There was laughter from the audience and rolling eyes from some Montgomery County Council members last week when an administrator declared that County Executive Douglas M. Duncan was eager to work with the council on trimming his proposed 2006 budget.
"We're laughing in front of you, and they're laughing behind you," council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large) told assistant county administrator Joseph F. Beach at a hearing on the record $3.6 billion spending plan.
Shaping and passing an annual budget is the council's job. But the reaction to Beach reflects a growing sense among members that they will get no help from Duncan (D).
As he likely prepares to face Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley in next year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, it is becoming clear that the council and the executive are speaking to different audiences.
Duncan has his sights -- and some say the county's checkbook -- set on a statewide primary electorate that supports generous funding of social services, public schools and the arts. The council's nine members, all up for reelection next year, are concerned with signs of popular unrest over rising property tax bills in Montgomery -- especially among the county's sizeable population of registered independents and retirees.
Council members must decide whether to expand county services or respond to rising property assessments by offering broad tax relief.
"Doug clearly misread the sentiment on the council," said council member George L. Leventhal (D-At Large), who was elected in 2002 as a Duncan ally.
Evidence of the disconnect was visible last week. As Duncan appeared at a North Bethesda conference Monday to charge that O'Malley's "tepid" support for state funding of embryonic stem cell research was one reason a bill supporting it died in the General Assembly's final hours, the council was slashing a quarter-million dollars from a gang-prevention initiative Duncan has touted frequently.
As Duncan travels the state in his all-but-declared campaign, he often emphasizes that his budget includes additional money for health insurance, police officers and affordable housing.
Supporters say that even if the council scales down his proposed spending, Duncan still benefits politically.
"Doug seems to have been able to ingeniously walk the line as a fiscally prudent Democrat who also supports important programs and needs," said former state delegate Cheryl C. Kagan, a Democratic strategist. "Not many leaders can walk that delicate of a balance."
Duncan enjoys broad support among council members, a majority of whom he helped elect. But the relationship has been strained by the budget, which includes a $12 million shortfall because Montgomery officials overestimated the amount of state aid the county would receive.
