As the 1994 County Council settled in for its first week in office, it faced the resignations of two key employees -- Council ,, Attorney Edward Andrews and Council Auditor Michael Treherne as well as some hard feelings over the assignments of committee memberships and office space.
Mr. Andrews offered his resignation Tuesday night at the first meeting of the new council. Citing "philosophical differences with some of the members of this newly constituted council," he said he did not feel that he could serve them "in a manner required as an adviser and attorney."
He urged the panel to continue to work for controlled growth and development "in spite of personal agendas and promises you made, or you will surely answer to the wrath of an unforgetting and unforgiving electorate."
Mr. Andrews had run for the District C council seat in the Democratic primary on a managed-growth platform, but he lost to John Haggerty, who lost in the general election to Republican Mark S. Decker. Mr. Andrews then openly supported Democrat Theresa M. Pierno in the general election against Joanne S. Parrott, who won the council presidency by 1,400 votes.
Mr. Andrews, who has been council attorney since 1991, said he thought that he could better serve the interests of the county now "from the outside, as a citizen activist and a watchdog" of local government.
"And, rest assured, I will be there," he told the council.
Mr. Treherne, the council's first auditor, resigned in a short letter to Acting Council Secretary James Vannoy Monday. His annual contract was due to expire June 30, 1995.
Mr. Treherne said later he thought that he, too, might better serve his community as an "outsider" to government.
"My wife and I campaigned actively for Theresa Pierno and Ed Andrews, and our line of thinking closely follows theirs," he said.
Mr. Treherne said he was a citizen activist before he became the council's auditor in 1993, and he wants to continue to be vocal about his opinions.
"And, while no one has told me not to do that, I'd rather not do it while in the role of council auditor," he said.
He was retained by the council on an annual contract and paid by the hour. He was instrumental in the council's annual budget approval process each spring and annually reviewed the audit of county finances conducted by an outside accounting firm at the end of each fiscal year.
The resignations came as three new and three returning council members jockeyed for positions under Mrs. Parrott's command as council representatives on advisory boards and commissions.
By the time Tuesday's meeting was called to order, nominations for a dozen appointments, scripted in advance and suggesting political paybacks, were put up for a vote.
The appointments were approved swiftly in a 6-0 vote, with District A Councilwoman Susan B. Heselton abstaining.
Mrs. Heselton, who supported Mrs. Pierno for the council presidency, was nowhere to be found on the list of committee appointments.
"All of my favorite jobs have been taken away from me," the council woman said later. She had been the council's liaison to the Board of Library Trustees, the Health Planning Commission and the Economic Development Advisory Board during her previous term.
Mrs. Heselton said she told Mrs. Parrott shortly after the election that she would like to remain on those committees and expressed interest in being on the council's personnel committee.
But on Tuesday, the council approved Veronica Chenowith of District B for the library board, Mark Decker of District C for the economic development board and Mitch Shank of District F for the health board.
The panel also approved District E Councilman Robert S. Wagner to continue as the council's liaison to the sheriff's office, Board of Social Services and Detention Center Advisory Board.
Mrs. Parrott said Mrs. Heselton was replaced because other council people had expressed interest in joining those committees and that no one else had expressed interest in Mr. Wagner's positions.
She noted that "this can only happen by majority vote" and said there still are several more committee assignments to be made in the near future.
The council also approved District D Councilman Barry Glassman for a one-year term as council vice president; approved Mrs. Parrott as the council's representative to the Maryland Association of Counties' legislative committee; and approved a council personnel committee of Mrs. Parrott, Mr. Decker and Mr. Glassman. The personnel committee will be instrumental in hiring a new attorney, auditor and council secretary.
While some board assignments were settled Tuesday, a far more embarrassing battle over office assignments, with Mrs. Heselton again at the center of it, continued to rage.
Mrs. Parrott issued a memo two weeks ago assigning offices to council members, but Mrs. Heselton has refused to move out of the office she took over when Mrs. Pierno moved out.
The District A representative says she moved out of the office she had shared with Mr. Wagner for four years and into the vacant office shortly after the election with the permission of the acting council secretary and because Mr. Wagner wanted his own office.
But Mrs. Parrott's memo several days later ordered her to Mr. Glassman's former, smaller office down the hall and assigned Mr. Glassman to Mrs. Pierno's old office.
Mrs. Parrott said she rearranged the offices, which meant doubling up full-time staffers such as the assistant attorney and the legislative writer, in an attempt to give every council member his or her private space.
"It's unfortunate that she's unhappy," the president said of Mrs. Heselton.
Mrs. Heselton said she wouldn't mind sharing an office, but she wants access to the data processing line so she can use her personal computer. That's not possible from the office to which she has been assigned, she said.
She sent a memo to Mrs. Parrott defying anyone to touch her personal property.
By week's end, Mrs. Heselton's desk and computer remained in the old Pierno office, but her phone and file cabinet had been moved to Mr. Glassman's former space.
Mr. Glassman's desk had been moved to the larger office, but his credenza and chairs remained behind, along with boxes of his belongings.
"This is ridiculous. I'm just trying to stay out of the fray," Mr. Glassman said Friday, admitting that he had requested a new "window" office.
"The fact is, when you win, your allies are going to get the spoils of victory. That's basic politics," he said. "If the election had been the other way around, I might have ended up in a broom closet. I would have been unhappy, but I would have boxed my things up and moved. I would not have been a squatter."
In less contentious business Tuesday, the council:
* Heard County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann introduce the department heads in her administration, who must be confirmed by the County Council. For the most part, Mrs. Rehrmann plans to keep the administration intact, although Director of Procurement John O'Neill, who has been named interim warden by Sheriff Joseph P. Meadows, did not attend the meeting.
The executive also has not yet named replacements for Planning Director William Carroll, who resigned last month, or Parks and Recreation Director Robert Staab, who will leave later this month to join the administration of Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger III.
* Approved five appointments by Mrs. Rehrmann to the advisory Board on Aging. The appointees are Sylvia G. Tarnove, Dolores S. Kovalchick, Michele F. Bellantoni, Patricia Ward Tanner and the Rev. Thomas L. Fender. Their terms will expire Sept. 30, 1997.