National Harbor Hindered By Petty Political Moves

For decades, residents of Prince George's County complained that the business community had snubbed them, refusing to invest in commercial development that would offer the kind of shops and restaurants consistent with the county's demographic profile, as one of the richest African American communities in the nation.

Now, an experienced and successful local developer, Milt Peterson, is well into construction of National Harbor, a spectacular $4 billion mixed-use development on the banks of the Potomac, across from Old Town Alexandria. The sprawling project includes upscale townhouses and condos, dozens of shops, restaurants and bars, a recently opened convention center and a marina. It's not only the biggest project to come to Prince George's County, but arguably the biggest in the Washington region.

For some of the county's political leaders, however, it's not enough that National Harbor will give county residents the amenities they have long desired. Nor is it apparently sufficient that National Harbor will generate thousands of permanent jobs and nearly $50 million in additional tax revenue for the county each year, as well as $80 million annually for the state of Maryland. For them, National Harbor has become an opportunity to demand contracts, jobs, and equity stakes for friends and constituents, along with the deference and respect from wealthy developers they believe is their due.

The latest confrontation involves what should have been a fairly routine piece of state legislation authorizing the 40 or so liquor licenses that hotels and restaurants in the project require. The bill died during last year's legislative session in Annapolis, ostensibly over Peterson's failure to punctiliously observe protocol by having it introduced by the delegate from the district in which the project is located.

That grievous slight was rectified this year, and the bill passed easily through the House. But at Peterson's request it was pulled from consideration in the waning hours of the 2008 legislative session after the county's Senate delegation insisted on cutting the number of licenses to 13. Their ostensible concern was that only a tiny number of the project's construction contracts had been awarded to minority-owned firms based in Prince George's.

If this were the only time obstacles had been thrown in National Harbor's path, you might write it off to the vagaries of legislative politics. But that's hardly the case. At countless turns, approvals have been delayed or denied. Gaylord, operator of the National Harbor convention center, had to go to court to get the county liquor board to grant it a liquor license in time for its opening this month. The county council delayed zoning approval for the project's housing component for a year and a half, for no apparent reason. Even now, with construction in full swing, the council has failed to give its approval for the project's final bond issue, which has been pending for two years.

And that's only the big stuff. Executives at Gaylord, a national player, have been heard to complain privately that they have never experienced anything like the steady stream of petty requests and demands they have encountered at National Harbor.

Given the opaqueness and obfuscation of politics in Prince George's County, it is often hard to figure out why things happen or who's pulling the strings. But these days, the trail often leads to state Sen. Nathaniel Exum; his daughter, Camille Exum, a member of the county council; and Wayne Clarke, a well-known county political operative. (Clarke agreed to speak with me, the Exums did not.)

Sen. Exum is a colorful political figure who is not shy about using his influence to help or hinder individual businesses. In the recent legislative session, he took an active role in legislation that just happened to exempt Joseph Smith and Sons, the scrap-metal business where Exum is employed, from a new state law designed to deter theft from construction sites by requiring junkyards to report the source of their material. He also held up Senate confirmation of the head of the state police until the agency restored the license of an automotive inspection station in his district that had been revoked for issuing safety certificates without inspecting the vehicles. Exum has also used senatorial courtesy to block consideration of legislation that would grant a beer and wine license to a long-sought Wegman's supermarket that has been lined up for Woodmore Town Center, a new mixed-used development near Landover.

Meanwhile, at the county council, Camille Exum has taken the lead in opposing many of the key initiatives and priorities of County Executive Jack B. Johnson. These include not only National Harbor, but also various proposals to resolve the financial crisis at Prince George's Hospital Center.

Wayne Clarke is something of a fixture in Prince George's politics. He has had a major hand in running campaigns for several members of the county council and General Assembly, including the Exums, and he is consulting for real estate developers seeking zoning approvals from the council.

Clarke is close to C. Anthony Muse, the first-term senator who took the lead in holding up the National Harbor liquor license bill. He ran Muse's unsuccessful campaign against Johnson for the open county executive seat in 2002, as well as his successful Senate campaign in 2006, and he has advised Muse on his dealings with National Harbor.