Duncan to Partially Reimburse County for Pre-Campaign Costs

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) has been traveling the state trying to raise support for his likely bid for governor.

Duncan, often with a security detail in tow, has visited 21 of 22 counties on a summer-long "listening tour" that has taken him from Eastern Shore beaches to Western Maryland's mountains. Besides that tour, his calendar is often packed with political events in Annapolis, Prince George's County and Baltimore.

And Montgomery County taxpayers have been paying the bill.

County Administrator Bruce Romer said Monday that Duncan's campaign committee won't begin paying for his political trips until he officially announces his candidacy. His widely anticipated announcement does not appear imminent.

"We always envisioned developing some type of reimbursement policy to provide appropriate compensation to the county, and we have long anticipated that policy would take effect at such time as Mr. Duncan made a formal announcement of his candidacy," Romer said.

"The announcement is an identifiable, convenient point in time that we can identify the environment has changed so we thought it would be a good date to key in on."

But on Tuesday afternoon, Jody Couser , Duncan's campaign spokeswoman, said there has been a change of plans. The campaign will reimburse the county $750 a month going back to June for using a county-owned vehicle. She estimated that amount is half the cost of operating the vehicle each month.

Duncan's initial plan not to reimburse the county until an official announcement was first reported in the Baltimore Sun on Sunday. The newspaper noted that other candidates for statewide office -- such as Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele , a possible Republican candidate for Senate and Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O'Malley , Duncan's likely opponent for the Democratic nomination for governor -- are also so far relying on taxpayers to pay their campaign-related travel expenses.

Romer said Duncan's campaign is also developing a system for directly reimbursing the county for other expenses that might arise, such as paying the cost of hotel rooms for the security detail on overnight trips.

"We will expect the campaign to reimburse us for that on a dollar-to-dollar basis," Romer said.

Security Chief's Track Record

The resignation of Michael D. Brown as the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina has raised new questions about the qualifications of state, local and federal emergency managers.

Gordon Aoyagi has been Montgomery County's director of Homeland Security since November, when the agency was created by Duncan and the County Council.