Utility Is Divided In Search For Chief
Johnson, Leggett To Try to Resolve Panel's Stalemate

By Ann E. Marimow
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 17, 2008

County executives Jack B. Johnson and Isiah Leggett are trying to resolve a stalemate over the search for a new leader of the utility that provides water and sewer service to 1.8 million customers in Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

Whether Johnson and Leggett can help members of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission find common ground when the two Democratic leaders meet for lunch today is critical to determining the future of the troubled agency -- and a key test of their relationship.

The six commissioners, three each appointed by Johnson, the Prince George's county executive, and Leggett, the Montgomery county executive, are divided along county lines over who should be the utility's next general manager.

"No one is going to give any ground," Montgomery chief administrative officer Timothy Firestine said. "At this point, I think [Leggett and Johnson] are the only ones who can work it out."

Leggett and Johnson, who have known each other 25 years, have had some success reaching compromise on thorny WSSC issues. They settled a long-standing dispute, allowing Montgomery to buy 115 acres of WSSC land and settling control over the commission's minority contracting office.

But reaching agreement on the next leader will determine how the agency copes with an aging infrastructure and the replacement of miles of waterlines and sewer pipes. There were a record 2,129 breaks last year. A major water pipe break late Sunday has disrupted service for thousands of customers in upper Montgomery.

After a nationwide search, Prince George's commissioners are backing Rudolph S. Chow, a 23-year agency employee who is acting interim deputy general manager. According to Firestine, Montgomery's commissioners prefer an outside candidate recruited from another Washington area agency that does similar work. He declined to name the candidate.

The stalemate is the latest turmoil to rock an agency that has a long history of infighting, conflict-of-interest charges and bitter disputes over the awarding of contracts to minority businesses.

Four years ago, commissioners forced out then-General Manager John R. Griffin, and in February they did not renew the contract of his successor, Andrew D. Brunhart.

Prince George's commissioner Juanita D. Miller, a former state delegate, said Chow emerged as the top-ranked candidate by more than five points among five finalists based on a scoring system she said was agreed to by fellow commissioners. According to an April memo outlining the process, "if one candidate receives an average score that is more than five points higher than all other candidates, that candidate will be the choice."

Montgomery's commissioners balked at signing off on Chow's appointment, Miller said, asking instead to conduct background checks on the top two finalists.

"Montgomery County commissioners appear to have some reason that is unbeknownst to Prince George's commissioners that they are not ready to announce Mr. Chow," she said. "Prince George's is ready to move forward."

Two of Montgomery's commissioners, former state delegates Adrienne A. Mandel and Gene W. Counihan, would not discuss the closed-door hiring process, saying it would be unfair to talk publicly about the candidates.

"All I can tell you is I would like the process to move forward," Mandel said. Asked if she knew when commissioners would revisit the issue, she said: "No. I wish I did, but I don't."

Montgomery's third commissioner, Norman Pruitt, has resigned less than one year into his four-year term. Today, County Council members will interview Leggett's nominee to replace him: Rockville resident Roscoe M. Moore Jr., a former assistant U.S. surgeon general at the Department of Health and Human Services.

Firestine said that rating systems are useful for narrowing down a group of candidates but that the ultimate decision should not come down to a mathematical equation.

"Our commissioners feel as strongly as the Prince George's commissioners," he said.

Even before the official search for Brunhart's replacement began, there was disagreement over who should serve during the transition. Miller said Montgomery commissioners voted against Chow during that debate, leading to the elevation of Deputy General Manager Teresa D. Daniell.

Chow, a Rockville resident, rose through the ranks to become chief of customer care, the agency's largest department. He contributed $200 to Miller's unsuccessful bid for the state Senate in 2002, according to campaign finance records.

Miller said her interest is procedural, not personal. "It's not about me pushing him; it's about us adhering to our process." She added that Johnson has "told his commissioners that he supports us adhering to and following the process."

For Johnson's part, spokesman James Keary said, "There's not an individual candidate that he is supporting. He supports the process."

Part of the hang-up is inherent in the agency's governance system. With three commissioners from each county and four votes needed to make any decision, there is no mechanism for breaking a tie. Legislators have tried unsuccessfully in past years to intervene and restructure oversight of the bi-county utility.