Probe Sought Of County's Planning Department

By Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 31, 2007

Two county lawmakers have asked Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler (D) to open a probe of the planning department after Olney resident Steven Kanstoroom alleged that the planning board and staff are making decisions based on faulty documents and failing to take appropriate steps to prevent fraud.

Del. Herman Taylor has written to Gansler asking him to review issues raised by the planning department's reluctance to halt two development projects next to Kanstoroom's home. The planning board has to give permission before many projects can be built.

Taylor said late last week that the AG's office has assured him it is examining the claims. Kanstoroom argues that planners rely on sometimes inaccurate documents from builders and their contractors.

In his letter, Taylor (D-Montgomery) said the building projects "were predicated on false and misleading documents" and resulted in "a large illegal forest clearing." He said more destruction "appears imminent."

He said that the problems Kanstoroom found with allegedly faulty documents "appear to potentially affect a large number of county residents."

Similarly, County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At large) also has written to Gansler to urge his office's involvement. The allegations, he said, "are credible and warrant an investigation."

Rose Krasnow, head of development review for the planning department, said agency officials think they have given appropriate attention to Kanstoroom's claims. They have made some internal changes to more closely vet documents for accuracy, fined a neighbor of Kanstoroom's $500 for illegal tree cutting and asked the neighbor to replant.

"We feel we have completely responded . . . . Our job is to make sure that all the parties have been dealt with fairly," she said.

Kanstoroom, who had been prodding the state's Department of the Environment to take steps to stop illegal dumping on property owned by Pepco and the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, was recently awarded the "civil justice award" from the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association for helping victims of Hurricane Isabel and for his assistance on legislation in the General Assembly that makes it easier for victims to recover payments from insurers.

Planning Board Interviews

The County Council will interview candidates on June 11 and 12 who are vying to replace two retiring members of the planning board. The job pays $30,000.

The council is expected to select two commissioners soon afterward to succeed Democrat Wendy C. Perdue and Republican Meredith K. Wellington, whose terms expire June 15.

One new board member must be a Democrat or an independent and one must be a Republican or an independent.

Seven Democrats, one Republican and one member of the Green Party will be interviewed. They were culled from a list of 26 applicants.

Democrats

· Alan Steele Bowser, 54, of Silver Spring, a lawyer and former deputy assistant secretary of commerce, who is a member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board. Bowser was an unsuccessful candidate for board chairman last year.

· Robert L. Cope, 59, of Bethesda, a lawyer and chairman of the Friendship Heights Transportation Management District's advisory board. He is managing partner of Grove, Jaskiewicz and Cobert, a Washington law firm, where he specializes in commercial law and transportation regulation.

· Elvin J. Crespo, 51, of Germantown, a lawyer and real estate investor who retired last year as deputy counsel for the Postal Inspection Service. He is a senior manager with Solomon Edwards Group, a consulting and accounting firm in Vienna.

· Cary Lamari, 49, of Silver Spring, a former president of the Montgomery County Civic Federation, who lost a bid last year for an at-large seat on the County Council. He owns Cary Electric Co., an electrical contracting business, and holds a real estate license.

· Gene Lynch, 50, of Silver Spring, former chief of staff to Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) and former secretary of general services. Lynch was the top aide to County Executive Neal Potter (D) from 1990 to 1994. He runs Smart Growth Investments, a development company; Glendening serves as chairman of the board.

· Robert L. Mitchell, 70, of Rockville, a developer and civil engineer, and formerchairman and chief executive of home builder Mitchell Best and Visnic. He is a member of the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents.

· Tedi S. Osias, 61, of Chevy Chase, director of legislative and public affairs for the county's Housing Opportunities Commission and former staff member for County Council member Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac, Bethesda). She was executive secretary to the county's Board of Appeals from 1988 through 2000 and has worked as a development consultant.

Republicans

· Jean B. Cryor, 69, of Potomac, who lost her reelection bid for the House of Delegates last year. She represented District 15 for 12 years and is a former journalist who worked for Gazette Newspapers, a subsidiary of The Washington Post.

· Independent

· John Low, 42, of Kensington, a Green Party member, an auctioneer and antiques dealer in Kensington. He is a standup comedian and disc jockey and a former financial adviser.

Heading for the Exit

Bill Mooney, a longtime county employee who most recently served as acting deputy director of the parks department, is joining the private sector. He will work for Smart Growth Investments, a company run by Gene Lynch, a candidate for a vacancy on the planning board, which oversees the agency Mooney is leaving.

Mooney, 56, began his career as a county police officer and served former executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) as an assistant administrative officer who helped guide Silver Spring's revitalization. Known as something of an insiders' insider, Mooney worked on the transfer of Department of Parks golf courses last year to the county's revenue authority.

That plan didn't sit well with two planning board members, Meredith Wellington and Allison Bryant, who complained they had been kept in the dark about the project. The planning board's top lawyer at the time, Michele Rosenfeld, criticized it as an ill-conceived project that masked the golf courses' true financial status. Rosenfeld resigned last spring. She said she had been marginalized by planning board Chairman Derick P. Berlage over the golf courses and other matters on which they had disagreed. Berlage stepped down about a month later after he could not overcome critics who said the agency under his leadership had failed to properly monitor development at Clarksburg Town Center.

Mooney insisted that the golf courses were a money-losing proposition. County budget documents and documents from the parks agency paint a mixed picture, making it difficult to ascertain whether the county golf courses all were losing money or whether the debt on some courses, such as Little Bennett, has been dragging down the others.

Mooney is among the last of the top Berlage staff members to leave the agency.