During his first few weeks in office, Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger has displayed more of a commitment to the idea of regionalism than his predecessor, Roger Hayden, showed in his four-year term.
The week before Christmas, Mr. Ruppersberger held what he called "outreach" meetings with Anne Arundel County Executive John Gary, State Sen.-elect Delores Kelly of the city-county 10th Legislative District, Baltimore Councilwoman Rikki Spector, State Senate President Mike Miller and David Bliden, the executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties. A key theme of these discussions was finding regional approaches to solid-waste disposal, crime-fighting and improving public education.
The week before that, Mr. Ruppersberger gave a pep talk to the Baltimore County legislative delegation on the importance of their being boosters of their increasingly needy jurisdiction during General Assembly sessions. Tellingly, he sought to make delegation members based in the city and Howard County feel that they are as important to this team effort as are their colleagues from Baltimore County -- a philosophy not shared by all Baltimore County legislators, to their discredit.
Even before these recent developments, Mr. Ruppersberger was good bet to pick up the fallen banner of regionalism. The indicators included his experience as a MACO official -- the organization of which he will become president in early 1996 -- and his background as a city native turned county resident who knows full well that a sickly Baltimore means a weak heart for the entire metropolitan region. It's particularly significant that this be understood by the chief executive of Baltimore County, the subdivision that envelops the city and inherits more of its problems by the day. Small wonder Mr. Ruppersberger was so pleased that Baltimore will receive coveted empowerment-zone funding from Washington.
Progress toward active regionalism cannot be made without serious input from most, if not all, of the chief executives in the metro area. But prospects are much improved with Mr. Ruppersberger advocating regional cooperation from the bully pulpits of the Baltimore County executive's office and, later, the MACO presidency. He deserves credit for his willingness to take on the task, especially given the fact that less courageous officials consider regionalism political poison. We encourage Mr. Ruppersberger to carry the banner as far as he is able.