Politics

After several years of bolstering services with federal COVID relief dollars, Maryland’s county governments have been deciding what to continue funding and how to spend the dwindling money still available. Elected officials are making these decisions at a time when revenue projections are indicating budget shortfalls as soon as next year. Multiple rounds of federal COVID-19 assistance — which most recently included $350 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) that Congress passed in 2021 — have helped state, territorial, local and tribal governments across the country respond to the public health emergency.

The parking lot at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center in Ocean City was two-thirds empty at 11:15 on Saturday morning, just as Gov. Wes Moore (D) was beginning his closing address to the Maryland Association of Counties summer convention. The lightly attended speech highlighted one of the major flaws of the four-day MACo conference — an annual event that has become the Woodstock of Maryland politics, in the best and worst ways.

Frederick should continue to have about the same number of Neighborhood Advisory Councils to coordinate response to local issues, according to a committee the mayor appointed to study the issue. The city’s alderman should decide the final number, and each of the 10 to 12 NACs should have an alderman as its voice in the city government, the committee decided as a recommendation on Tuesday.

Acting County Administrator Michelle Gordon was named Washington County administrator Tuesday morning by the Board of County Commissioners. Gordon was hired as the county’s chief financial officer last fall, and has been serving as acting administrator since the abrupt retirement of John Martirano in May. The commissioners voted unanimously during Tuesday’s meeting to appoint Gordon to the position, although Commissioners President John Barr said she was not his first choice.

Two Montgomery County Council members requested Monday that state and county watchdogs investigate the county school system’s handling of reported allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation by former Farquhar Middle School principal Joel Beidleman. Dawn Luedtke (D-District 7), whose district includes Farquhar, and Council President Evan Glass (D-At Large) requested in a letter that Montgomery County Public Schools “halt the work of Jackson Lewis,” a Baltimore-based law firm that was hired to investigate claims made by several Farquhar and school system employees.

Dozens gathered in front of Baltimore City Hall on Monday to call on Mayor Brandon Scott and the City Council to consider changes to Baltimore’s Complete Streets roadway policy, saying the emphasis on bike lanes and traffic-calming devices is having unintended consequences on their neighborhoods. Two groups, The Friends of Gwynns Falls Parkway and Eutaw Street Neighbors, organized the rally and held up signs that referred to the policy as “Incomplete Streets.”

Nearly 30 members of Congress, including the son of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the lead manager in the first Senate impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, are backing their colleague Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) in the 2024 Democratic primary for Maryland’s open U.S. Senate seat. Trone’s campaign announced Monday that Reps. Jonathan L. Jackson (D-Ill.) and Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) are among 27 colleagues from across the country endorsing Trone to succeed retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.).

The Baltimore City Council is considering a ban on outside gas regulators tonight. City Councilman Eric Costello’s bill would ban the regulators outside of single-family homes, or those with five or fewer residential units. The regulators, alternative indoor regulators have been the sources of protest, lawsuits and a Public Service Commission Review.