Hixson introduces bill requiring vote receipt

Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2007

House Ways and Means Chairwoman Sheila E. Hixson (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring sponsored the bill, which would allow voters to review their electronically recorded choices before casting their ballot.

Hixson said the bill is the ‘‘No. 1 issue” in her committee.

The effort to increase public confidence in the electronic voting equipment comes only months after a primary election fraught with errors. The touch-screen machines store voter tallies electronically but do not produce a receipt, or paper trail, to verify voters’ selections. That led to some accusations in last year’s elections that the machines inaccurately recorded votes.

A similar bill won unanimous approval in the House last year, but died in the Senate. A counterpart Senate bill has not yet been introduced.

The bill has greater momentum this year because it is not an election year and many new delegates ran on the issue, Hixson said. ‘‘It’s an election procedure we can rectify, so we should do it.”

Meanwhile, the first Senate bill introduced in the 2007 General Assembly seeks to amend the constitution to allow early voting. More than two dozen Senate Democrats sponsored the bill, which requires the consent of three-fifths of the legislature before being put on the 2008 ballot as a referendum initiative.

The Maryland Court of Appeals struck down the legislature’s attempt to enact five days of early voting last year without amending the constitution.

Democrats, who said it would increase voter turnout, overrode the veto of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., who believed that it would favor Democratic candidates and increase the likelihood of voter fraud.

— Alan Brody and Sean R. Sedam

Chief judge offers support for new Rockville courthouse

Ben C. Clyburn, chief judge of the District Court of Maryland, has called Rockville’s objection to a new courthouse ‘‘fiscally irresponsible,” in a letter to Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley.

The Jan. 12 letter outlines Clyburn’s support for three courthouse projects. ‘‘I am particularly concerned about Rockville,” the judge wrote.

A $62.5 million project is proposed for the old Rockville library, across from City Hall.

Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo, however, has recently expressed concerns over the project, particularly traffic and parking. Clyburn’s letter describes an ‘‘eleventh hour letter of concern” from the city proposing the court give up $10 million already dedicated to the project.

‘‘While we remain committed to working collaboratively to resolve any outstanding issues, we believe the City’s position is fiscally irresponsible,” Clyburn wrote.

— Douglas Tallman

Hall, Griffin pickedfor O’Malley Cabinet

Richard E. Hall and John R. Griffin were tapped Tuesday to serve in Gov.-elect Martin O’Malley’s Cabinet.

Hall of Baltimore has been nominated to be secretary of the Department of Planning.

Griffin of Annapolis has been picked to be secretary of the Department of Natural Resources.

‘‘As Maryland confronts the challenges of Smart Growth, military base realignment, preserving our open space, and improving the health of the Chesapeake Bay, Richard and John will be instrumental in helping our Administration develop solutions and achieve measurable results,” O’Malley (D) said in a statement.

Like several of O’Malley’s other appointments, Hall and Griffin are veterans of the administration of former governor Parris N. Glendening (D).

Dru Schmitt-Perkins, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Maryland, said both men were excellent choices.

‘‘Richard Hall ... this choice is really solid,” she said. ‘‘Griffin ... knows the department frontwards and backwards.”

Hall has been a professional planner for 20 years, and a 15-year veteran of the state planning department. He was born in Salisbury.

Griffin spent 16 years in DNR, including five years as secretary and 11 years as deputy secretary. He also spent five years as general manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

His departure from WSSC sparked months of turmoil at the bicounty agency. Four of the six commissioners tried to fire him in a closed session. The firing was ruled illegal, which led to a reported $250,000 severance.

He is now an associate vice president for the Maryland⁄Virginia region at Buchart Horn Inc., a private engineering, architectural and planning firm.

Griffin also serves as co-chair of the O’Malley-Brown Transition Workgroup focusing on the Maryland Department of the Environment and DNR.

The Maryland Senate must confirm both appointments.

As planning secretary, Hall will oversee a statewide vision for development in Maryland. He will work with the smart growth director and lead the state’s Historic Preservation program.

As DNR secretary, Griffin will oversee 450,000 acres of public lands, 17,000 miles of waterways, and all of Maryland’s forests, fisheries, wildlife and natural heritage assets. Griffin will lead an agency with an operating budget of $359.3 million and over 1,700 employees.

Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo had been regarded as a candidate for planning secretary, but he pulled his name from contention a week ago in a message he posted on his blog.

— Douglas Tallman

Garagiola withdrawsAg Reserve bill

Sen. Robert J. Garagiola said Thursday he would withdraw a bill to create a state commission for Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve ‘‘rather than go[ing] forward, further engaging in debate.”

The 90,000 acres of farmland in the upper Montgomery County where high-density development is restricted has become a national land-use model for preservation since its creation in 1980.

Garagiola’s bill, which was pre-filed and read in the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee on Thursday, would have created a commission to explore adding land to and promoting the Reserve.

The commission would have had staff and would have comprised representatives of elected officials, Park and Planning or an environmental agency, the real estate industry and land preservation groups. It would have submitted an annual report detailing recommendations for ‘‘legislative, regulatory or administrative changes” needed to promote the reserve through programs such as Program Open Space, Rural Legacy and the Maryland Environmental Trust.

With Germantown nearly built out and Clarksburg booming ‘‘The challenges, looking at the next 25 years are obvious,” said Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown.

‘‘The Agricultural Reserve provides a benefit from a statewide perspective,” he said. ‘‘... We sparked debate and thought there were a lot of ways to go about doing it. We’ll see if there are other ways in the next few years.”

Garagiola said the bill has already sparked debate among stakeholders and an alternative could be proposed next year.

— Sean R. Sedam