Councilman: District 1 Battle 'Entrenched'

UPDATE (8:18 a.m. Tuesday)—The Anne Arundel County Council again failed to come to an agreement Monday night after the third session of voting for a new District 1 representative. 

The deadlock continued Monday night for three rounds before Councilman Chris Trumbauer (D-6th District) asked for a motion to adjourn.

"I'm somewhat disappointed that we find ourselves in the same situation. But we all equally share the blame. We're entrenched," Trumbauer said. "I think that there's no point to keep doing this, and I'd move to adjourn."

The council has been unable to agree on a suitable replacement for Daryl Jones, the former councilman for District 1, who reported to federal prison in January  Just before Jones' sentence began, the council 

 between the top two candidates—Mike Wagner, a Glen Burnie businessman and former state delegate and senator, and Peter Smith, a lieutenant in the Marine Corps Reserve, from Severn.

After the meeting, both Wagner and Smith spoke with Patch about the outcome, expressing disappointment that District 1's constituents have yet again been left without representation.

"I suppose everyone has their own beliefs for what's best for the council," Wagner said. "It's now become a matter of whether the experience or the youth matters more to them."

Smith said he wished he could have another chance to address three councilmen's apparent disagreement with him as the right candidate for District 1. Neither Wagner nor Smith have had a chance to speak to the council since their interview Feb. 16, which preceded more than 100 rounds of voting in the sessions since.

"One of the things I'm curious about is the hesitancy to not support me. For some reason I'm seen as this opposing force for whatever their long term objectives are, and it's frustrating," Smith said.

Smith also said the council's failure to come to a consensus didn't make the county look good.

"If you take everything into perspective that's happened over the last few weeks, it doesn’t shine a bright light on us, and that's unfortunate," he said.

On Monday night, the council continued its same divide, with Councilmen Jerry Walker (R-7th District), Trumbauer and Jamie Benoit (D-4th District) choosing Smith and Councilmen Derek Fink (R-3rd District), Dick Ladd (R-5th District) and John Grasso (R-2nd District) choosing Wagner.

The council will attempt to settle the matter for a fourth time at their next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. March 19.