Ficker's Victory Leaves Politicos Black and Blue

At a council meeting this week, county lobbyist Melanie Wenger suggested that the message to legislators should be to "severely resist" any changes in state aid formulas that provide additional funding for certain school systems, including Montgomery, and pay the retirement costs of teachers employed by counties.

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has resisted pressure to make such changes in the past, but the magnitude of the state's budget problems are even greater for fiscal 2010.

Montgomery's public schools have requested $114 million for construction and renovation, including $19 million for the second year of work at Walter Johnson High and Galway Elementary schools. But Wenger told the council that O'Malley is expected to recommend only $260 million in school construction funds statewide.

On the transportation front, the county is again pushing for funding the Purple Line, Corridor Cities Transitway and road projects related to the Pentagon's base realignment and closure plan. But council members said the state's current source of revenue for such projects is unsustainable.

It's an all-around gloomy picture that could get worse. Wenger told the council: "You can expect another round of cuts" in January or with the introduction of the governor's budget.

The meeting Tuesday also inadvertently exposed a communication gap when the discussion turned to economic development. Included in a draft of Leggett's priorities was a proposal to secure funding to lure a Maryland Clean Energy Center to the county. A law passed during the last legislative session created the center to encourage the development of clean energy technologies, and Leggett has been lobbying to locate the center in the county.

Council members looked surprised by the proposal and seemed taken aback at not learning of it sooner.

"It seems like the executive branch is talking to itself and we're only now learning of this," said George L. Leventhal (D-At Large).

As it turns out, the trouble may be that council members have not talked among themselves. An e-mail to President Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty) from Leggett's environmental protection director, Bob Hoyt, in early October includes a copy of a proposal that makes the case for putting the center in Montgomery. The e-mail mentions that Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda) has also been involved in the effort.

Leggett Proposal Targets Neighborhood Scofflaws

All the things that can make or break neighborhood relationships -- cars parked on the lawn, home improvement projects that never end, the sense that there is little follow-up from county government when violations are discovered -- are the subject of an extensive package of legislation proposed last week by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).

The bills, which will need approval by the County Council before taking effect, would increase fines for repeat violators from $500 to $750 per day. They would also set up a system to nab people who are operating businesses from their homes without proper permits. And they would provide a time limit on building permits and their renewal. If a project isn't done in 18 months, the permit holder would probably be penalized, according to the bills.

Leggett's legislative package also takes on the pesky issue of parking for commercial and recreational vehicles. Knapp has introduced similar legislation that would ban commercial vehicles, large pickup trucks and RVs from parking on all residential streets and on roads with schools, hospitals, churches and playgrounds.