A Genteel Council Splinters

"I don't see an endgame for getting seven votes," said council member Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County).

It is a dilemma that Duncan, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006, all but dumped on the council this year.

By proposing a budget that council analysts say is the most generous in memory, Duncan gambled that residents wouldn't care about exceeding the charter cap on property taxes for the fourth consecutive year. Council members, all of whom have indicated they either will seek reelection next year or run for another office, must decide whether Duncan's funding of public education, labor contracts, social services and public safety is worth a possible voter backlash against rising property taxes.

And after staying out of the budget debate for most of the spring, Duncan is stoking tensions by encouraging various interest groups to speak out in support of his budget.

"I would like to remind you that nothing in the budget is safe," Lori Gillen, Duncan's special projects coordinator, wrote to 1,000 community activists last week.

"We are on the razor's edge between competing constituencies," said council member Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda).

Divisions over how to proceed appear to have led to the disintegration of the council majority that Duncan helped elect in 2002 by raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Known as the End Gridlock slate, council members Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large), Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty), Nancy Floreen (D-At Large), Subin and Leventhal were unified in their support for the proposed intercounty connector.

And while they were never a rubber stamp for Duncan, the group generally was receptive to his economic development policies and rarely picked fights.

With the connector no longer on the council's agenda and Duncan not expected to be play an active role in county politics next year, the budget debate has exposed significant rifts among members.

Floreen and Knapp have joined Praisner and longtime Duncan opponent Andrews in pushing for compliance with the charter, which would require a 7-cent property tax rate reduction but also as much as $70 million in spending cuts.

Silverman and Leventhal have teamed with Denis and Perez, whom Duncan worked to defeat in 2002, to offer more moderate spending and property tax cuts that would preserve Duncan's initiatives to expedite all-day kindergarten, hire more police officers and boost health care for the poor and uninsured.

No matter how the budget is sorted out, it is clear that tensions will carry into next year's election. Most members say they have no plans to run on another slate next year.

"There are too many issues going on -- personal and philosophical," Subin said.

Leventhal, who has developed a rivalry with Floreen, said, "I would rather do individual arrangements with individual friends. I don't want to see another End Gridlock."

Other members have staked out their own positions. Subin initially said he wanted to abide by the tax cap this year, but last week he came to the conclusion there was no way to do it without deep cuts to the school system. He said that was not an option.

On Thursday, Knapp became the first member to produce a plan for achieving the charter limit. It calls for freezing all spending except for education, public safety, labor contracts and health care.

Silverman said he expects a consensus to form after a series of behind-the-scenes meetings in which council members caucus and lobby one another.

"This is the first time in my seven years on the council that there has been clear factions at budget time," he said.