Council members discussed a resolution that would set up a work group to look into expanding its size during a work session Tuesday. Advocates have pushed for the council to expand in light of the county’s population growth. According to census data, Baltimore County is one of the state’s most populous jurisdictions, with more than 850,000 people.
The Baltimore County Council is composed of seven members each representing hundreds of thousands of residents. Todd Crandell, a Dundalk Republican, is the sole councilman who has not sponsored the resolution. He explained why in an interview with WYPR.
“My office has served our district very well for the past nine years,” said Crandell. “We're not overwhelmed. We've won two re-elections. If we weren't serving our constituency well, then our election results would have shown that. I don't buy the argument that the county has grown so much that one district council member cannot serve the 125,000 people that we serve.”
Linda-Dorsey Walker, chair of VOTE4MORE! has pushed for council expansion since 2001. She said doing so could yield more diverse candidates. “There are so many people in Baltimore County that aren't represented in any sizable numbers or in some cases at all.”
Those people include white women, minorities, young people, disabled, LGBTQ, New Americans, said Dorsey Walker. She told council members to ‘put both questions on the ballot’ — i.e. scale up to 9 or 11 seats — instead of creating a 16-member work group. The question can be put on the ballot with a petition drive or if five Councilmembers agree.
If the resolution passes, the work group would have the following structure and make recommendations by the end of March:
- Three appointees from the County Executive;
- One appointee from each member of the County Council;
- One representative appointed by the County Council from the Baltimore County Planning Board;
- One representative appointed by the County Council from an area college or university with expertise in political science or government;
- One representative appointed by the County Council with expertise in demographics; and
- Two ex-officio members, with one member designated by the County Executive and one member designated by the County Council to staff the Workgroup, both of whom shall not have voting rights.
The county council is expected to vote on the work group’s creation, Oct 16.