Howard County Council and Board of Appeals clash at meeting over resignation letters

Tensions came to a head between the Howard County Council and the county's Board of Appeals on Monday during a meeting to discuss why the majority of the board submitted resignation letters.

At the meeting, the board members described feeling unsafe, due to actions by two particular councilwomen -- even accusing them of political interference.

Both bodies, though, expressed they want to move forward on better terms.

Claims of an unsafe environment

Three members of the Board of Appeals intend to resign by the end of the year: board chair Gene Ryan, board vice chair Lynn Foehrkolb, and Felita Phillips.

Their reasonings point to actions of Howard County Council Chair Liz Walsh and Councilwoman Deb Jung, who've been critical of recent board decisions.

Ryan described a moment when someone came to his home, unhappy with the board's decision on the W.R. Grace plastic recycling plant case, where the board denied an appeal by neighbors concerned by the plant's potential environmental impact.

"You can't be so reckless as to make these inflammatory comments to the public, who don't know any better," Ryan said. "They trust you as councilmembers to be knowledgeable about what you're speaking on. So, I had to have an exchange with this man in front of my child, so that he would get off my property. He wouldn't at first, then he did."

Walsh wasn't at Monday's meeting, but Jung was.

Jung was accused of potentially trying to push out Foehrkolb, especially since she's filed a resolution with a named replacement.

Foehrkolb also talked about being given the runaround when she asked about possibly rescinding her letter.

But Jung disputed the optics, saying she and Foehrkolb have been emailing about Foehrkolb's resignation since the summer.

Jung said she thought she could just start looking for a new appointee.

"There's no hidden agenda, there's nobody trying to kick somebody out, there's nobody pushing anybody out," Jung said. "I am grateful to Lynn Foehrkolb for having done this. It is not an easy thing to do."

In the end, board members say they just want an assurance they can operate independently from the county council -- and councilmembers won't be saying incendiary comments.

"I would highly recommend that you set a precedent or a policy that this has got to stop and sanction people who do that," Foehrkolb suggested during the hearing.

As it stands, all board members with resignation letters in are still set to be done by the end of the year.

But members appeared to be willing to rescind is changes are made.