A few hours after unauthorized “robo-calls” began targeting northern Harford residents, Del. Rick Impallaria called for yet another late meeting of the county delegation in Annapolis – this time to propose installing Dels. Dan Riley and Pat McDonough as co-chairs.
When his proposal was overwhelmingly defeated, Impallaria reportedly told his fellow delegates he would “see you in court.”
During the 8:00 p.m. House session Monday, Delegate Rick Impallaria called for a meeting of the Harford County delegation, which was held later that night. The announcement may be heard on the legislature’s website. At 12:40 into session, Impallaria made a delegation announcement:
“Mr. Chairman,” Impallaria began, despite addressing the Speaker. “The gentleman from Harford” was recognized, and Impallaria responded “I call a meeting of the Harford County Delegation in the Silver Room ‘mmediately after session tonight for the purpose of electing the honorable gentleman from 34A and the honorable gentleman who sits to the left of me from district 7 as acting co-chairmans of the Harford County delegation until the ongoing dispute[s] are settled in the best interest of the citizens of Harford County and the delegation. Thank you.”
Over boos from the chamber, the Speaker said “There’s only one problem; the Silver Room no longer exists.” Over ensuing jeers, Impallaria said “Whatever we’re calling it now, at the end of the hall.” Busch replied “We call it the Old House of Delegates chamber.” Impallaria responded “The Old House of Delegates chamber, sir. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.”
All members of the delegation attended the impromptu meeting.
Delegate J.B. Jennings ran the meeting as chair. He began the meeting by calling for a vote on the minutes from the meeting of last Monday, when he was elected chair. The delegation adopted the minutes in a 5-2-1 vote, with McComas abstaining as she was not present at the meeting. Impallaria and Del. Pat McDonough voted no.
Impallaria then made a motion to install Dels. Dan Riley and McDonough as co-chairs of the delegation, and the motion was seconded by McDonough. There was a 10 minute discussion and then a vote. The motion failed 6 – 2. Impallaria & McDonough were in favor, while Delegate McComas sided with the rest of the delegation. Riley voted against his own nomination, and evidently wasn’t consulted prior to the motion being made.
Impallaria reportedly then left the meeting, saying that he would “see you in court.” It was unclear to which of the delegates the comment was directed.
On Tuesday morning, the clerks office of the House of Delegates confirmed that Delegate Jennings was the chair of the Harford delegation. However, a call to the Harford County delegation Tuesday morning asking for the chair connected the call to McComas.
At about 4:00 p.m. on Monday, an automated “robo-call” went out in northern Harford County. The call seems to have been targeted to Republican voters, but the source of the the call remains in question.
Delegate Norman responded that he had spoken with Delegate McComas, and that she maintained that she had no knowledge of the call.
Here is McComas’ statement released to The Dagger this afternoon:
I, Delegate Susan McComas, heard from two Harford County residents this afternoon about a taped message they had received from an unidentified woman attacking Delegate Wayne Norman. I know nothing about these calls. I have not condoned them. They are despicable. Whoever is conducting this smear campaign should stop immediately.
Dagger readers who receive the call are asked to press *57 to trace the call to identify the source.
The Dagger also obtained a transcript of the robo call that was made to republicans in northern Harford County at 4:00 p.m. Monday, which is reported to be an exact copy.
The families of Harford County want an elected school board to provide our children with a better tomorrow in education. Del Susan McComas, the chair of the Harford county delegation, has helped lead the fight for an elected school board. Now, Wayne Norman, a state delegate who has been appointed, not elected, is attacking Susan McComas. Wayne Norman, a republican is hurting Harford county and our efforts for an elected school board. Wayne Norman needs to receive a message: “Stop hurting the Republican party, an elected school Board and stop attacking Susan McComas”. Contact Wayne Norman at 410 – 841 – 3284 — and tell him to: “Stop” — stop hurting the Republican Party of Harford County!
Del. McComas has denied any knowledge of the call. The call, which contains no byline, is a violation of Maryland law. An investigation is expected.
McComas has lost her mind and her soul to Rick Impallaria. She needs to go.
This is probably Steve Wright and Rick Impallaria going after Norman. Wright lives in 35A and is going to run against Stifler and Norman.
The question is whether the lack of authority line will prompt a state investigation. That is a campaign finance violation.
to those who posted the first two responses: Please people, I implore you. Do not allow yourself to be sucked in to this manufactured tempest. You are being used by those who have very personal axes to grind against certain delegates; and you are being used by those are looking to create dissension amongst the ranks of the delegates who support an elected school board.
Please rise above it and don’t take the bait.It makes us all look bad.
Thanks.
This whole matter is being allowed to fester because of one delegate. We, as a delegation, did have some concerns with the chair. We needed to take a new course for the benefit of our constituents and elected a new chair and vice-chair. After the initial shock wore off, the majority of the delegation began to work as a cohesive unit. The blended school board bill, 6 elected and 3 appointed, was approved by the delegation as were other bills important to our county. Just when many of us felt things were settling down …BAAM! Someone attacks Delegate Wayne Norman through a robo call. The call slso defends Delegate Susan McComas. I believe Delegate McComas has too much integrity to stoop to the level of attacking someone anonimously through a robo call. This was, in my mind, done by someone who would benefit from weakening Delegates Norman/McComas position in the community for the 2010 election.
