The day after a controversial new Harford County Council security policy was publicly unveiled that shocked some county residents and council members, the policy was still in effect and still being questioned even as Richard Slutzky, the new council president who introduced it, tried to move on.
During Tuesday night's council meeting, Slutzky defended the new policy, which essentially bars citizens or the news media from approaching council members at the dais after meetings end, which people have done since charter government came to the county in 1972. He said the change was necessitated by security concerns; however, the county's former sheriff says nothing of the sort was proposed by him.
Two council members who were just elected, Mike Perrone and Curtis Beulah, seemed taken aback by the policy, as did Chad Shrodes, who is beginning his ninth year. All three stressed Tuesday they would be available to the press and public.
Slutzky was not immediately available for comment Wednesday afternoon, and Sherrie Johnson, the new council spokesperson, who announced the policy to the media Monday evening, said Slutzky had already explained his concerns about the possibility of terrorism or attacks on the council.
"He [Slutzky] has addressed it, he has explained it," Johnson said Wednesday. "We are not going to keep going over it."
Slutzky and two other returning council members, Jim McMahan and Joe Woods, have all suggested the policy is coming from the Sheriff's Office, which provides deputies as security for council meetings and to man the metal detectors used to screen visitors.
"Security concerns are not dictated by this council. They're orchestrated by law enforcement and we see that at all levels of government," McMahan said during Tuesday's meeting.
That view has been refuted by former Sheriff Jesse Bane and by the administration of new Sheriff Jeff Gahler, who like Slutzky and the rest of the County Council, took office on Dec. 1.
The Sheriff's Office does not create or write policy for the council, spokeswoman Cristie Kahler said via email Wednesday.
"We engage in dialogue about certain safety considerations, and make suggestions on how to minimize threats to the safety of the Council and the constituents," she said.
The council security deputies have not had to handle any serious or dangerous incidents, she said, adding "there are currently no known threats to council members or proceedings."
Bane, who lost November's election to Gahler, said Wednesday afternoon that while security at the council building has been discussed, "there was nothing that we had ever talked about approaching the dais."
Bane said he met with the council several years ago to talk about building security.
"This was a result of some incidents that had gotten headlines, about elected officials that had been attacked nationwide," he said, noting there were no such incidents in Harford.
He said the discussions included stepping up security when "we knew there might be trouble" during larger crowds at the chambers, but the new approachability policy for general meetings "does not sound like anything" that had been discussed.
Bane also said there were no investigations of threats made against any council members during his tenure, although he recalled "a couple of times when someone walked up to the dais during the meeting."
Former councilwoman Mary Ann Lisanti said Wednesday that she did not want to second guess the new council's decisions, but said she felt safe after the installation of a metal detector and the inclusion of armed deputies several years ago. Lisanti left the council after eight years this month, following her election to the Maryland House of Delegates.
She had not heard of the new security policy and said no such discussion came up during her time on the council.
"I would just offer caution to the council that we are public servants and we get into this business to expose ourselves to the public, and it's always a balance of what times are appropriate [to have more security], so I do understand that," Lisanti said.
Nevertheless, she added, "during my time, there were security issues, and I felt that we addressed them appropriately with the security measures of the deputies there and the metal detector."
"I always felt safe with the deputies there," she added.
The county's new director of administration, Billy Boniface, who was president of the two previous councils, did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
Several residents spoke out against the policy at Tuesday night's council meeting or wondered where it came from.
Vicki Seitzinger, of Abingdon, said the recent inauguration "re-instilled in me a sense of civic pride" and she had thought "you guys are pretty approachable." But now, she added, she found she had to go through a spokesperson "who makes sure no embarrassing talking points" get through.
She also said the council is now free to walk away if "angry citizens come to express their frustration over a big box store" or other issues.
"Has there been a rash of attempts on your lives and security, gentlemen?" Seitzinger asked. "What will happen if, in spite of this policy, I approach the dais?"
"You've made yourself employees that need not answer in any meaningful way," she added.
Bill Wehland, of Bel Air, who frequently attends council meetings, predicted a slippery slope.
"It wouldn't surprise me if this council, the way you're acting now, if your next step is to eliminate No. 18 [on the agenda], 'comments from attending citizens,' and then the public will never be able to voice their opinions," he said.
Morita Bruce, another citizen who regularly attends council meetings, said she finds it "somewhat unnerving" that the council seems to feel that two or three sheriff deputies, who provide security at the meetings and whom Bruce called "very capable," and a metal detector "can't keep this room safe."
Bruce added the council meetings are the main opportunity many citizens have to talk with their representatives.
"This meeting is really our chance to talk to you and with you about various issues," she said, noting she is "glad to hear some of you plan to come out into the audience."
She also asked the council to consider removing a requirement that people sign up before the meeting starts if they want to speak, which she said is a further barrier to citizen participation.