County Council's Diversity in Question

The situation surrounding the 's open seat continues to broil as council members fail to act on a replacement.

A columnist at The Baltimore Sun recently discussed the need for diversity on the council and what he deemed an embarrassing failure to make an appointment. The seat was last held by Daryl Jones of Severn, the only African-American member.

The question of diversity is now revolving around a comment from Derek Fink.

"I can't believe that today I'm being asked to vote for someone … solely on diversity," he was quoted as saying by The Sun. "It just blows my mind."

Jones, a Democrat and former representative from the council's 1st District, after he pleaded guilty for failing to file 35 federal income tax reports between 2002-2007.

The , saying his incarceration violated the council's residency requirements.

The resulting deadlock, which prompted the column in The Baltimore Sun, at a recent council meeting that ended just before midnight. Ten candidates made presentations to the council, but the list was narrowed to two—Peter Smith and Mike Wagner. Smith is African-American, and Wagner is white.

The council is expected to take up the vote at its next meeting at 7 p.m. March 5.