Dayhoff Westminster Soundtrack: Government

Showing posts with label Government. Show all posts

Monday, September 30, 2013

Blair Lee: Why Baltimore is not Detroit

Why Baltimore is not Detroit

Friday, September 27, 2013 by Blair Lee http://www.gazette.net/article/20130927/OPINION/130929269/-1/why-baltimore-is-not-detroit&template=gazette

There was considerable rejoicing in Baltimore city this week when George Mason University released a study saying that, compared to Detroit, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Providence and San Bernardino, Baltimore is on “reasonably solid financial footing” and is demonstrating “financial resiliency.”

Of course those other five cities are all basket cases (two are in bankruptcy), so being best of the lot isn’t so hot.

The Baltimore Sun highlighted the parts of the report crediting Baltimore’s success to sound city management provided by a strong-mayor system which lets the city’s Board of Estimates (controlled by the mayor) write the city budget and run the city’s finances without interference from the City Council, which can only lower the spending levels, not increase them.

But if you actually read the George Mason report it tells a much different story. What’s really keeping Baltimore afloat isn’t its mayor or its charter, it’s the billions of dollars the state of Maryland pours into the city every year… http://www.gazette.net/article/20130927/OPINION/130929269/-1/why-baltimore-is-not-detroit&template=gazette

*****

Kevin Dayhoff Soundtrack: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.net/ Kevin Dayhoff Art: http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ or http://kevindayhoffart.com/ = http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ Kevin Dayhoff Westminster: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/ or http://www.westgov.net/ = www.kevindayhoff.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/kevindayhoff Twitpic: http://twitpic.com/photos/kevindayhoff Kevin Dayhoff's The New Bedford Herald: http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/ = www.newbedfordherald.net Explore Carroll: www.explorecarroll.com The Tentacle: www.thetentacle.com

Sunday, August 12, 2012

FY 2001 Compensation Survey of Maryland Local Governments

Compensation Survey of Maryland Local Governments

http://www.scribd.com/doc/102709596/FY-2001-Compensation-Survey-of-Maryland-Local-Governments

FY 2001

Compiled by:

Jeanne E. Bilanin

Clare Capotosto

and

Jeffrey R. Kummer

A Collaborative Project

Maryland Association of Counties

Maryland Municipal League

and Institute for Governmental Service

Center for Applied Policy Studies University of Maryland, College Park

January 2001

Originally received December 14, 2002

Retrieved August 12, 2012 from archives for records review, retention or disposition – otherwise known as Fighting the “Stuff Monster,” Kevin E. Dayhoff June 20, 2012 The Tentacle http://www.thetentacle.com/author.cfm?MyAuthor=41 - - The mindless meanderings of a mad writer. http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/2012/08/kevin-dayhoff-tentacle-fighting-stuff.html

It is interesting to see how compensation for local government workers has changed in the past ten years.

Sadly, while much of the public’s attention has been distracted by perceived excesses in compensation and job security among state and federal workers – and in some situations, workers higher-up on local county and municipal government pay scales; the workers at the bottom of the pay scale have not seen any increases for as much as five-years.

…

From the preface of the survey:

Preface

The Institute for Governmental Service (IGS) of the University of Maryland, College Park, in collaboration with the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) and the Maryland Municipal League (MML), is pleased to present this report of the fiscal year 2001 Compensation Survey of Maryland Local Governments, the latest of a series of wage surveys that IGS began in the 1980s. One hundred thirty jurisdictions, including 107 municipalities and all 23 counties, participated in the survey and contributed to the data for more than 150 different positions. This report also includes information regarding the benefits offered by these participating jurisdictions during the 2001 fiscal year. In addition, compensation information for a number of positions was provided by the administrative office of the courts, boards of education, and public library systems.

In this report, Baltimore City is treated as both a county and a municipality. For positions that are unique to counties, Baltimore City is listed as a county. For positions that are unique to municipalities, Baltimore City is listed as a municipality. For positions and other information that occur in both counties and municipalities, Baltimore City is listed separately at the end of the county list and before the municipal list.

The first table in the report, "Represented Counties and Municipalities," provides estimated populations, expenditure budgets, and numbers of employees for jurisdictions represented in this report. This information may be helpful in the selection of jurisdictions to serve as a reference group against which comparisons can be made.

