Scenes of a Political Sea Change

In his parting words, Duncan expressed relief not to have to sweat the details of governance in the coming months -- in particular the aftermath of snowstorms.

"I don't have to deal with that anymore," Duncan said, standing on stage next to Leggett. "Call him, not me."

Duncan signed off on a more serious note, saying, "It's been an incredible 12 years -- the best 12 years of my life."

Praisner Becomes President

I n a vote with little suspense, Praisner was unanimously chosen by her colleagues on Tuesday as the council's president for the next year. The role is largely ceremonial but serves as the public face of the new council and sets the tone as it initiates four new members. Knapp, who was selected as the council's vice president, said he hoped the council could continue the warm and fuzzy feelings from the inauguration ceremony when many observers remarked on all the hugs council members exchanged on stage.

On the committees, freshman council member Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At Large) takes over the Management and Fiscal Policy Committee from Praisner. But Praisner will still be a member of the committee and is now chair of the panel that oversees planning, housing and economic development.

School Board Shifts

In his final address as a school board member, architect Gabe Romero hinted at a growing dissatisfaction that may have prompted him to leave the group after a single four-year term.

Attending the swearing-in ceremony Friday for new and reelected board members, Romero looked back wistfully at the first half of his term, before the events of 2004 that changed the composition and working relationship of the group.

"A lot has been said and accomplished in four years," he read aloud from a prepared text. "I am especially grateful for my first two years. Board members were engaged in constructive discussions and questions. . . . I can only hope this board will follow in those footsteps, look at the vision established then and choose to continue the good work that was started then."

Romero said Tuesday he left the board chiefly to focus on his busy architecture career, not from dissatisfaction with his colleagues.

His public comments seemed aimed at board members Valerie Ervin and Nancy Navarro, who joined the panel in 2004. To their supporters, Ervin and Navarro added independent voices to a group that had been rubber-stamping decisions of Superintendent Jerry D. Weast. Detractors believe the new board members raised the level of vitriol and grandstanding.

Ervin departed the board last week, after two years' tenure, to join the County Council. Navarro, appointed in 2004, was sworn in Friday for her first full term. Newly elected members Shirley Brandman and Judy Docca formally joined the group, and Patricia O'Neill began her third term.

O'Neill made a round of thanks in her remarks and mentioned every board member save one, Stephen Abrams, who did not attend the swearing-in ceremony.

Abrams had not attended a public school board meeting since it became publicly known that he had been accused of assaulting a fellow Republican Party member after a political meeting. Abrams is accused of grappling with Adol T. Owen-Williams II in a stairwell after a Nov. 13 meeting of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee. Abrams has portrayed Owen-Williams as the aggressor. The board member is also accused of referring to Owen-Williams, who is black, as "son" and "boy" during the confrontation. The matter is under investigation.

Staff writer Daniel de Vise contributed to this report.