Anyone know Tom Bostwick?
Notif e-mails exchanged Wednesday among Baltimore County community leaders are any indication. Curious and slightly alarmed, they wondered about County Executive Jim Smith?s relatively unfamiliar nominee to replace retiring Deputy Zoning Commissioner John Murphy ? one of two officials who have authority over development proposals.
“What are his thoughts on the existing code, regulations and process?” Loch Raven Community Council President Donna Spicer wrote. “Has he ever gone before the commissioner or deputy on a zoning or development case?”
The answer to the latter is no, said Bostwick, former president of the Timonium-area Pot Spring Community Association. Bostwick will replace Murphy at the end of the month if confirmed by the County Council. But as an assistant county attorney since 2000 who served as assistant state?s attorney for five years, Bostwick said his legal experience is “peppered” with land use and development cases.
Even if he is unfamiliar with the county?s development approval process, some activists consider Bostwick to be the right man for the job.
“It?s often good to have someone who is not part of the culture of local land use politics to come in with a fresh perspective,” North County Preservation Inc. President Irving Spitzberg said. “Fresh eyes see fresh solutions.”
Activists requested inclusion in the selection of Murphy?s successor soon after he announced his decision to retire last month. Murphy, they said, was the only commissioner to deny a proposal since 2004 and tended to be more sympathetic to community concerns.
They feared a pro-development replacement. Bostwick said he plans to simply “follow the law.”
“Where there is discretion, you should use it with the judgment you?ve acquired as an attorney or someone involved in the community and make the right decision that is fair,” Bostwick said. “But this is not the end of the process. There are checks and balances before and after the cases are heard by me.”
Bostwick has contributed $625 to Smith?s political campaigns since 2001, according to state election records.