In using the salary data, we suggest that you refer to the job descriptions given for each position. Respondents were asked to read these descriptions before recording salary data under any particular job title. It is more important that the job description match the position you are comparing than that the job titles match. Also, be aware that the standard workweek varies among jurisdictions, as reported in the table, "Normal Work Schedule," which begins on page 7.

IGS, MACo, and MML would like to thank all of those who completed the questionnaire and who have offered suggestions throughout the years on ways to improve the survey.

FY 2001 Compensation Survey of Maryland Local Governments

Pay scales. compensation, government workers, Maryland

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Matt Candland will move into the Carlisle manager’s office July 2

Former Sykesville Town Manager Matt Candland will move into the Carlisle PA manager’s office July 2

Municipal salaries: Carlisle borough manager will join the six-figure club

By ELIZABETH GIBSON, The Patriot-News Wednesday, June 20, 2012

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/municipal_salaries_carlisle_bo.html

http://topics.pennlive.com/tag/matt%20candland/posts.html

http://www.carlislepa.org/

Matt Candland will become Carlisle's borough manager next month.

The salary to be paid to the midstate’s newest municipal manager puts him in the enviable $100,000 club.

Matt Candland will move into the Carlisle manager’s office July 2 and be paid $115,000. His salary will jump to $117,834 on Jan. 1.

Borough officials are defending his $115,000 annual salary, $15,000 in moving expenses and other benefits, saying Candland’s pay was set using a contract template that the borough approved in 2010.

The framework is based on guidelines from national and state municipal advisory agencies.

“We’re paying what the market is. We’re not paying above it or below it,” borough council President Perry Heath said Tuesday.

A national municipal association agrees. Wages to be paid the 46-year-old Candland are on target for managers in towns the size of Carlisle, according to a 2011 report by the International County/City Management Association.

Based on 2009 data gathered by The Patriot-News, there were just four midstate municipal managers making $100,000 or more.

Yet Michele Frisby, spokeswoman for the International County/City Management Association, said… http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/06/municipal_salaries_carlisle_bo.html

[20120620 Candland will move into Carlisle manager ofc]

*****

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Melissa Maynard Stateline: Short-staffed and budget-bare, overwhelmed state agencies are unable to keep up

After years of budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes, the everyday work of state government is piling up. This Stateline series examines what causes backlogs, who is hurt by them and how states can dig themselves out.

http://www.stateline.org/live/

Today: Agencies overwhelmed
Wednesday: Anatomy of a backlog
Thursday: How one agency overcame its backlog
Have your own backlog story? Tell us about it.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011

http://www.stateline.org/live/

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=618752

Short-staffed and budget-bare, overwhelmed state agencies are unable to keep up

By Melissa Maynard, Stateline Staff Writer

After years of budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs and hiring freezes, the everyday work of state government is piling up. This Stateline series examines what causes backlogs, who is hurt by them and how states can dig themselves out.

Today: Agencies overwhelmed

Wednesday: Anatomy of a backlog

Thursday: How one agency overcame its backlog

Have your own backlog story? Tell us about it.

On the face of it, the backlog the Hawaii Public Housing Authority is experiencing seems a simple matter of supply and demand. Some 11,000 families are on the authority’s waiting list, hoping against the odds that they can get one of only 6,295 public housing units. In a state where housing is notoriously expensive, the only people with a real shot at getting a unit are the homeless and survivors of domestic abuse. Even for them, the waiting can take years. “The waitlist is so extensive and the homeless problem is so great that a lot of people are getting preference over working families,” explains Nicholas Birck, chief planner for the Hawaii Public Housing Authority. “They never make it to the top.”

BACKLOGGED Part 2: Anatomy of a backlog

BACKLOGGED Part 1: Agencies overwhelmed

But there’s another, hidden problem at play in Hawaii’s housing backlog. Lately, the authority hasn’t had enough employees to manage turnover in vacant units. As a result, 310 homes have been sitting empty, even with all the people languishing in waitlist limbo. For many of the vacant units, all it would take is a few simple repairs and a little bit of administrative work to give a family a home — and get the authority’s backlog shrinking rather than growing.

