County Council Addresses Pre-Born Children, Plasma Centers And More

Editor’s Note: Some of the bills in this article were voted on after the Voice’s September edition went to print. Visit www.pasadenavoice.com for updates.

After its usual seven-week summer hiatus, the Anne Arundel County Council returned to the dais on September 4 for a marathon six-and-a-half-hour meeting to debate issues broad in scope, from the placement of transitional housing and plasma centers to school sizes and the county’s ability to keep records on abortion.

Bill 69-18
Public Safety, Massage Establishments

Sponsored by Councilman Pete Smith, Bill 69-18 is an effort to combat human trafficking in Anne Arundel County businesses. Smith said the bill was inspired by similar legislation passed in Howard County.

“For example, in Glen Burnie, there was an establishment that was next to the chamber of commerce that was sort of doing some unsavory business there,” Smith said, “and this will allow the police to actually interact with those establishments that are sort of on their radar and be able to inspect them to make sure that they are running an appropriate business.”

Smith said the intent is not to target all massage facilities but ones that have received complaints about illicit behavior.

Councilman Chris Trumbauer questioned if the legislation would “shortcut” the current procedure of getting a warrant, and an unnamed detective testified that police have to start somewhere with a violation of the law. The detective explained that Bill 69-18 would allow police to visit massage establishments and check their certification.

Testifying were seven licensed massage therapists, one attorney and one customer who thought the bill would be harmful to the businesses. Smith decided to hold the bill for further discussion.

Bill 71-18
Nonconsensual Towing

Councilman Derek Fink proposed Bill 71-18 because nonconsensual tows were allowed in parking lots and public roads but not private roads.

“We’re creating a definition for a private road and a pubic road in our county code, essentially going to allow there to be nonconsensual tows on private roads,” Fink said. “I’ve got some communities in my district, some of the newer communities off Marley Neck, private roads, where the [homeowners association] cannot have cars towed currently, even with ‘no parking’ signs, because our county code they don’t feel allows private roads to have nonconsensual tows.”

The legislation passed 7-0.

Bill 74-18
Conditional Use Requirements For Plasma Centers And Transitional Housing

Councilmen John Grasso and Smith gave different explanations for a bill they put forward to limit the number of plasma centers and transitional housing facilities within North County.

“My people up in my area don’t have a problem of helping out society, but they feel that they shouldn’t be the only ones helping out society and currently that’s what North County is doing,” Grasso said. “We’re taking the burden for everybody.”

Currently, Anne Arundel County has just one plasma center in Glen Burnie, but the two councilmen emphasized their intent to prevent too many from impacting their districts.

Smith said, “People are suffering, whether that’s drug addiction, opioid addiction that we’re fighting right now, whether that’s plasma that actually goes to servicing folks who have blood ailments. These places are sort of a needed entity in the county. The question is: What is the right balance between a community identity and a nucleus of services that are all concentrated in a certain area?”

The council debated three amendments, including moving the provision from one mile to three miles between similar businesses. Bill 74-18 was held for the September 17 meeting.

Resolution 28-18
Recommend School Sizes

As a resolution and not a bill, this legislation was presented by County Executive Steve Schuh, who wanted the Board of Education to recognize an MGT study that said Anne Arundel County high schools should have no more than 1,600 students, middle schools should be limited to 1,200 kids and elementary schools should not exceed 600 children.

The council voted down the resolution. Former school board member and current councilman Andrew Pruski claimed it was inappropriate to tell the Board of Education what to do since it’s a state entity.

“I respect that we want smaller schools, but if we really want smaller schools, we wouldn’t be cutting taxes and movie tax cuts and golf club fees when we could be giving back money, and you put your money where your mouth is,” Pruski said.

Resolution 30-18
The Humanity Of Pre-Born Children

During a three-hour debate, county councilmen and about 70 community members from all backgrounds shared their staunch beliefs about abortion and, as the resolution sponsor Michael Peroutka termed it, “the humane treatment of all human beings.”

Before the public testimony was weighed, Peroutka addressed feedback that abortion is a federal issue and not a county issue.

“National government and state government to this point have failed to take effective action to stop the killing,” Peroutka said. “Moreover, every baby that dies dies locally. So it’s left to local government to interpose on behalf of its most vulnerable and arguably its most important constituency — that is our posterity.”

Smith said a council with seven male members should not make declarative statements about women’s rights when the upcoming council will have female members. Representing the Schuh administration, Bernie Marczyk said the county executive supported the resolution because he believes data should be gathered on these issues.

With that, dozens of people testified about their experiences. On the first panel was Therese Hessler from Maryland Right to Life. She noted that 46 states require reporting data. “We should all be able to acknowledge that life deserves a certain amount of respect and it starts in the womb,” she said.

Pasadena resident Sue Deaver testified that, “When I was carrying my son, I knew I was going to deliver a human baby, not a cow or a dog … what are we doing in this county to heal the brokenness that comes as a result of the women’s decision?”

One woman testified that she had a cervical ectopic pregnancy and the abortion was necessary to save her life. Stacy Korbelak of Odenton used the Bible not to oppose abortion as a few others did, but to promote free will. She said God told Adam and Eve not to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, but he didn’t remove their choice. “You do not have to be pro-abortion to be pro-choice,” Korbelak said.

Others were frustrated that the resolution was being discussed at all. “Your job is to fund the police, the fire department, the teachers; limit development; and protect the environment,” said Dawn Merino, a Glen Burnie attorney. “The citizens do not want you in their bedroom or at their doctor’s offices.”

Fink, Walker and Peroutka voted yes, but the resolution failed, 4-3.

Other Bills

John Grasso introduced Bill 70-18 to allow miniature pigs to be kept as pets in certain lot sizes. He also sponsored Bill 75-18 to keep animals “running at large” from being impounded. Both bills were held. Sponsored by Jerry Walker, Bill 84-18 would alter zoning provisions for licensed dispensaries of medical cannabis.