Howard County Council Special Meeting: Section 903 Hearing and Closed Session - October 14, 2026

The Howard County Council held a special in-person meeting on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 10:00 AM in the George Howard Building, Banneker Room, with video streaming online. The meeting was convened as a hearing under Section 903 of the Howard County Charter regarding the removal of Gene Ryan from the Board of Appeals, followed by a motion to enter closed session under Maryland Code General Provisions § 3-305(b)(1) and (7), and a report on the closed session.

Hearing under Section 903

• Gene Ryan, accompanied by attorney Lydia Lawless, said that a lawsuit was filed the previous day against the Council and the County Solicitor. He asked that his formal objections be entered into the record and that his complaint be accepted as his written statement.
• Ryan argued that the Council did not lawfully convene on September 16, 2026, when a majority voted to remove him immediately from the Board of Appeals, and that the current hearing was likewise not lawfully convened.
• Ryan said the Office of Law had described the hearing as non-evidentiary and had told him it was not subject to normal public hearing rules, including the three-minutes-per-person rule, which he argued deprived him of due process.
• Ryan objected to any closed session, citing the public hearing requirement in Section 903 and the Open Meetings Act, and he objected to receiving advice from County Solicitor Cook, asserting a conflict of interest requiring disqualification of the Solicitor and the Office of Law.
• Ryan stated that he would not answer factual questions about the personnel complaint or removal proceedings, and he argued that Councilmembers Rigby, Walsh, and Jung had prejudged the matter, preventing a lawful quorum for removal proceedings.

Council and Staff Discussion

• Council Chair Opel Jones read the September 16, 2026 removal letter and the text of Charter Section 903, which gives a removed board or commission member the privilege of a public hearing if requested within 10 days after receiving a written statement of reasons.
• An Office of Law representative stated that the proceeding was the public hearing under Section 903, but not a legislative public hearing under Council Rule 1.012, and said the meeting had been properly noticed as an open public meeting at least three days in advance.
• A council administrator confirmed that the meeting was noticed as an open public meeting at least three days in advance.
• Councilmembers Jones and Yungmann said the proceeding did not feel like a real public hearing, argued that Section 903 had not been followed, and expressed concern that Mr. Ryan was not receiving due process.
• Councilmembers Jones and Yungmann also criticized the September 16 meeting, saying it had been called with very short notice, that two council members were not properly informed, and that Mr. Ryan should have continued serving on the Board of Appeals pending the hearing.
• One councilmember said the relevant issue was conduct, not public feelings about Board of Appeals decisions, and noted that previous board removal processes had occurred; another councilmember said there had been time to fill the vacancy but it was not done.
• Another councilmember said the public was harmed by the Board of Appeals operating with four members instead of five while the matter remained unresolved.

Closed Session Motion

• A councilmember moved, and another seconded, to close the meeting under Maryland Code General Provisions § 3-305(b)(1) and (7) to discuss personnel matters and obtain legal advice.
• The motion passed by a vote of 3-2. Chair Jones and Councilmember Yungmann voted no and objected publicly, and Mr. Ryan's counsel recorded an objection, arguing that the public hearing requirement removed any legal authority to close the session.
• Chair Jones stated his intention to return to open session after the closed session.

Key Outcomes

• After the closed session, Chair Jones announced that it ended at 11:37 AM and that a vote was taken to remove Gene Ryan from the Board of Appeals by a vote of 3-1.
• Chair Jones said the Council would work to fill the Board of Appeals vacancy, either during the current session or with the next Council, and acknowledged the pending lawsuit.