Ex-Adviser Questions Control of Golf Courses

Letter Details Concerns to County Council

The longtime legal adviser to Montgomery County's Department of Park and Planning has accused county officials of hatching a secret deal to transfer control of four golf courses to another county agency.

Michele M. Rosenfeld, who resigned last month after nearly 17 years at the department, said in a letter to the County Council this week that the secret deal is designed to further "discrete political agendas" that have nothing to do with preserving the county's extensive network of parks. Rosenfeld wants to replace outgoing Planning Board Chairman Derick Berlage.

She said that she had long handled legal work for the entire agency but that work regarding the county parks was transferred to another lawyer in December. Soon, Rosenfeld said, the proposal to transfer golf operations to the Montgomery County Revenue Authority gathered steam. She suggested in her letter that her passion for protecting the county's park system made her expendable and unlikely to be appointed to replace Berlage, who announced his resignation this month.

"A strong advocate for parks will get in the way of a years-long effort to convert the assets of the Commission's park system into something resembling a political 'slush fund,' " she wrote. "This creates . . . revenues from the park assets that are no longer necessarily dedicated to the park system -- and that has serious implications for the quality of our parks."

Although the term "slush fund" typically refers to private use of public dollars, Rosenfeld's allegations don't go that far. But she did suggest that the transfer would allow the county to divert revenue generated by the golf courses from the maintenance of the county's vaunted park system to other purposes.

Putting the golf system under the Revenue Authority would allow county officials to spend revenue from golf on roads and other services, Rosenfeld said. Those revenues would also make it easier for politicians to balance the budget each year.

The deal to transfer the four golf courses, which have been operated for more than 40 years by Department of Park and Planning, was approved on a split vote by the Planning Board on April 6. The County Council, which oversees the agency, must approve the measure.

Several officials yesterday disputed Rosenfeld's assertions.

Adrian Gardner, who was Rosenfeld's boss at the commission, said he had decided to take away the parks work from her office, partly to ease a workload that had intensified last year after development irregularities were discovered at Clarksburg Town Center.

"Our land-use attorneys in Montgomery County needed to focus on land-use issues," he said. "There is more than enough work to go around. The question is how to accomplish the work in the manner that makes the most sense for the taxpayers."

Mark Atz, head of the county Revenue Authority, said Rosenfeld was incorrect in asserting that his agency would finance road projects. "There isn't money certainly of the sums that would fund a state highway project. Clearly that is barking up the wrong tree," he said.

Rosenfeld also criticized the way the decision was handled, saying the matter had been addressed secretively and without much public review. Two Planning Board members expressed similar concerns, complaining that they had been forced to vote on the project without time to learn the details.

The Planning Board voted 3 to 1 for the deal after hearing opposition to the transfer from former parks official John P. Hewitt and from golf entrepreneur Michael Williams. Williams works for Golf Course Specialists Inc., which operates three public courses on federal parks in the District, and said he could run it better than the Revenue Authority and save taxpayers' money. Board member Allison Bryant abstained, and Meredith Wellington voted against the transfer.

"The problem with the golf course deal is that it underscores what many have suspected all along -- that the Planning Board's purported dedication to 'transparency' in the wake of Clarksburg is not genuine. . . . Board members were given the bum's rush, as they were told they could either accept the deal . . . or [forgo] the opportunity altogether. There were no agreements to review . . . there were no financial documents available to review," Rosenfeld wrote.

Bill Mooney, acting deputy director of the Department of Park and Planning, said the park system's golf courses are projected to lose $1 million this year and have been losing money for several years. The park and planning budget is about $100 million annually.

"I don't think there was any rush to judgment," he said. Internal discussions about a possible transfer began about three years ago, he said, after prodding from the County Council's Planning, Housing and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large).

Atz said his agency is required to "break even" and must ensure that the golf courses don't lose money.

For years, Montgomery's public golf courses have been operated by two separate agencies. Five courses already are operated by the Revenue Authority. The transfer of operations from the park and planning agency would add four more: Little Bennett, Needwood, Northwest Park and Sligo. It's not clear whether fees would increase.