Ending his first disagreement with the County Council, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. agreed yesterday to submit as interim appointments the names of the top managers he has held over from the Ruppersberger administration.

For its part, the council has agreed to renew the 60-day appointments as many times as necessary until Smith decides whether he wants to keep the top managers permanently.

Both sides declared victory and said the compromise is evidence that they are establishing a strong cooperative relationship. But the subtext of the disagreement was the council's effort to establish a strong position for itself as a check to the power of the executive.

"I think the bigger picture here is that the executive appears to be recognizing that the council wants to exercise its oversight role as an independent branch of government," said Councilman Kevin Kamenetz, a Pikesville-Ruxton Democrat who is expected to be elected council chairman next week.

The squabble stemmed from a charter amendment approved by voters last month that gives the executive the power to appoint department heads and the council the power to approve or reject them.

Council members contended that department heads had no legal authority to do their jobs after the amendment took effect Thursday unless they were confirmed or recognized as interim appointments, which are valid for 60 days without approval.

Smith said last week that he was willing to send the council names of incumbent department heads for confirmation if he intended to keep them on permanently. But he said the interim appointment route was legally unnecessary and would put him under pressure to make personnel decisions, said his spokeswoman, Elise Armacost.

Smith maintains the law doesn't require interim appointments, but the council's agreement to extend them at the executive's request allays his practical concerns, Armacost said.

"It became not that big of a deal," she said.

The argument itself was largely over a technicality -- Smith always recognized the council's right to confirm his choices, though he opposed the amendment when it was proposed, and the council always recognized Smith's need to take time naming department heads.

"I don't blame him about taking the time in making the final decisions," said Councilman T. Bryan McIntire, a north county Republican. "He's going to be judged by the people he surrounds himself with and the jobs they do."

However, Kamenetz said, if the council believes Smith is using interim appointments to avoid seeking confirmations, it can refuse an extension.