Clarksburg Fallout Remains to Be Seen

Berlage has acknowledged deficiencies and used an extensive chart this week to show that the agency has been addressing them, even before the report was issued.

"We are focusing relentlessly on improving the quality of the development review process," he said. The agency has instituted 19 changes in processes and is looking at 25 others, he said. "We will leave no stone unturned in our effort to restore the quality of the process and the credibility of the agency," he said. "We need the support of the county executive and the County Council."

The political stakes are enormous. Berlage, Duncan and Silverman all have moved to try to limit the damage. Duncan and Berlage this year put in place a moratorium on building permits as they tried to sort out the problems. Duncan also has proposed merging all enforcement into the agency he oversees, the Department of Permitting Services. Berlage set up checklists and outlined extensive plans for staff responsibilities, and Silverman has been holding frequent council sessions with planning officials.

Duncan has continually tried to distance himself from the problems at the planning agency, pointing out in an interview this week that the report focused most of its criticism on the agency he does not oversee.

"There is a culture of dysfunction at Park and Planning," he said. "It is a creature of the County Council. Where is the oversight?" He said the council, on which he has many allies, "is taking far too much time to solve the problems here."

Silverman, in turn, pointed to the planning agency for failing to alert the politicians that there were problems.

But some suggest that as the 2006 election season heats up, the fallout from Clarksburg could linger.

"I think the pendulum is swinging," said former county executive Sidney Kramer (D), who, like Duncan, was known for his pro-growth policies. "As I talk to my friends and neighbors, they say, 'Maybe we are growing too quickly.' . . . That may be a factor in the coming election."