By Ann E. Marimow and Miranda S. Spivack
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Montgomery's two newest state legislators -- Dels. Kirill Reznik and C. William Frick-- were sworn in by House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) this month, but the controversy over how they were chosen by the county's Democratic Central Committee continues. A group of delegates, led by Saqib Ali of District 39, has introduced legislation to try to make the process for filling vacancies transparent.
The openings were created when former senator P.J. Hogan and former delegate Marilyn Goldwater resigned. The central committee, a group of elected representatives, accepted applications from candidates and made their selections through a vote by secret ballot. The nominations were submitted to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) for approval.
To Ali, the secret balloting "means that these crucially important elections are decided by a small group of well-connected party insiders in complete secrecy without any transparency or accountability to the hundreds of thousands of Montgomery County residents that elected them."
"This should trouble anyone who is an advocate of open, honest government. It certainly troubles me. I don't know who my elected MCDCC members voted for. And neither do you," he wrote on his blog, http://www.saqibali.org.
Ali is joined in his effort by Democratic delegates Ana Sol Gutierrez, Karen S. Montgomery and Hank Heller.
It is important to note that Ali was among the candidates vying for Hogan's job. That position went to former delegate, now Sen. Nancy J. King. Reznik, a government contractor, was chosen to replace King in District 39, which stretches from Montgomery Village to Damascus. Frick, a lawyer, fills Goldwater's seat in District 16, which includes Bethesda and Potomac.
Ali insisted that the bill is not meant as a criticism of the new appointments, who are "fine individuals and friends of mine," but "for the future, the process needs to be reformed."
The legislation, which would prohibit the use of secret ballots, would affect only the Democratic and Republican central committees in Montgomery County.
Republican Party Chairman Tom Reinheimer, who said his party's central committee often votes by secret ballot, derided the legislation as micromanagement. "Leave us out of it," he said. "It's party business, and they have no business directing legislation that tells the Republicans how to conduct their central committees."
The local Democratic chairman, Karen Britto, referred all questions about the legislation to the state Democratic Party headquarters.
According to state Democratic Party spokesman David Paulson, the state party bylaws call for a vote by roll call to fill vacancies. The way Montgomery's central committee has interpreted the requirement, according to Paulson, is to hold an open meeting, in which members say "present" at roll call and then cast paper ballots in secret. At least three counties on the Eastern Shore and Charles County use a similar system.
The procedure was set up in 2001 in Montgomery, Paulson said, to "protect the vote from political influence and cronyism," and no one has complained. Until now. While it is not clear if the legislation will be embraced by a majority of the delegation, the measure's introduction has gotten party insiders talking about making some changes without legislation.
All Paulson would say was, "there are individuals who would like to examine the issue and address it over the next few months."
A public hearing on the bill will be held at 7 p.m. Nov. 15 at the County Council building in Rockville.
Bethesda Park Land on HoldNot so fast, said members of the Montgomery Council's planning, housing and economic development committee, when they took up a proposal this week to buy a 1.3-acre addition to a Bethesda park.
Committee Chairman Marilyn Praisner (D-Eastern County) and Nancy Floreen (D-At Large) expressed reservations about the planning board's proposal to buy the additional acreage for Hillmead Neighborhood Park, just off Bradley Boulevard.
Praisner said she was concerned that the parks department planned to tear down a house on the property that might be habitable and could be put to some other use in a county hurting for moderately priced housing.
Floreen also chimed in. "Maybe it could be used for a group home," she said.
The county planning board two weeks ago approved a plan to spend $2.5 million to buy the land, but final approval is up to the County Council.
Bill Gries, who handles park acquisition for the park's department, called the price "a bargain sale," but that too caused some questions from the committee members. The land was appraised at $2.8 million.
The landowner, Phyllis T. Piotrow, will seek to have the sale viewed as a charitable donation because she is selling the property at less than its appraised value.
Council approval of the acquisition would formally mark an end to plans by Piotrow, a retired professor, to sell to a developer who wanted to build four luxury homes.
Last year, over objections of two neighbors and the leader of a countywide civic group, the planning board had approved a proposal to subdivide the property for development. Opponents had questioned the validity of drawings depicting the site; a state probe of that is continuing.
Planners recommended buying the land out of the county's Advanced Land Acquisition Revolving Fund, which has more than $30 million, Gries said. That too gave the council panel pause, because they thought maybe the parks system should repay the fund from its own budget. Praisner said she would have her staff prepare a memo to the full council, which will take up the matter Tuesday.
Leggett's Housing PledgeAt a time when the median price of a new home in Montgomery has hit $1 million, County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) is pledging to do his best to ensure that the county continues to be a place where people of all incomes can live.
In a meeting last week with more than 500 members of the advocacy group Action in Montgomery, Leggett voiced support for several of the initiatives the group has been pushing.
Leggett pledged to create a senior level affordable housing chief in his administration and to expand the Housing Initiative Fund to $80 million by fiscal year 2010. The Housing Initiative Fund uses property tax revenue to preserve or pay for affordable housing in the county. Leggett has already taken steps in this direction. In fiscal year 2007, he increased the fund from $20 million to $30 million.
In addition, he told the crowd that he supports a one-to-one replacement of affordable multi-family housing units that are lost.
Of course the wild card here is resources. Tight budgets could complicate efforts to push forward, even if affordable housing remains one of Leggett's top priorities.
Washington Post staff writer Lori Aratani contributed to this report.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.