Harford County Council appoints Allison Imhoff to represent District B
The Harford County Council appointed Allison Imhoff to represent District B Tuesday night, filling the vacancy left by former Councilman Aaron Penman after a judge ruled earlier this year that Penman could not serve as a councilmember and also be employed by the Harford County Sheriff's Office.
Imhoff, 38, is a social worker and a sixth-generation Harford County resident. She said the main reason she applied for the position is because she wants to see her community flourish as a safe space for young families to grow.
Serving District B is Imhoff's first time in a political office and she said she is very much looking forward to the work.
'I am looking forward to learning about the budget that we are starting to work on tomorrow,' Imhoff said, referencing the council's first budget work session at 9 a.m. Thursday. 'Considering this is my first political office, it is going to be a learning experience but I am very much looking forward to the challenge.'
After she was appointed and sworn into office Tuesday night, Imhoff said outside of the budget, she is focused on supporting key stakeholders like rural farmers and suburban residents in wake of concern from community members over growing residential and business development.
Imhoff's appointment follows the removal of Penman in February. Penman, a Republican, was a council member and a sergeant with the Harford County Sheriff's Office where he earned an annual income of $199,376 from the county — $146,265 from the sheriff's office and $53,111 as a council member.
A Harford County Circuit Court judge ruled in January that Penman's dual employment was a conflict of interest that violated the county charter. Penman was given 30 days to either terminate his employment with law enforcement or resign from the council.
Penman appealed the 30-day period to the Appellate Court of Maryland, which upheld the Harford County Circuit Court's ruling. The Maryland Supreme Court later overruled that decision and allowed Penman to stay on council temporarily while it decided if it would take up the case.
Penman was removed from office Feb. 26, pursuant to the Circuit Court's order, after the state high court decided not to hear his case.
Penman has an active appeal with the Maryland Appellate Court and a hearing set for May. Despite his ongoing legal push, Penman said he is happy for Imhoff and offered congratulations on her appointment.
The new council appointment marks the second time in three months that a sitting council member has been removed and replaced due to legal action. In January, about a month before Penman's removal, Councilwoman Nolanda Robert was appointed to represent District A after former Councilman Dion Guthrie, a Democrat, was removed for theft allegations.
Both Imhoff and Robert will have to defend their seats in the 2026 council elections.
Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
27 minutes ago
- New York Post
Fla. Sen. Rick Scott calls for more budget cuts to restore ‘fiscal sanity' into Trump's ‘big, beautiful' bill
A top Senate Republican said Sunday that more spending cuts are needed to infuse 'fiscal sanity' into President Trump's proposed 'big, beautiful' budget bill. Florida Sen. Rick Scott, who serves on the Senate's Budget Committee, told WABC 770 AM radio's 'Cats Roundtable' that his fellow GOPers in the House did not do nearly enough to control spending or help rein in America's explosive debt when they passed the bill last month. He said he and other Senate Republicans will work with the president and House GOPers to remove bloat and confront the debt bomb in a final spending bill. 5 Senator Rick Scott says more spending cuts are needed to infuse 'fiscal sanity' into President Trump's proposed 'big, beautiful' budget bill. Getty Images 'The House worked their tail off. Unfortunately, the House bill cuts the spending over the next 10 years by something like 1.7%. There's a lot more we have to do,' Scott told show host John Catsimatidis. Scott, a two-term senator who previously served as Florida's governor, said the bill passed by the House includes many good things such as renewing the 2017 Trump tax cuts and boosting spending for border security and the military. 'But we have to bring more fiscal sanity to the table,' he said. 'In the next few months, we'll probably hit $37 trillion in debt. And we're running over $1 trillion a year on interest expense.' 'If we leave it just the way it is, we're going to be close to $60 trillion worth of debt in 10 years. We'll never be able to pay for anything else we care about.' He said Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have shown where spending can be slashed. 'We've got to go line by line through the budget and do everything we can to save money,' Scott said. 'I'm committed to getting this bill done. I believe every Republican I know wants to get this bill done. But we also will want to create some fiscal sanity.' 