Who Will be the Next Council President? Part One

Every year in the beginning of December, a solemn ritual takes place at the Montgomery County Council. The council hails the departing President for all of the work accomplished in the prior year before electing the Vice-President as the new President. Then, the council elects a new Vice-President who will become President next year. So it has been with only rare exception since the county adopted its current form of government in 1970. So will current Council President Phil Andrews be handing his position to Vice-President Roger Berliner in two months?

That’s a good question.

In the District of Columbia and the City of Baltimore, the office of Council President holds significant authority. In each city, the Council President is elected on an at-large basis every four years and rules for the entire term. The President presides over meetings, schedules votes and determines committee structures. To a large extent, the politics of both cities revolves around the relationship between the Council President and the Mayor.

In Montgomery County, the Council President is a rotating office. Every year, the Council elects both a President and Vice-President. Just as in Baltimore and the District, the President presides over meetings, schedules votes and determines committee structures. But any structural changes made by a President can be undone by the next President, so most Presidents are careful in the exercise of their power. There is a significant incentive against over-reach because this year’s President can be next year’s victim. The Vice-President has little function other than to take over the office of President next year, a longstanding custom on the council.

Despite the limitations of the office, most Council Members want to serve as President at least once during their careers. For one year, the Council President rises above the other members, gets more attention in the press and receives a small temporary pay increase. They represent the council in many settings, including in joint appearances with the County Executive. There are occasionally fun, if very minor, perks. For example, you have to believe that any of the male Council Members would have loved to trade places with Phil Andrews when he was serenaded by Bernadette Peters at the Strathmore! And in general, most politicians tend to enjoy having the title “President” next to their names.

One more thing: the office of President is thought to be valuable during an election year. In 1998, Ike Leggett was the President and finished first in the at-large Democratic primary. In 2002, Steve Silverman was the President and finished first in the at-large Democratic primary. And in 2006, George Leventhal was the President and finished first in the at-large Democratic primary. Of course, there were other reasons for the victories of each of these fellows, but being President certainly did not hurt.

Roger Berliner, the current Vice-President, could be expected by custom to become the President in December. He does not appear to need the office from any electoral perspective because he has no announced challenger at the moment. But this has been anything but an ordinary term for the council and other forces are at play. We’ll begin exploring them in Part Two.