Big-Ticket Transit, School Issues Top 2006 Agenda

By Tim Craig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 5, 2006

Montgomery County legislators will renew their push for more money for school construction and transportation projects and will tackle thorny issues such as whether to allow deer hunting in the county on Sundays when the General Assembly convenes next week.

In response to the controversy over construction of Clarksburg Town Center, the delegation will also consider a proposal to increase fines for building violations in the county.

The 90-day session opens as County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) is running for the Democratic nomination for governor and most of the county's 32-member delegation to Annapolis is gearing up to run for reelection.

For months, Duncan has been a vocal critic of Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and his policies. It remains to be seen whether Duncan's attacks on Ehrlich, who largely controls the budget, will affect the county's efforts in Annapolis. But Duncan and legislators are vowing to wage an aggressive campaign to bring more state dollars into Montgomery.

"We want to get our share like we have in years past," said Del. Charles E. Barkley (D), who chairs the county's delegation to the House of Delegates.

Duncan and county lawmakers are asking for $125 million in state aid for school construction projects, nearly four times what the county received last year. In addition, the delegation wants Ehrlich to fund all of the so-called Thornton plan, approved by legislators in 2002 to set goals for public school funding statewide. That would provide $17 million more in direct aid to Montgomery's public school system.

The county is also hoping to secure millions of dollars to upgrade its network of mass transit services and highways, including $5.2 million to construct the Silver Spring Transit Center. The $12 million project, half of which would be funded by the federal government, would be a central facility, located at the Silver Spring Metro station, where residents could take Metro, MARC trains or a variety of bus services. Currently, the Metro and MARC stations are several blocks apart.

"It's going to combine all of the area's transit in one place," said Sen. Ida G. Ruben (D), who chairs the county's Senate delegation.

The Duncan administration also plans to request increased funding for after-school, adult education, rental assistance and affordable housing programs.

When it comes to fighting for additional state aid, Montgomery legislators traditionally have been united. But other debates in Annapolis this year are expected to cause dissension.

Lawmakers will consider an amendment to the state constitution that could make it harder to use petitions to put a referendum onto the ballot in Montgomery. Under current law, 10,000 signatures are needed to place a question on the ballot. The delegation will consider a measure, sponsored by Barkley, to require at least 25,000 signatures.

Barkley said the effort to reform the referendum process is aimed at thwarting anti-tax activist Robin Ficker, who has been petitioning questions onto the ballot since the 1970s. County leaders say Ficker's referendums, few of which voters have approved, are a distraction and are often costly to fight.

Ficker, however, said the change Barkley proposes would "give citizens the cold shoulder."

"What they are trying to do is limit the right of citizens to petition the government," said Ficker, a Republican candidate for county executive. "It is really abhorrent to me and another reason why these people should not be in public office."

The issue of whether Montgomery County hunters should be allowed to pursue deer on Sundays is also expected to provoke heated debate. Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D), who represents the rural northern part of the county, has introduced legislation allowing deer hunting two Sundays a year on private property.

After being banned since Colonial times, the General Assembly approved a bill in 2002 to allow Sunday hunting in seven counties, mostly in the southern and western parts of the state. At the time, Montgomery legislators fought to be excluded from Sunday hunting.

But complaints about deer continue to mount, and Garagiola said it's time to reconsider that stance.

"You can't have a viable farm community if their crops are being devoured by deer," said Garagiola, noting that hunting in Montgomery is already restricted to the rural parts of the county.

The proposal faces an uncertain future, however, given the county's contingent of animal-rights activists and outdoor enthusiasts, who have resisted Sunday hunting.

The delegation rejected a similar proposal last year. The House of Delegates' County Affairs Committee deadlocked 3 to 3 on Garagiola's bill last month, but another vote is expected.

Other local issues on the legislative agenda include a proposal by Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D) to prohibit a person from soliciting money along a roadway or median or at an intersection. Del Gareth E. Murray (D) also wants to look for a way to restrict students from wearing clothing near schools that indicates they are affiliated with gangs. His staff said it's unclear whether he will draft formal legislation or try to attach such a measure as an amendment to another proposal.

Del. William A. Bronrott (D) has proposed a series of changes to address questions about the county Planning Board's ability to police development. During the past year, the board has struggled to investigate allegations raised by a community association that hundreds of homes in Clarksburg Town Center were built too high or too close to the street and that the developer failed to provide the promised recreational amenities, retail facilities and open space. The dispute is being sorted out in mediated talks between the community and the developer, Newland Communities.

The Montgomery County Planning Board can levy fines as high as $500 per violation, with each day of the violation counting as a separate offense. Under Bronrott's proposal, the board could apply a maximum fine of $500,000 for each violation or $1,000 a day per violation, whichever is higher.

Bronrott also wants to give the Planning Board the power to subpoena witnesses, because it was unable to compel testimony during its investigation into the Clarksburg dispute.

The Clarksburg Town Center Advisory Committee, which helped unmask problems in the community, supports Bronrott's bill but would like even greater changes.