The Baltimore County Council identified five department heads for tighter scrutiny as they prepare to vote on reconfirming Executive Jim Smith?s appointments for a secondterm.
Members called five department heads ? Fire Chief John Homan, Community Conservation Director Mary Harvey, Environmental Protection and Resource Management Director David Carroll, Planning Director Pat Keller and Permits and Development Manager Director Tim Kotroco ? for interviews after a council work session Tuesday afternoon. Each met in closed session with the council, and several declined to comment after exiting.
“It was uneventful,” Homan said. “I?m hopeful.” The council will vote on reconfirmation Monday.
Sitting in for newly elected council chair Sam Moxley, Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, D-District 2, said most department heads have adequate track records and capabilities. But, he said, the council wants each of the five to improve relations with legislators.
“We want the opportunity to maintain open dialogue,” Kamenetz said. “There are some concerns.”
It is unclear if the council asked Health Director Pierre Vigilance to stay for an interview. Kamenetz did not call his name after the work session, but Vigilance waited in the hall for what he said was his turn.
The council voted to go into closed session for the interviews, citing exemptions in state open-meeting laws for personnel issues. Only John Olszewski, D-District 7, voted against excusing the public and media. “More openness is more beneficial to the residents of Baltimore County,” he said.
The council reconfirms executive-appointed department heads, according to an amendment to the county charter. Smith spokesman Don Mohler said the county administration respects legislative oversight and called all department heads “highly qualified.”
“We understand when the council wants to ask questions directly to the department heads,” Mohler said. “We have confidence in our team and we have confidence that the council … will come to the same conclusion.”
