A former Baltimore County executive and banking principal is looking to return to local government to serve a relatively obscure commission, officials said.
Members of the county council this week briefly interviewed Donald Hutchinson, a Democrat who served two terms between 1978 and 1986, to fill a vacancy on the county?s revenue authority. The five-member quasi-governmental board operates county public parking facilities and golf courses.
Hutchinson said he plans to retire from his five-year career heading SunTrust Bank?s Maryland operations at the end of the year.
“With his business background and his commitment to community and familiarity with the county, he?s perfect,” County Executive Jim Smith said.
Smith encountered controversy with his last nominee to the board ? Orioles owner Peter Angelos ? in 2003. Council members refused to schedule a vote confirming the appointment, who Smith said would help boost the authority?s role in economic development, because they felt he violated a “gentlemen?s agreement” that allowed the council to select one member of the board.
Council members indicated Hutchinson will easily be approved.
“I?m sure many of us have called on the former county executive for guidance in the past,” said Council Chair Sam Moxley, a Catonsville Democrat. “We?ll be doing the same now.”
Hutchinson, a former state senator and executive director of the Greater Baltimore Committee, said he has started a small consulting firm, prompting questions from Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, a Pikesville Democrat, about potential conflicts of interest.
Hutchinson said he may need to register asa lobbyist for the “creation of public policy.”
“I have refused to lobby on an individual client basis,” he said.
