Baltimore County Councilman Vince Gardina is defending his angry reaction to rumors alleging he secured permits for the controversial tent at Baltimore Lutheran School ? denying claims he faulted one disabled woman for “living on the dole” too long.
A group of Towson-area activists circulated e-mails late last month that suggested Gardina helped Baltimore Lutheran, where he has worked as a science teacher since August, obtain county permits for a controversial five-story canopy covering athletic courts.
After Gardina sent his own e-mail denying the accusations, resident Donna Merkle said he called her at her apartment in a publicly subsidized complex for the elderly and disabled.
After telling Merkle she?s “lived in Virgina Towers too long,” Merkle said Gardina criticized her for “living on the dole,” cut her off, then hung up.
“He was so irate and his tone was just wrong,” Merkle said. “I couldn?t get a word in edgewise.”
Gardina acknowledged he mentioned Merkle?s residence, but only to point out its distance from the school and surrounding neighborhood.
He said he applied for his job at Baltimore Lutheran in July, well after the county approved the tent in 2004.
He noted the school is in the district represented by District 3 Council Member Bryan McIntire ? not his. He said supporters of his political opponent, Republican Wayne Skinner, perpetuated the false rumors.
He pointed to Merkle?s contribution to the e-mail chain, a Sept. 27 note that said Merkle?s “never known [Gardina] not to have an agenda.”
“I?m not going to sit back and let these people tear me up for no reason,” Gardina said. “These people should be ashamed of themselves.”
Residents of the Chatterleigh neighborhood are protesting the 27,000-square-foot tent, which they call an eyesore, and the school?s rental of its athletic fields. They say the school does not provide adequate parking, bathrooms and security for outside groups.
