So, you didn’t get tapped to represent District B on the Harford County Council. Then, you were somehow passed over for that sweet superintendent spot. No worries! Here’s another opportunity to serve the public (albeit as a volunteer this time) on the Harford County Republican Central Committee.
Kidding aside, central committee members are normally elected but a new member will soon be appointed to serve out the term of Michael Geppi, who resigned his post on May 27th.
The goal of the HCRCC, according to Chairwoman Kim Wagner, is “to promote Republican principles and candidates in Harford County.”
Maybe that helps explain Geppi’s resignation – it’s a little hard to promote Republicans and run against a Republican at the same time.
Geppi told The Dagger he resigned from the HCRCC to focus on his campaign for the Maryland House of Delegates representing Bel Air/Abingdon in District 35B, a seat currently ...Continue Reading
The struggle for the public’s right to elect members of the Harford County Board of Education ended happily a few weeks ago when Governor Martin O’Malley signed a bill to allow for a blended board with 3 appointed members and 6 members elected in-district. The first school board elections will be held for Districts A, B and D in 2010, followed by Districts C, E and F in 2014. The next step will be to urge good candidates to run and for citizens to exercise their hard-won right to vote.
Which calls to mind what Benjamin Franklin said after the Constitutional Convention, when he was asked whether the new American government would be a monarchy or a republic: “A republic,” he replied, “if you can keep it.”
Despite having used the quote as the title of a few stories, I didn’t fully appreciate what Franklin was driving at until I ...Continue Reading
In a letter dated April 20, Dels. Susan McComas, Rick Impallaria and Pat McDonough have formally requested that Dels. J.B. Jennings and Wayne Norman step down from their largely ceremonial positions as chair and vice-chair of the Harford County delegation to the Maryland General Assembly in Annapolis.
In the letter, which is jointly signed by McComas and Impallaria – the former delegation chair and vice-chair – as well as McDonough, the trio accuses the Jennings/Norman failed leadership team of creating a hostile environment, leading the delegation into a legislative missteps, and being “easily manipulated by outside forces.”
A bill to help pay college tuition for the families of public safety officers and others killed in the line of duty passed unanimously in both the House and Senate on March 26th and is expected to be signed into law by Governor Martin O’Malley.
The Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship Program Alterations bill would replace a scholarship program of the same name which had left eligible students on a waiting list for tuition assistance due to funding shortfalls. The problem was first brought to public attention on The Dagger by Lynne Parry, wife of slain Baltimore Police Detective Sergeant Mark Parry.
The Harford County Delegation voted 7 to 1 last Friday to keep legislation proposed by County Executive David Craig on track which would create an Infrastructure and Facilities Capital Project Authority to fund local projects. Harford County’s state senators had voted unanimously to withdraw the senate version of the bill earlier in the week.
Chairman of the Harford County Delegation J.B. Jennings had indicated that he thought the delegation would follow the lead of the Harford County senators and vote to withdraw the bill, but in a phone interview, Delegate Susan McComas (Dist. 35B) said she made the argument at the Friday delegation meeting to allow the bill to move forward. McComas said that the bill already had a hearing scheduled and unlike the delegation, the County Executive was elected by the entire county and so the delegation ought to “let him make his case.”
Dagger readers may remember the family of Lynne Parry. Her husband, Baltimore County Police Detective Sergeant Mark Parry was tragically killed in the line of duty in 2002. As police survivors, Lynne’s children qualified for the state-funded Edward T. Conroy Memorial Scholarship, which offsets the cost of college tuition for the families of fallen heroes in Maryland. But last year, the money for the Conroy Scholarship ran out and Lynne’s son was one of 40 qualified applicants put on a waiting list.
Mike Geppi, the youngest person ever elected to the Harford County Council, is planning another run for public office – this time aiming for the Maryland House of Delegates, where he would presumably face recently-embattled Del. Susan McComas in the 2010 District 35B Republican Primary.
In a carefully-worded, carefully-timed statement issued today, Geppi and his representative announced that the former District C councilman was contemplating another run, but stopped short of saying which office he would pursue.
Unity was the theme of the testimony coming from the Harford County Delegation at a hearing Tuesday before the House Ways and Means Committee for the elected school board bill, HB 639.
(Bel Air, MD – February 10, 2009) – Automated phone calls were made to Harford County Republicans yesterday attacking Delegate Wayne Norman.
Harford County Republican Party Chairman Kim Wagner stated, “These illegal phone calls attacking Delegate Wayne Norman are completely unacceptable. While repeatedly invoking the name of the Republican Party, they had nothing to do with us. It is my hope that an investigation will reveal the person or group responsible for these inflammatory calls and lead to the appropriate penalties.”
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.”