The next shoe dropped when Delegate Impallaria call for a delegation meeting to make Pat McDonough and myself, Dan Riley honorary co-chairs of the delegation. Delegate Impallaria’s intention was to “bring order to the delegation”. It should be noted I was not told about or asked to be the honorary chair. Those in attendence, disagreed, and voted down the motion for co-chairs. The only 2 in favor were Delegates Impallaria and McDonough. I must say I was honored by the nomination but…it was not needed. We had a chair, J.B.Jennings. After the meeting Delegate Impallaria yelled out “I’ll see you all in court!”
Is anyone just embarassed by these petty games that our delegates are playing? As a county resident, a business person and a republican, I am disappointed at these games our delegates, our republican delegates, are playing. We have 90 days in session to get less than we deserve. While we could be collaborating with the rest of the delegation to get something moving for our county, we are arguing over office space, mirrors, cookies and being called a kook (ok or something close to the word). The rest of the session is moving on making approvals and deals to bring the bacon home to their county! We are focusing on petty rivals. Delegation, get off your arses, dust yourselves off, shake hands and move on and do the job we sent you down there to do! We need the transprotation funds for BRAC; we need the new station in Edgewood. We need to reduce taxes on small businesses; we need to make development in the 40 corridor happen. Most of all, we need to make deals with those (horrors) democrats in annapolis to bring the bacon home here in Harford County!
Any thoughts on when all of this will end? Impallaria is now going to take this to court?
So let’s get this straight. This guy actually wants to keep publicizing the fact that he made a total fool of himself and has ruined the reputation of the entire Harford delegation?
Question. How does he get along with the Baltimore County delegation? There seem to be some consistent trouble makers down there. McComas and Impallaria. They are aided by McDonough. It seems that this problem would be solved by getting rid of those three troublemakers.
The district 7 delgates cause trouble with their personalities. McComas causes trouble by her complete lack of leadership abilities.
Hopefully this is a wake up call to Harford Countians. Just because someone is a Republican does not mean they should be elected. Why not put new Republicans in during the primary and move on? We have had effective Republican legislators in the past. Jim Harkins, Ken Holt, Wilson Scarff, and Dave Craig are a few examples. Say whatever you like about them, but they brought home the bacon and were able to work with Democrats while being true to ther Republican roots.
In my opinion, whoever is making these “robo” calls should be investigated and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. It is slanderous, shameful and embarrassing. Our delegates need to get on with the business of their political constituents and cut the bickering. This affects all of us.
2 term limits on ALL elected offices! The business of politics is ruining ALL public service. This has nothing to do with party affiliation, although Md suffers at being a 1 party state. It’s time for the grown men and women to act like like grown men and women and serve those that elected them to their positions. The act that prompted this was uncalled for and the fallout is uncalled for. This voter has a very long memory, I hope other voters have a very long memory!
Delegate Rick Impallaria has shown he can not work with fellow legislators, he has a strong disdain for female members of the legislature, has no respect for the institution or for his constituents and is maybe connected to robo-calls (it wouldn’t be a first time for him on that one…at least not for what he brags about). Del. Impallaria has brought real shame on Harford County. Voters of the 7th District should not forget the childish actions of their respresentative.
why, in these crazy, unhappy times, does this Delegate Rick Impallaria carry on so….the sense is coming from my pal, Dan Riley…even though i’ve told him a time or two to buy a new cowboy hat and clean up the beard a little…he’s still an honest man trying to serve the people…
concerning Impallaria, looks like he might need a good can of ‘whoop-ass’ to settle him down a mite….
like Rodney King sayeth so rightly, “Can’t we all just get along?”
I am so incensed with what is occurring in Annapolis with our Delegation. Impallaria must go. His type of bomb throwing, scorched earth tactics is what has made the Republican party a laughing stock all across this county, state and nation.
Voters of the 7th should not forget the idiocy of Impallaria and McDonough. If the party leadership had sense they should excommunicate both from the party. At this point, I would take David Duke over those two. Childish, shameful, and completely unacceptable. The citizens of Harford county and the state deserve better! If the voters don’t toss these two jokers out in 2010, they deserve what they get. Someone please primary these guys!
If something does not change with these so called Republican officials, I am burning my Republican registration and changing to an independent. These guys do not represent the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan. Heck…I should not even have those honorable men even named on the same page with Impallaria and McDonough.
I’m done. Totally done.
Delegate Impallaria,
Please give all of us out here who pay your way a break and stop wasting time in a session that’s already half over. It’s all sounding like sour grapes. There are much more important things for the legislature to consider. Will we also be footing the bill for your lawsuit?
Geez…
heck folks…next election seek revenge and retribution…toss all the bums out, well, maybe keep the ‘appointed one’…can’t pin any bad stuff on him…
but the electorate holds the power, don’t give it up…
power to the people…dig?
seems that anyone worth their salt would not sacrifice their family time, business time for 90 days of the year. We need some proven business people to fill these roles and get the job done with out any of the childishness that is going on now. What business people could we recruit?
There are several people considering this race (two of whom already have financial entities established with the state) that are tremendously qualified and who we would be proud to have in Annapolis. The unfortunate thing is that the knowledge of these types of escapades don’t make it into the knowledge base of the average voter. It is beholden on us, the informed voters and active Republicans, to spread the message of this debacle far and wide amongst the 7th.
I think you need you to go back to where it all began. SHAME on you DONNA STIFLER ! Your immature and childish games over snacks started this whole mess. Now Harford County will suffer in the legislature because of what you started in you are a complete embarrassment to the voters in your district and yes I am one of them.. Do the voters of Harford County a favor and resign .
Tony (or should we call you Rick or Steve?), the problems really preceded Donna Stifler…at least with Rick’s behavior. His racist jokes, demeaning comments about women, and generally obnoxious demeanor are not new…they just got a bigger audience this time around.