The situation is a byproduct of big budget cuts in Hawaii and a hiring freeze that wasn’t lifted until earlier this year. A handful of employees in the housing authority’s property management office retired, and the hiring freeze made it impossible to fill the vacant positions. For a while, there was only one person overseeing the office’s far-flung portfolio spanning four islands. “It was a very difficult position for her to be in,” Birck says. Today, the office’s ranks are back up to six employees, but both the number of vacant units and the size of the waiting list have continued to grow since a state audit first brought attention to the issue in June.

Hawaii isn’t the only place where the everyday tasks of state government are piling up. A Stateline investigation found that agencies across the country are seeing growing backlogs of work, as increased demand for state services in a weak economy bumps up against the states’ efforts to cut their payroll costs. From public housing to crime labs, restaurant inspections to court systems, four years of layoffs, furloughs, hiring freezes and unfilled vacancies are beginning to take their toll. At its most benign, the result for taxpayers is a longer wait for things like marriage licenses or birth certificates. At its most dangerous, growing backlogs are threatening the lives of vulnerable children, elders and disabled persons, as overwhelmed protective services agencies face delays investigating reports of abuse and neglect.

The size of some backlogs growing in state government is staggering: Read more: http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=618752

This Stateline series examines what causes backlogs, who is hurt by them and how states can dig themselves out.

http://www.stateline.org/live/

The growing wait for state services

• Part 1: Agencies overwhelmed
• Part 2: Anatomy of a backlog
• Part 3: How one agency overcame its backlog

How states pass the pain to cities and counties

• Part 1: Budget cuts reduce state aid to localities
• Part 2: Property tax caps and their impact
• Part 3: California reshapes local roles and revenue streams

The year’s major developments in state capitals

• The impact of one-party rule
• Education cuts hit the classroom
• States lean on budget cuts, not tax hikes
• Overhauling health care
• A new era for state workers

Stateline's annual report

The stories »• The recession's impact
• Budget outlook
• The new Washington
• Health care costs
• Redistricting
• Party co

[20111213 Melissa Maynard Stateline Short staffed and budget bare]

*****

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

20070904 An answer to Mr. Duck’s question about Port Tobacco

An answer to Mr. Duck’s question about Port Tobacco

September 4^th, 2007

Dear Mr. Delusional Duck,

Of course, you are aware that there is no such thing as a silly question.

Although I have not dealt with Port Tobacco officials in recent years, to the best of my knowledge, Port Tobacco is still a functioning municipality with active government officials and an active government. I just called the executive director of the Maryland Municipal League, Scott Hancock and he confirmed it.

The current information on Port Tobacco can be found on the Maryland Municipal League web site, which can be found here: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/mmlhome/index.cfm

A brief description of Port Tobacco can be found here: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/cities/index.cfm?townname=PortTobacco&page=home

A link list for all Maryland municipalities can be found here: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/cities/citiesweb.cfm

Please save/bookmark the Maryland Municipal League web site address: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/mmlhome/index.cfm

For any questions about municipalities in the state of Maryland, the Maryland Municipal League (MML) should be your first stop.

If the information is not readily available on the web site, there are phone numbers on the web site for you to call a Maryland Municipal League staff member (http://www.mdmunicipal.org/about/staff.cfm) who you will find to be very much in the customer service business and will be very helpful and knowledgeable. They are a wonderful, friendly, and extraordinarily helpful group of folks.

Please find an overview of the organization here: http://www.mdmunicipal.org/about/overview.cfm

Briefly: The Maryland Municipal League, founded in 1936, works as a advocate for municipalities throughout the State of Maryland, strengthening the role and capacity of municipal government through research, legislation, technical assistance, training and the dissemination of information for its members.

MML is a statewide organization in Maryland composed solely of municipal officials.

The Maryland Municipal League represents 157 municipal governments and 2 special taxing districts throughout the state of Maryland. The MML is a voluntary, nonprofit, nonpartisan association controlled and maintained by city and town governments.

Disclosure: I served on the Maryland Municipal League Board of Directors annually for five consecutive years, from June 2000 to May 2005.

I graduated from the University of Maryland Academy for Excellence in Local Government in June 2001.

I served on the Maryland Municipal League’s Legislative Committee in 1999-2000 and 2001-2002.

I served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Carroll County Chapter of the Maryland Municipal League for five years (12/07/1999 – 05/16/2005).

