Hoping to engender a spirit of bipartisanship and heal the county's north-south rift, the County Council last night elected Republican Diane R. Evans of Arnold chairman and Democrat George F. Bachman of Linthicum vice chairman.
The election of officers came as this council convened for the first time. Earlier in the day, the seven members took the oath of office in the council chambers at the Arundel Center in Annapolis.
In electing Ms. Evans and Mr. Bachman as its officers, the novice council, with five of seven members beginning their first four-year terms, bowed to the experience offered by the only two members returning from the previous council.
Although the council has a four-member Republican majority for the first time since it was created by charter in 1965, it turned to Mr. Bachman for the vice chairmanship. Ms. Evans said she pushed Mr. Bachman as vice chairman, partly to include a north county representative in the leadership and partly because he is a council veteran.
"George has a wealth of experience. He gets along with everybody. He knows the process. He knows the issues," she said.
Accepting her election as chairman, Ms. Evans promised to foster open communication between council members and a spirit of cooperation even though there may be differences of opinion. She vowed to work against a repeat of the north county-south county strife that followed the decision to locate the new detention center in Glen Burnie.
Finally, she promised to streamline the offices of the County Council and the county auditor. Ms. Evans clashed frequently with Joseph H. Novotny, the former auditor who retired last week, accusing him of being influenced too much by political considerations in making his recommendations.
One of Ms. Evans' first moves, even before her election as chairman, was to see that Mr. Novotny's assistant, Veronica Mixter, was fired. Ms. Mixter left the auditor's office Dec. 1, the same day that Mr. Novotny's resignation took effect.
Ms. Evans said Ms. Mixter's position will not be filled and she will seek to have it eliminated during the budget deliberations in May.
Other cost-cutting moves include eliminating two cars from the council's legislative staff.
In Mr. Novotny's place, Teresa Sutherland, an assistant auditor, was appointed by the council as acting auditor last night.
The auditor keeps track of fiscal matters for the council.
Ms. Evans said the council will conduct a search for a new auditor and expects to hire somebody within the next several months.
Ms. Sutherland has expressed interest in applying for the position, Ms. Evans said.
In the previous council, Ms. Evans was one of two Republicans and she clashed with Mr. Novotny, accusing him of "serving more as a power broker than an auditor." She said he skewed his advice to fit the will of the Democratic majority on the seven-member council.
"You can count to four [votes], I can count to four," Ms. Evans said during a heated exchange in September 1993. "And if I can count to four, why do I need your assistance with anything?"
She also criticized Mr. Novotny for not advising the council to vote against a 1989 bill that enhanced pension benefits for appointed and elected officials that will cost the county millions of dollars to cover new unfunded pension liabilities.
At last night's meeting, Ms. Evans made no mention of their conflicts, merely thanking the absent Mr. Novotny for his service to the county.
"I wish him well in his retirement," she said.
other appointments, the council unanimously voted to retain Glen Burnie attorney Atwood B. Tate as legislative counsel and Judy C. Holmes as administrative officer.