Members Only at MACo

A woman everyone calls Ms. Trudi (it's even on her business card) handed me a slip of paper as I entered the Baltimore County reception at the Maryland Association of Counties conference in Ocean City.

Handwritten on the back of the sheet, which doubled as a ticket, was the number 247.

Inside Horizons, a bar at the Clarion Resorts Fountainebleau Hotel, County Executive Kevin Kamenetz and the seven-member county council were rubbing elbows with top county officials, leaders of other jurisdictions, state legislators, lobbyists and others interested in influencing county decision-makers.

The press, however, was not included at that Thursday event.

When I attempted to enter, as I have at innumerable campaign events and receptions, I was stopped by former Councilman Sam Moxley, who now works for the county as a lobbyist.

"If you go in, we'll have to pay for you," Moxley said.

I asked if he was serious (he was) and if that was so if I didn't eat or drink—an easy promise since I am ethically prohibited from partaking.

"Even if you don't eat or drink," Moxley said. He then turned over the paper slip in my hand and pointed to the handwritten 247. The numbers are used to track attendance and calculate event costs at a facility owned by Leonard Berger, a well-known contributor to county politics.

For the next two hours, my vantage point was from the club's lobby door. I watched as skewered meats and crab balls passed by and attendees crowded around what appeared to be an open bar. I tried to listen in on the speeches and conversations and take a few photos (even though I was gently rebuked about that, too).

The exact cost of the party is not fully known but it's not expected to exceed $20,000.

"That's all they're getting," Kamenetz told me in the hotel parking lot after the event.

No taxpayer funds were used for the event, Kamenetz told me.

The county executive and the seven councilmembers each contributed $1,000 from their respective campaign accounts.

Thirteen other companies contributed up to $1,000 each to sponsor the party. Those companies include:

• The Baltimore County Professional Fire Fighters Union
• Caves Valley Partners
• Comcast
• Clarion Resort Fountainebleau
• Kearney O'Doherty Public Affairs
• KCI Technologies Inc.
• Mid Atlantic Masonry
• Residential Title and Escrow
• Robert Hoffman, Venable LLP
• S.F. & C. Insurance
• Smith Gildea Schmidt
• United Healthcare
• Whiteford Taylor Preston

After the party, in an unsolicited text message, freshman Councilman David Marks said he approved of the event but thought it should have been open to the media.

"I think the event was appropriate but I would have no problem with any journalist being admitted," Marks wrote in a text two hours after the event. "There was nothing to hide and plenty of people were coming and going. (And you are a constituent.)"

Marks punctuated his last comment with a smiley emoticon—acknowledging that he's aware that I live in his district that currently stretches from Route 40 near White Marsh to Perry Hall and into Towson.

The party has become a tradition at the summer conference for the association of counties.

It started during then County Executive Dutch Ruppersberger's first term in office as a small house party for county officials and friends, according to Bob Barrett, who was then one of Ruppersberger's top advisers.

Word of mouth grew the party to the point where it needed to be moved to a club and later to the Clarion. The hotel typically plays host to many county officials who attend.

Kamenetz called it "an opportunity to have a small party and relax with county employees who attend the conference."

And everyone did look relaxed.

From what I could see from the lobby, anyway.

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