I was first elected to the Westminster City Council in May of 1999 and served as the Mayor of Westminster from May 2001 until May 16th, 2005.]

Any additional questions – never hesitate to be in touch. Although I am no longer an elected municipal official, I remain passionate about the good work most local municipal government performs for the citizens we serve. I have not a clue as to why all urban concentrations are not incorporated. Local folks making decisions for local families is always the best way to preserve and protect quality of life and health, safety and welfare.

Thanks for all the great work on the blog. We were all happy for ya to get the attention of the Washington Post… “'Duck' Blog Spreads Its Wings in Charles” on August 26^th, 2007

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net

Posts on “Soundtrack” about the Maryland Municipal League: http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/search/label/Maryland%20Municipal%20League

Pasted here for your convenience are links for information on all of Maryland municipalities – on the MML web site:

A B C D E F G H I J K L

Chevy Chase Section 3

Chevy Chase Section 5

M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Monday, October 13, 2003

20031012 Councils standing up to county executives sun

http://www.sunspot.net/news/local/bal-te.ar.control12oct12,0,3775928.story?coll=bal-local-headlines

Across the suburbs, councils standing up to county executives

Miscommunication, tight finances inspire struggles over control

By Ryan Davis Sun Staff October 12, 2003

In Baltimore's largest suburban counties, where the county executives carry most of the clout, the counties' part-time councils are testing the limits of their power.

Anne Arundel County Council members, already complaining of being powerless, were shocked to learn this month that the county had hired a new $90,000-a-year manager for a position they didn't know existed.

They passed legislation Tuesday to prevent a recurrence.

Baltimore County Council members have sought the power to reject any new position proposed by the county executive, with whom they have clashed, and they derailed one of his top nominees.

Even in Howard County, where the council members say they are content with the status quo, the balance of power will be debated in the coming months.

Where the politicians have butted heads there are two common ingredients: communication troubles and tight finances.

"You get more of that sort of stuff during tough times," said Michael Sanderson, legislative director for the Maryland Association of Counties.

Most debates over the balance of power center on who controls the purse strings. Children learn in grade school how a bill becomes a law. It's basically the same everywhere.

But how a state or local government passes a budget is a different story. There's little uniformity, so there's room to fight about it.

It is generally accepted, Sanderson said, that Maryland's governor has the most budgetary authority of any in the United States. That power structure largely carries over to the executives in Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties, as well.

"The executives run the show, and the council is a policy-making body," said Victor Tervala, a consultant with the University of Maryland's Institute for Governmental Service.

It's different from the way local governments operate in many other states, where an appointed, full-time county manager runs the day-to-day government, but that manager must answer to the elected council members.

It also differs from the system used by most of the 17 smaller counties in Maryland. In counties such as Carroll, the powers of the executive and legislative branches are combined in a county commission.

And it's even different from more populous Montgomery County, where the council wields far more power.

In Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties, the executive develops a budget, the council reviews it and adopts it. But there is little the council can do to change it.

Battles for control, Sanderson said, typically focus on three issues:

 What the council can add and subtract from the county executive's proposed budget. Howard and Anne Arundel county councils can cut money from the budget and then add dollars back to the school board budget. Baltimore County's council can only cut.

 Position control, where the council has authority over not only how much money a county department gets, but also how many - and what type of - employees it gets. None of the three counties has this power, though Baltimore County sought it this year and Anne Arundel passed legislation seeking it Tuesday.

 Line-item veto, which allows the county executive to cut parts of a passed bill - a power that pertains to more than just budget issues. Only Anne Arundel's county executive has this power.

Though squabbling over control can turn public, as it has in Baltimore County, it often goes undetected.

Anne Arundel County Council members lamented last week that hundreds of residents will pack their chambers for a vote on new development. But only five people watched as they debated usurping some authority from County Executive Janet S. Owens.

"This is much more important," said Anne Arundel Republican Edward R. Reilly of Crofton.

The debate has not always followed partisan lines.

In Baltimore County, County Executive James T. Smith Jr. is a Democrat, and so are six of the seven council members. When the Anne Arundel County Council voted Tuesday to give itself increased oversight of Democrat Owens' budget, two of the council's three Democrats supported the bill.