5 Elon Musk accompanying Scott as they walk through the U.S. Capitol on March 05. Getty Images The proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which is intended to be Trump's signature legislative achievement of the year, features more than $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over a 10-year period but is projected to add between $3 to $4 trillion to the debt during that time frame, according to various estimates. Deficit concerns have prompted backlash from GOP fiscal hawk such as Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who have expressed opposition to the mega-bill in its current form because of its impact on the deficit. Other Republican critics, such as Sens. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), have voiced reservations over the Medicaid reforms in the mammoth bill. 5 Speaker of the House Mike Johnson speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda on May 22 in Washington, DC. Getty Images 5 Sen. Rand Paul has expressed opposition to the mega-bill in its current form because of its impact on the deficit. AP Last month, Scott told conservative pundit Charlie Kirk, 'Absolutely I'd vote no' on the bill in its current form and, 'If they brought it to the floor right now, there's not a chance it would get to 51 votes.' Republicans hold a 53-47 edge over Democrats in the Senate. Trump has warned that Republicans who threaten to vote against his spending plan are playing into the hands of Democrats. He singled out Paul on Saturday. 'If Senator Rand Paul votes against our Great, Big, Beautiful Bill, he is voting for, along with the Radical Left Democrats, a 68% Tax Increase and, perhaps even more importantly, a first time ever default on US Debt,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 5 Trump has said Republicans who threaten to vote against his spending plan are playing into the hands of Democrats. AP On a different segment of the Sunday radio show, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) defended the bill passed by one vote in his chamber and vowed that the Senate and House and the White House would agree on a final package by July 4. In response to criticism from Senate budget hawks such as Scott, the speaker insisted the House made historic cuts. 'No other government has ever cut this much in a single piece of legislation,' Johnson said. 'You're talking about more than $1.5 trillion. It's by a factor of two the largest cut that Congress will have ever made. 'Is it enough? No, it's not,' he acknowledged. 'We have $36 trillion in federal debt. But it's important to remember that we did not get into that financial situation overnight. It took many decades. 'It's going to take more than a flip of a switch to turn it around … It's like a large vessel on the sea. It doesn't turn on a dime. You need like a mile of open ocean to do it.' Johnson said the House bill was a 'dramatic shift in the right direction.'
Chicago Tribune
38 minutes ago
- Chicago Tribune
After talks with Zelenskyy and Macron, US senators warn: Putin ‘is preparing for more war'
PARIS — Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling at the peace table while preparing a new military offensive in Ukraine, two senior U.S. senators warned Sunday, arguing that the next two weeks could shape the future of a war that has already smashed cities, displaced millions and redrawn Europe's security map. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke to The Associated Press in Paris after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and touring neighborhoods shattered by what they called the worst Russian bombardments since the full-scale invasion began. In Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron — who they say is '100% aligned' with them on the war — the senators warned the window to prevent a renewed assault is closing. A sweeping U.S. sanctions bill could be the West's last chance to choke off the Kremlin's war economy, they said — adding that they hope their firsthand findings will shift momentum in Washington and help bring a skeptical President Donald Trump on board. 'What I learned on this trip was he's preparing for more war,' Graham said of Putin. Blumenthal called the sanctions proposed in legislation 'bone-crushing' and said it would place Russia's economy 'on a trade island.' 'It is crunch time for Putin and for the world because Russia is mounting a new offensive,' he said. At the heart of their push is a bipartisan sanctions bill, backed by nearly the entire U.S. Senate but still facing uncertain odds in Washington. It would impose 500% tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations like China and India that account for roughly 70% of Russia's energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort. Graham called it 'the most draconian bill I've ever seen in my life in the Senate.' 'The world has a lot of cards to play against Putin,' he said. 