Baltimore County's newly elected delegates got their first lesson in the parliamentary arts this week from some Eastside veterans.
The lesson, delivered with quick precision at a county delegation meeting called in Annapolis Tuesday, was simply: If you can't have what you want, block what you don't want.
The delegation had met Nov. 22 in Towson and voted to deny full voting privileges to six Baltimore City-based delegates who represent more than 30,000 county residents. But, instead of reversing that vote at Tuesday's meeting as they intended, the new delegates suddenly found themselves voting unanimously to table the matter.
That left the group on record as recommending that only one vote be granted to each group of three delegates from the 46th and 42nd districts.
Redistricting left both districts covering small portions of the county -- together totaling about one-third the population of a full district.
Del. John S. Arnick of Dundalk, first elected in 1967, and 20-yeaDel. Michael H. Weir of Essex oppose giving city-based delegates a full vote, and said the tabling of the topic helped their position by preventing a reversal of the November recommendation. "At least it delays a decision," Mr. Weir said.
The city delegates, who want a full vote in county delegation meetings, said they were pleased that the topic at least came up a second time and that they got a chance to speak. They had been excluded from the November meeting.
Del. Cornell N. Dypski, who represents East Baltimore and Dundalk, argued against the one-vote per district plan and said both jurisdictions would benefit by allowing the six city delegates full voting privileges.
"We're representing two subdivisions," Mr. Dypski said. "I don't know how we can vote one-third, one-third, one-third. This adds strength to Baltimore City and Baltimore County when it comes to bucks coming out of the state."
New Dels.-elect Michael J. Finifter and Dr. Dan K. Morhaim of the 11th District, the main proponents of a re-vote, said they went along with the tabling motion because they didn't want to force a fight within the delegation on what may be moot anyway. "It's a tempest in a teapot," Dr. Morhaim said later.
Mr. Finifter said the move to table took him by surprise, and he was uncertain how to proceed. "I've got to read up on Robert's Rules of Order," he said.
The final say on a statewide policy for cross-delegation voting will come in January in a vote by the full House of Delegates after the General Assembly opens, House Speaker Casper Taylor said. Mr. Taylor said he will have the House Rules Committee begin considering options within two weeks.
Many veteran county legislators were grumbling about redistricting after the 1990 census that created five districts crossing the city-county line. They felt the city was being helped politically at the county's expense.
Three districts, the 42nd, 46th and 47th, are city-based, while the 8th and the 10th are mostly in the county.
The 47th District is divided into subdistricts, with one delegate voting in the county and two in the city and is not an issue in the squabbling. Baltimore County's 6th and 12th districts spill over into Harford and Howard County, respectively.
Mr. Finifter began his efforts to overturn the November vote with a motion to reverse it and give the six city-based delegates a full vote each.
"I heard from people in the 42nd District who said, 'I voted for three delegates and now they would only have one vote,' " Mr. Finifter said.
Mr. Arnick immediately challenged the motion, arguing that it violates the principle of one-man, one vote. Currently, each of Maryland's legislative districts contains about 100,000 people, represented by one state senator and three delegates.
Del. Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick of Dundalk, the delegation chairman, asked why would it be fair for Del. Thomas E. Dewberry of Catonsville to have one vote in the county delegation for the 33,000 people in his one-delegate 47B subdistrict, if three city-based delegates who represent 10,000 Dundalk residents will have three votes?
Mr. Finifter, who never had a chance to finish stating his arguments, said the county's state senators have voted to give their city-based colleagues full voting privileges, and that Howard County's delegates have done the same for new Dels. James E. Malone Jr. and Donald E. Murphy, whose 12A District extends from Baltimore County into Elkridge and Ellicott City.
"Why not be inclusive?" he said.