Instead, budget and communication problems ignited power struggles. "In some circumstances the communication is not quite as good as it should be," said Anne Arundel County Councilman Ronald C. Dillon Jr., a Republican.

Tervala, the Maryland government consultant, said power struggles are typically personality-driven, and several former county executives agreed.

"I don't think the structure is nearly as important as the people involved and whether they have an earnest desire to make the system that exists work," said former Anne Arundel County Executive Robert R. Neall.

The friction can increase when there isn't much money to go around, said Sanderson of the counties association. If fewer programs are funded in a budget, it's more important to the politicians who decides what makes it into the spending plan, he said.

Council members in Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties have said their goal is to win more checks and balances on the size of government.

Owens' administration argued last week that by taking control of how many employees can work in a department, the part-time legislators on the council are trying to cross the line from policy-making into managing.

"On the one hand they're saying they don't want to micromanage, but this is micromanaging," Owens said.

Baltimore County's Smith declined to comment for this article, but he has said that giving the council control of each government position would be disastrous for efficiency.

Former Baltimore County Executive Donald P. Hutchinson said the stability of the region's county governments starts with having one person responsible for spending. And the county executive is the only politician accountable to all of the county's voters, not just one district.

"Generally speaking, everyone who runs for political office wants the power," Hutchinson said. "In some cases you want more power than the office is supposed to have."

In Howard, the county is entering its charter review process, which occurs every eight years. One proposal would give County Executive James N. Robey line-item veto power in exchange for allowing the council to add to the budget in more areas than education.

However, County Council members said they are not seeking change.

Council Chairman Guy Guzzone said the council has occasional miscommunication with Robey, but said, "It shouldn't lead to governmental structure changes just because you have a gripe because you didn't hear about something from the executive."

Baltimore County has weighed structural change this year. The council members, most of whom adopted former County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger's "teamwork" approach, said they have experienced repeated communication problems with Smith, a former judge in his first year as executive.

Councilman T. Bryan McIntire said Smith hasn't changed his style from that of a judge who makes decisions without consulting others.

The friction began, McIntire said, before Smith took office. Voters passed a council-backed referendum last year that has forced Smith to seek council approval of his appointees and their salaries.

Smith's nominee for his No. 2 post withdrew from consideration after the County Council complained about her and her proposed $140,000 salary.
Relations got worse when the council made what Smith called a naked power grab that would limit his ability to hire.

The council backed away when Smith agreed to provide a quarterly report on who is making what. But if that report proves insufficient, council members McIntire and Stephen G. Samuel Moxley said, they will revive the issue.

The power struggle has moved beyond control over the budget. The most recent hot issue is whether Smith should be allowed to appoint Orioles principal owner Peter G. Angelos to the county's Revenue Authority board.

In several ways, Anne Arundel's council is following Baltimore County's lead in seeking more power. But the Anne Arundel council may reach further.

The issue emerged in

Annapolis after the county endured a tumultuous budget process this spring. The administration surprised the council, telling its members what officials had known for months: A new law enforcement communications system had more than doubled in price from $15 million to $35 million.

Even though the council made budget cuts to avoid Owens' proposed pay freeze, she laid off 18 employees while keeping money in contingency accounts. Though several council members disagreed, they were powerless to stop her from doing so.

That prompted a council push for a charter amendment next year that would allow the council to cut from one part of the budget and add to any other.

Then, last month, Anne Arundel County hired John P. O'Connor, former secretary of the state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, as an assistant personnel manager. Before hiring O'Connor, the county reclassified the vacant position into a higher salary range, paying $90,000 a year. The Owens administration said the council should have been aware of the change, but council members insist they weren't.

Citing O'Connor's hiring as an example of unchecked spending, the council voted Tuesday to give itself more control. Under the passed legislation, Owens would need council approval to reconfigure or increase staffing.

The bill's sponsors, Reilly in particular, said they wanted to spark a philosophical debate. Instead, it turned into a yelling match between the council's vice chairman and the county's budget officer.

"Simmer down," council Chairwoman Cathleen M. Vitale told them.

But even though the bill passed, the county executive says she will not only veto it, she is also exploring if it was legal for the council to pass such a bill.

"You've got so many elected officials," Owens said. "They all want to be county executive, and I think they all should run."

Copyright © 2003, The Baltimore Sun