A four-member majority of the incoming Anne Arundel County Council met yesterday at the Glen Burnie law offices of council member Cathleen M. Vitale to discuss the next four years, including ways to check County Executive Janet S. Owens.

Vitale, a Republican who is expected to be elected chairwoman when the seven-member panel convenes for its first official meeting Dec. 2, organized the meeting.

Vitale said she intended the meeting to be private, but when reporters from The Sun and The Capital learned about it, she invited them to attend.

"It just seemed like a good idea to talk," Vitale said, referring to the council's new GOP-majority. Two council incumbents lost races Nov. 5. Voters also elected a successor to council member John J. Klocko III, who died in an automobile accident last month.

The council's noon gathering did not violate state public meetings law because two of the four attendees - Republicans Edward R. Reilly and Ron Dillon Jr. - have not been inaugurated, said Assistant Attorney General Jack Schwartz, who also serves as counsel to the state's Open Meetings Compliance Board.

It takes four sitting council members to convene an official meeting.

Besides Reilly, Dillon and Vitale, council member Barbara D. Samorajczyk, an Annapolis Democrat, also attended the session.

'Everyone is anxious'

Council Chairman Bill D. Burlison and Councilwoman Pamela G. Beidle, who were re-elected Nov. 5, and council member-elect C. Edward Middlebrooks also were invited, but did not attend the meeting, Vitale said. Burlison is a Democrat; Beidle and Middlebrooks are Republicans.

"Everyone is anxious to have this council get along," Vitale said.

The four incoming council members who attended yesterday's meeting did touch on how they would run the government.

During the two-hour meeting, they talked a lot about ways to improve council relations - the past four years were punctuated with frequent spats. They said they hope not to ostracize fellow council members over political or legislative issues.

'Stick together'

The incoming council members also talked about serving as a strong sounding board for policies and programs introduced by the Owens administration. Owens, a Millersville Democrat, has been criticized for lining up votes on the council to meet her campaign goals.

"If we stick together, then we are not going to be marginalized," said Samorajczyk, who has sparred with Owens.

Council members are well aware that Owens controls the budget. Council members can only cut the budget - not add to it. They said yesterday that they hope to work with Owens to make sure that their priority projects receive funding in the 2003-2004 spending plan.

"At least for now, everyone wants to work together to make sure that we get our goals met," Dillon said.

Owens - who was out of town yesterday and not available for comment - has also talked of making peace with the council. Recently, she sent council members personal notes of congratulations for winning the election.

Owens, who beat GOP challenger Phillip D. Bissett by about 6,000 votes, has also stated that she hopes to work with the legislative body, not against it.