Critics Question Fillmore Plans

Hurwitz's spokeswoman, Audrey Fix Schaefer, said the company wants to build a new brand for Silver Spring, not re-create the 9:30 Club.

Hurwitz has tangled with Live Nation before, arguing last year that its plan to build one of its House of Blues venues near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center would cut business at the 9:30 Club in half. Privately, some county officials question the seriousness of Hurwitz's Silver Spring offer, believing that it is nothing but a bid to keep out the competition.

Hurwitz said he just wants a chance to compete and to make what he says is a better deal for taxpayers in the county where he lives.

Montgomery's contracting law makes four exceptions for noncompetitive bidding, none of which Hurwitz's attorney says apply to the Live Nation deal. Raymond Sherbill, who represents IMP, said the county code, much like state and federal law, makes sole-source deals "the exception rather than the rule."

Leggett administration officials say the county is on solid legal footing. The county's regulations apply to the acquisition of goods and services, not to land transactions or building leases. And the law provides an exemption for "obtaining entertainment services, including but not limited to contracts for musical performers."

Just as the county has courted biotech companies with tax incentives, the county can seek out a single operator for a specific location when it involves an economic development initiative, Firestine said.

In a letter to residents who have urged Leggett to think again about Live Nation, the county executive wrote that he views the company as a "unique partner for a unique project." That definition meets one of the sole source exceptions in county law, and is a case Duncan made in approaching the Birchmere.

Hurwitz doesn't buy it. An analysis by his company shows an 84 percent overlap in performers who played at both the 9:30 Club and either a Fillmore or a House of Blues in 2006.

No matter how the law is interpreted, residents who want Leggett to open up the process say the spirit of his approach to Live Nation seems at odds with his reputation for deliberation and his promise as a candidate to create a more transparent form of government.

"I don't care at the end of the day which one is there," said Philip Olivetti, a member of the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board. "It's what it does to people's trust in county government. When public money is involved, and at least on paper there is a potential savings for taxpayers, how you can simply dismiss it?"