Part 8 of this series covered the Howard County Council’s first exercise in drawing council district lines. We now turn to how that effort affected the 1986 council elections, the first in which council members were elected by districts:1 February–April 1986. The council once again approves the final district lines, this time via a council resolution rather than a bill, limiting the effect of any petition drive to put the plan to a referendum and ensuring that the 1986 elections will be held on a district basis. Council member Lloyd Knowles calls it “the worst vote ever taken by the council” and walks out of the meeting.2 ...

My last two posts were all about me, so I wanted to switch gears and wish a Happy New Year to all of the local Howard County bloggers and other local media mavens it’s been my privilege to read and (in many cases) meet: To 53 Beers on Tap: May your blog overflow with comments, none of which need to be deleted. To Child Psych: May your diagnoses be perceptive and your treatments efficacious. ...

In my previous post I reviewed my Howard County-related blog posts in 2010. Now it’s time for a sneak preview of 2011. First, I will definitely continue doing Howard County blogging in the coming year (though I can’t guarantee any particular frequency), if for no other reason than to be able to go to local blogger events and not shame myself as a lazy imposter. The size of my audience is irrelevant, as I’m taking the advice of Nathan Marz: “you should blog even if you have no readers.” In particular I’m a big fan of “learning by writing,” so I’ll probably be doing a fair amount of blogging where I’ll have no idea what I’m talking about at the beginning of a post (but hopefully not by the end). ...

This is the week for everyone to do “looking back at 2010” reviews, and I’m no exception. I thought this would be a good time to review my past year (really, past seven months) of blogging on Howard County topics, including presenting some site statistics and gathering in one place links to the various multi-part series of posts I’ve done. In 2010 I did a total of 60 blog posts (not counting this one), of which 57 were focused on Howard County (more or less). I didn’t actually post anything Howard County-related until May 19 (day 139), so in reality I did 57 Howard County posts over 226 days, or one post every four days. Obviously I’m never going to be a post-per-day (much less multiple-posts-per-day) blogger in the mold of HoCo Rising or Wordbones; however given that I write pretty long posts and do a fair amount of research for each one, one post every four days is actually much better that I thought I’d do. ...

1985 was a busy year in Howard County Council districting news, so busy I’m having to split it into two parts. Part 7 covered the creation and public unveiling of various proposed district plans, starting with Plans A, B, and C, and continuing with Plan F. We pick up the story in the fall:1 November 1985. The county council holds public hearings on the three proposed district maps, ahead of the December date C. Vernon Gray had previously mooted; 32 people testify. The Columbia Council and other Columbians ask that all of Columbia’s villages be included in the proposed Columbia districts, and not be split between districts. David Marker of the Columbia Democratic Club notes that in practice this would be difficult, and recommends the council adopt a variant of Plan E; Angela Beltram of the Ellicott City Democratic Club offers a similar proposal. Republicans still favor a variant of Plan F. ...

As we concluded part 6 of this series proponents of electing Howard County Council members by districts had finally achieved their goal of amending the county charter to require election by districts. In this post we’ll see how the council went about its appointed task of drawing up council district lines. Yes, I realize that I’m now at part 7 and am just now getting to the ostensible topic of this history. So, no more delays: ...

In part 5 of this series nothing much happened in relation to actually doing something about council districts (as opposed to just talking about their potential effect, as in the case of Charles Feaga’s unsuccessful 1982 council bid). In this post “doing something” moves to the fore. 1983. The council district controversy continues to attract attention. Attorney C. William Michaels uses one of his weekly Baltimore Sun “County Counsel” columns to make the case against council districts: “[Districts] would not solve the problem of urban-rural rivalry, but only crystallize and intensify it. . . . Columbia and Howard county are inextricably intertwined. . . . Columbia residents are hard to convince about . . . the interests they should have in preserving [the county’s] unique and very special mix of urban, rural, and suburban life. Columbia residents need to be convinced of this rather than being given up for lost.” He proposes resurrecting the idea of incorporating Columbia, to “give Columbia its own power base, and its own political spokesperson”.1 ...

In part 4 of this series proponents of Howard County Council districts failed to get a referendum on the ballot in the November 1980 general election. In this post the council district controversy provides the backdrop for Howard County politics in the early 1980s. (Readers of this series should also check out the comments from Ken Stevens on part 1 and part 3 for some informative insights from someone who was involved in the events in question.) ...

Thursday I happened to be in the vicinity of the Miller branch of the Howard County Library system at the time of the “topping out” ceremony for the new Charles E. Miller Branch and Historical Center being constructed next to it. I’d read about the ceremony in the morning while reading news feeds on my phone (a waking-up ritual for me) and thought it might be interesting to stop by. Fortunately I was dressed appropriately for a somewhat muddy construction site (unlike some of the local politicians who were present). I listened to the speeches, took some photos with my phone, signed the beam myself, and watched it be hoisted into place. ...

In part 3 of this series Columbia’s new-found political power was tested in a referendum in 1976 on a proposal to expand the Howard County Council from five to seven members and elect all members by districts instead of at large. The referendum failed, but a Maryland constitutional amendment left the door open to further attempts. On with our story: 1977. After electing a Columbia-dominated county council and beating back an attempt to move to council districts, Columbians celebrate the tenth birthday of the new town. Columbia’s population exceeds 45,000 (more than the entire population of Howard County in 1960), and is well-educated and affluent (averaging over $25,000 per year in family income, almost double the national median household income).1 ...