'We're going to hit China and India for propping up his war machine.' With peace talks yielding little and Trump's approach to Ukraine highly uncertain, Graham and Blumenthal have stepped into the breach — blunt emissaries on a lonely mission. Political opposites moving in lockstep, they're crossing Europe, and the aisle, with the moral urgency of two men trying to forestall another Russian offensive before it's too late. Peace talks are scheduled to resume Monday in Istanbul. But Ukrainian officials say Moscow has yet to submit a serious proposal — a delay both senators described as deliberate and dangerous. 'Putin is playing President Trump,' Blumenthal said. 'He's taking him for a sucker.' The senator said Putin 'is, in effect, stalling and stonewalling, prolonging the conversation so that he can mount this offensive and take control of more territory on the ground.' Graham added: 'We saw credible evidence of a summer or early fall invasion, a new offensive by Putin. … He's preparing for more war.' Trump has yet to endorse the sanctions bill, telling reporters Friday: 'I don't know. I'll have to see it.' Graham said the legislation was drafted in consultation with Trump's advisers. Graham backed the president's diplomatic instincts but said, 'By trying to engage Putin — by being friendly and enticing — it's become painfully clear he's not interested in ending this war.' Blumenthal hoped the bipartisan support for Ukraine at least in the Senate — and the personal testimonies they plan to bring home to Congress and the Oval Office— may help shift the conversation. 'He needs to see and hear that message as well from us, from the American people,' he said of Putin. In Kyiv, the senators said, the war's human toll was impossible to ignore. Graham pointed to what Ukrainian officials and Yale researchers estimate are nearly 20,000 children forcibly deported to Russia — calling their return a matter of justice, not diplomacy. Blumenthal described standing at mass grave sites in Bucha, where civilians were executed with shots to the head. The destruction, he said, and the stories of those who survived, made clear the stakes of delay. 'Putin is a thug. He's a murderer.' Both said that failing to act now could pull the U.S. deeper into conflict later. If Putin isn't stopped in Ukraine, Blumenthal said, NATO treaty obligations could one day compel American troops into battle. After a one-hour meeting with Macron in Paris, both Graham, of South Carolina, and Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said they left convinced Europe was ready to toughen its stance. 'This visit has been a breakthrough moment because President Macron has shown moral clarity in his conversations with us,' Blumenthal said. 'Today, he is 100% aligned with that message that we are taking back to Washington.' Blumenthal pointed to the rare bipartisan unity behind the sanctions bill. 'There are very few causes that will take 41 Republicans and 41 Democrats and put them on record on a single piece of legislation,' he said. 'The cause of Ukraine is doing it.' Ahead, Ukrainian military leaders are set to brief Congress and a sanctions vote could follow. 'President Trump said we'll know in two weeks whether he's being strung along,' Graham said. 'There will be more evidence of that from Russia on Monday.'
Los Angeles Times
44 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Bessent says U.S. will never default as Congress faces deadline
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. 'is never going to default' as the deadline for increasing the federal debt ceiling gets closer. 'That is never going to happen,' Bessent said in an interview for CBS's 'Face the Nation' scheduled to air Sunday. 'We are on the warning track and we will never hit the wall.' Republican congressional leaders have attached an increase in the debt limit to President Trump's tax and spending bill, which potentially puts avoiding a default at the mercy of complex negotiations over the legislation. The U.S. Senate returns this week to take up the bill. Bessent declined to specify an 'X date' — the point at which the Treasury runs out of cash and special accounting measures that allow it to stay within the debt ceiling and still make good on federal obligations on time. 'We don't give out the 'X date' because we use that to move the bill forward,' Bessent said. Last month, Bessent told lawmakers that the U.S. was likely to exhaust its borrowing authority by August if the debt ceiling isn't raised or suspended by then. Wall Street analysts and private forecasters see the deadline falling sometime between late August and mid-October. Bessent also pushed back against a warning by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon that a crack in the bond market 'is going to happen.' 'I've known Jamie for a long time, and for his entire career he's made predictions like this,' he said. 'Fortunately none of them have come true.' 'We are going to bring the deficit down slowly,' Bessent said. 'This has been a long process, so the goal is to bring it down over the next four years.' Czucska writes for Bloomberg News.
