be a divisive hiring process and selected the current Acting County Administrator to hold down the job for the next two years.

In a decision reached at today's commissioner's meeting, the Board announced that they had entered into a two-year contract with Mortimer Smedley, who was hired in July of 1998 to be the assistant county administrator under John Kachmar. Smedley has been serving as Acting Administrator since mid-January when Kachmar left to the take the post of county administrator in Beaufort, South Carolina.

St. Mary's County Attorney Douglas Durkin  ST. MARY'S TODAY photo

While the Board had been experiencing a good working relationship with Smedley, there had been both support and animosity for County Attorney Douglas Durkin to continue in his post.

Commissioner Joe Anderson (D. Drayden) had been known to be anxious to get rid of Durkin, due mainly to Anderson's political partisanship and the desire to sack Durkin, a Republican, who had been hired by the previous GOP Board to replace former county attorney Joe Densford, a Democrat.

Smedley is a Lt. Colonel in the Army Reserve and is a Green Beret, having served in the Latin American Division of the U. S. Army Security Assistance Command as a Plans and Operations Officer. He served in Special Operations Command during Desert Storm in the Gulf War in 1991 and also served in the U. S. Navy from 1958 to 1961. During that tour in the Navy he served in Office of Naval Intelligence and Naval Security.

Smedley earned a degree at Columbia College, Columbia, Missouri, in 1978 and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Fels Institute of Local and State Government in Philadelphia. He has studied at the University of Michigan, Penn State University and the United States Army Command and Generals Staff College in Fort. Leavenworth, Kansas.

After getting out of the Navy, Smedley worked with the Maryland State Police and the Harford County Sheriff's Department. He was raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where his family still resides.

Smedley worked at County Administrator for Carbon County, Penn from 1989 until last year. He also worked as Municipal Manager for the Borough of Lehighton, Penn from 1970 until 1988.

In both positions, Smedley had extensive experience with supervisory responsibilities for over 500 employees, implementation of a ten-year solid waste disposal plan and development of a county-wide 911/EMA system. He also had day-to-day responsibility for all county functions and oversaw the construction of a new correctional facility.

Smedley is a quiet professional who shuns the spotlight and prefers a management style that is very low-key compared to his predecessor, Kachmar, who operated as an aggressive problem solver who occasionally butted heads with the former commissioner president as she attempted to circumvent the policy decisions of the Board's majority.

Without Barbara Thompson around, Smedley's life as county administrator should be a lot less contentious and complicated than it was for Kachmar.

County Attorney Douglas Durkin has been a hard-working county department head and attorney, known for rendering four-page well-researched legal opinions on the most mundane questions. While Durkin was extremely thorough, he was also extremely competent, sometimes giving legal opinions that some county officials preferred not to hear.

Durkin straightened out the legal mess that Densford left behind at the county airport after the county suffered million-dollar losses due to leases with a sky-diving operator and airport commission decisions approved by Densford and the former Board of Commissioners, acting on his advise.

Durkin has also been hard at work for the past several years trying to straighten out legal messes caused for the county by St. Mary's Sheriff Richard Voorhaar and his operation of law enforcement and the county's detention center.

While the current Board has been known to be unhappy with Durkin in some areas, he also won support among the commissioners for his hard work and long hours he regularly works preparing for litigation for the county. But when push came to shove, Durkin did not have the support of more than two commissioners to keep his post as county attorney.

Besides being opposed by Anderson, Durkin also was strongly opposed by Commissioner Shelby Guazzo (R. Chaptico). Durkin had earned the animosity of the various environmental activists such as the Potomac River Association over the matter of the illegal lots lawsuit which had been contested between the last Board and the PRA, with Durkin taking the lead role in appealing a lower court verdict which had been lost by the county.

In the end, the lack of political savvy on the part of Durkin was not made up for by his very considerable legal skills and he was sacked by the Board.

Durkin was supposed to stay on until April 6th but he reportedly was clearing out his office on Tuesday evening. Contractual attorneys for the Local Government Insurance Trust will provide St. Mary's County with legal services until the Board is able to hire a new county attorney.

The Board also extended new contracts to Gene Carter, the director of the Office on Aging; Cynthia Brown, the director of the Community Services; and to Martin Faircloth, the Director of Economic Development.

Sources say that Faircloth will likely see the handwriting on the wall and seek another position elsewhere.  Zoning Director Jon Grimm who may be next to get the axe, has established a reputation as a survivor and will likely remain in his post, but Parks Director Phil Rollins may be on thin ice with the commissioners.

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St. Mary's Commissioners Assign Haley Job of Riding Herd On MCI

LEONARDTOWN --- At their regular meeting this past Tuesday, the St. Mary's Board of Commissioners decided to have Purchasing Director Jim Haley, who is also the county's airport manager, take on yet another job.

Haley will now be responsible for supervising the construction of the new building which MCI Systemhouse is building on the county's Leonard Hall Governmental Center complex. In addition, Haley will also be overseeing the installation of the equipment that MCI is installing in the approximately 7100 square foot building which will become the county's new emergency communications center.

Commissioner Daniel Raley (D. Lexington Park) pointed out at the meeting that changing the location of the building to another site at Leonard Hall, as was suggested by Commissioner President Julie Randall in order to not have a private contractor occupied building in the center of the complex, would effectively delay the facility from being completed for a minimum of sixty days and could easily stretch out the date of occupancy for emergency communications personnel by as much as six months.

"To locate the building elsewhere should have been decided six months ago," Raley told ST. MARY'S TODAY. "It's just too late to go in there now and change it."

Raley said that the county needed someone to ride herd on MCI.

"We needed someone on the county payroll to stay on top of that project, to report back to us and that person has to take the responsibility to get it on line and keep it on time," said Raley.

Just one year ago, the last Board of Commissioners decided to hire a capital projects manager to supervise such construction projects after it became clear that former Public Works Director Daniel Ichniowski was allowing Circuit Court Judge John Hanson Briscoe to delay the progress of the expansion and renovation of the existing circuit courthouse.

The new capital projects manager told the Board last week that he could not handle any additional projects to his present responsibilities, that of getting the new passenger terminal at the airport built along with the circuit courthouse project.

"I made the point that Haley asked for this extra job and that Haley needs to get it on time and on budget," said Raley.