New Harford council district map would also move two school board members

Two Harford school board members could be pushed out of their districts if the new councilmanic district map proposed by the Harford County Council last week is approved.

A 2009 state law that established Harford's partially elected and partially appointed nine-member board of education, requires that each of the six elected members must live in and be elected from one of the six county council districts.

Under the council redistricting plan introduced at the Oct. 19 council meeting, school board member and Abingdon resident Cassandra Beverley, who lives in council District B, would be moved into the new District E, which includes the city of Aberdeen and nearby areas.

Board member and Joppa resident Robert Frisch, who lives in council District A, would be moved to the new District B, which covers mostly the Fallston and Abingdon areas but will pick up his home precinct in Joppa.

Beverley and Frisch were elected to the school board last November, as was Rick Grambo, who represents the northern county District D. Grambo will not be affected by the proposed council district map.

Three additional school board members, representing council districts C in greater Bel Air, E and F in greater Havre de Grace, will be elected for the first time in 2014, while the three existing members will also be required to stand for re-election if they want to continue on the board.

If the new council district map is approved, the new districts would not take effect until the next county election in 2014, Maryland Attorney General's Office spokesman David Paulson said Monday.

The council's map differs somewhat from one proposed earlier this fall by a three-member redistricting commission the council appointed last spring in accordance with the county charter. The charter, however, also gives the council the option of adopting a final plan different from what is recommended by its own commission.

Neither the commission's plan nor the council's plan would have placed any of the six district council members, four Republicans and two Democrats, in the same districts for 2014, but two members, Mary Ann Lisanti, a Democrat representing District F, and Dick Slutzky, a Republican representing District E, were not happy with some of the changes that were proposed to their districts by the commission.

Whether the alternative district alignment proposed by the council gave any consideration to its a potential impact current school board members is difficult to judge.

When the commission submitted its recommendations to the council, Ben Lloyd, its chairman, said the panel took into consideration that council districts are also school board districts.

But Councilman Joe Woods, who represents District B, said he does not care about how the maps affect the school board.

"That was the least of my thoughts," Woods said. "They [school board members] didn't look at the councilmanic districts when they redistricted [the schools]… I never paid any attention to it."

Council President Billy Boniface declined to comment on the issue Monday, saying that his policy remains not to discuss redistricting before the public hearing on the council's plan, which is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 15.

Beverley and Frisch did not respond to requests for comment in time for this article.

The new plan would move nine precincts: 1-02 Joppa-Magnolia from District A to B; 1-07 Winters Run from District A to B; 1-10 Abingdon from District F to A; 1-13 Abingdon from District B to F; 1-15 Constant Friendship from District B to A; 3-13 Bel Air from District C to B; 3-19 Bel Air from District E to C; 3-24 Frogtown from District C to D; and 6-05 Aberdeen from District F to E.

Frisch lives in 1-02, while Beverley lives in 1-13, according to the Harford County Board of Elections.

Follow this developing story at http://www.exploreharford.com or in upcoming print editions of The Aegis.