Got a budget problem?
How about a meeting?
It?s not going to happen just yet with Anne Arundel County leaders who want to mend a public image tattered by disputes.
As to when County Executive John Leopold, Superintendent Kevin Maxwell and County Council Chairman Ronald Dillon Jr. would meet and attempt to end the public feuding, no one could say.
“My door is always open to come in and chat,” said Leopold, who added that he reached out to Maxwell before but the two could not get their schedules to mesh.
“There?s an open invitation for discussion and collaboration,” said Bob Mosier, spokesman for the school system.
“We want to make sure everyone communicates,” said Dillon, who told the council Monday night a meeting would happen between Leopold, Maxwell and three council members.
Recent reports have painted a tense relationship between Leopold and Maxwell; Councilman Daryl Jones, D-District 1, referred to their rhetorical sparing in local media as a “boxing match.”
“That?s not what this government is supposed be about,” Jones said.
But officials downplay those reports, claiming it to be a business disagreement and not a personal vendetta between the two.
“I have the most respect for their mission,” Leopold said.
“It?s just a philosophical difference,” Mosier said.
However, the perceived animosity could have an adverse effect on the influx of government workers and contractors coming to Fort Meade in the coming years.
“At this time, right now, we don?t want to have much negativity because … it probably would scare off potential workers who may decided to move to say, Howard County, instead,” Dillon said.
