MCEA is the acknowledged master of precinct day ballot handouts with its famous Apple Ballot, but now several other groups are getting into the act today. Will it mean anything?
We have heard that six groups will be distributing ballots listing their endorsed candidates today: Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, SEIU Local 500, Casa in Action, the Volunteer Fire Fighters, the Sierra Club and Progressive Neighbors.
Here’s a copy of the Volunteers’ ballot.
Here’s the District 15 version of SEIU’s Purple Ballot.
Here’s the Sierra Club poll piece.
Here’s a copy of Casa in Action’s ballot.
And here’s Progressive Neighbors’ ballot.
Just because these organizations intend to distribute ballots does not mean they will actually do so. Montgomery County is a huge jurisdiction with 246 voting precincts. A group that wishes to cover them all would ideally field three shifts of two volunteers each, or 1,476 total distributors. Not even MCEA, which maxes out at somewhere around 500-600 distributors, can get anywhere close to that number. Alternatively, a group could simply leave its ballots on the precinct tables, but that almost guarantees they will not be read.
Some of the above groups may be able to deploy several dozen volunteers if they work really hard. Others may only be able to send a couple dozen, and yet others are probably just blowing smoke. But some of these “little Apples” will get passed out. The big question is where. More than one ballot group will be targeting the District 14 Senate race in an effort to get rid of incumbent Rona Kramer. (The Volunteers are the only organization listed here who endorsed her.) But that district may not have many members of these groups. This sort of unpredictability makes it hard to believe that any ballot other than the Apple will have a big impact on any state legislative race.
But there is one contest in which geography is irrelevant: Council At-Large. Every ballot handed out in every precinct has the potential for affecting that race. Here are the at-large candidates who are listed on each of the ballots.
Apple Ballot
Marc Elrich
George Leventhal
Hans Riemer
Becky Wagner
Other Ballots
Marc Elrich: Police, SEIU, Sierra Club, Casa, Neighbors (5)
Hans Riemer: Police, SEIU, Sierra Club, Volunteers, Casa (5)
Nancy Floreen: Police, SEIU, Casa (3)
George Leventhal: Police, SEIU, Casa (3)
Duchy Trachtenberg: Sierra Club, Neighbors (2)
So if these ballots have any impact at all on the at-large primary, it is likely to benefit Elrich and Riemer (who is the only at-large candidate listed on the Volunteers’ ballot) and damage Trachtenberg. We may not be talking about a lot of affected votes, but there does not have to be very many. On primary election night in 1998, Steve Silverman led Pat Baptiste for the fourth at-large seat by just 640 votes. In 2002, challenger George Leventhal defeated incumbent Blair Ewing for the fourth at-large seat by 1,140 votes. With Riemer looking strong, Floreen holding steady, Trachtenberg having problems and Becky Wagner going negative, anything can happen in this election. And any factor that swings a few hundred votes here or there could make the difference.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Ballots, Ballots Everywhere
Friday, September 10, 2010
Police Call for Investigation of Duchy Trachtenberg (Updated)
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 has called on the Maryland Attorney General, the State’s Attorney of Montgomery County and the U.S. Attorney for Maryland to investigate Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg’s conduct as Treasurer of Maryland NOW. Following is their letter, as well as a few attachments.
September 9,2010
Douglas Gansler
Attorney General
Office of the Attorney General
200 St. Paul Place
Baltimore, MD 21202
Dear Mr. Gansler:
The Board of Directors of Fraternal Order of Police, Montgomery County Lodge 35 has directed that I write to you requesting an investigation as explained below. In making this request, we want to be clear that we are not alleging that any crime has been committed by anyone in this matter.
Since December 4, 2006, Marie “Duchy” Trachtenberg has been an elected member of the Montgomery County Council. She is a public official who serves as chair of the Management and Fiscal Policy Committee of the Montgomery County Council and in that capacity heads the County Council's Audit Committee.
From sometime prior to December 2006 until December 15, 2008, Councilmember Trachtenberg served as treasurer of Maryland National Organization for Women [“NOW”]. Maryland NOW is an organization with an address in Silver Spring, Montgomery County, Maryland. We do not know if the matters, infra, involve more than one state or more than one political subdivision within Maryland.
Based upon information believed to be credible, reliable and accurate, the past president of Maryland NOW, in her capacity as president of Maryland NOW, made serious allegations against Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg, former treasurer of Maryland NOW.
Those allegations are detailed in a document titled, “National Organization For Women Grievance Committee Decision” in the matter of Maryland NOW v. Duchy Trachtenberg, dated November 9,2009. Decision attached.
According to the decision, Councilmember Trachtenberg failed to turn over records that she maintained as a fiduciary. Further, it is alleged that “Ms. Trachtenberg regularly utilized Maryland NOW’s ATM card to make cash withdrawals [and] used the ATM card to make regular purchases at retail outlets including but not limited to Lord & Taylor, Victoria’s Secret, Filenes Basement, Target, Williams Sonoma, [theaters and food stores] and numerous dining establishments.”
The decision further states that “according to SunTrust Bank records, Ms. Trachtenberg wrote numerous checks to herself ... and numerous checks to her husband ...” No documentation or expense reports justifying these expenses were provided, according to the decision.
The decision concludes that “Maryland NOW is unable to determine whether the $19,345.26 Ms. Trachtenberg returned to Maryland NOW at the end of her term as Treasurer represents the full amount owed to the organization.” (According to the decision, only $494.73 of this sum was from the authorized NOW account at SunTrust, the remainder was in the form of a cashier's check "from Bank of America a bank at which Maryland NOW had no account.”)
We make no claim as to the accuracy of these allegations and must presume that Councilmember Trachtenberg is innocent of any wrongdoing or inappropriate conduct. We do, however, note that in a January 20, 2010 article which appeared in the Gazette newspapers, it is reported that Bruce Bender, “[a]n attorney representing Montgomery County Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg has asked the Maryland Chapter of the National Organization for Women to dismiss a claim that Trachtenberg mishandled money while serving as treasurer of the organization.” The article refers to “a Dec. 9 [2009] letter to Terry O’Neill, national president of NOW [from Mr. Bender who reportedly] called concerns raised about Trachtenberg’s bookkeeping ‘totally frivolous.’ He requests that NOW ‘dismiss the grievance’ and that NOW members stop discussing the matter with the media.”
We expect that our motives will be questioned. but suggest that we had no part in the allegations against Councilmember Trachtenberg, the grievance against her, or the Grievance Committee Decision. Furthermore, we had no part in the January 20, 2010 Gazette article; the September 1, 2010 article on Maryland Politics Watch, or the May 2009 proposed amendments to Maryland NOW’s bylaws which track the matters addressed in the grievance decision. See attached.
This is not an issue of our making. The focus ought to be on the conduct of Councilmember Trachtenberg, not on messengers.
Indeed, on her County Council web page, Councilmember Trachtenberg says, “As MFP Chair, [her] primary mission is the stewardship of the County's fiscal health. [Councilmember Trachtenberg] guides the yearly budget-making process to ensure the protection of the County’s long-term stability while funding essential priorities and protecting the vulnerable, with transparency, equity and fiscal responsibility.”
In fairness, we take note of praise of Councilmember Trachtenberg by NOW president Terry O’Neill, a former aide to Councilmember Trachtenberg. See attached.
In all good conscience, we consider these allegations to be serious and call upon you and your office to fairly, impartially, and objectively investigate this matter and to take such action as is appropriate.
“As MFP Chair, Councilmember Trachtenberg’s primary mission is the stewardship of the County's fiscal health.”
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/tratmpl.asp?url=/content/council/mem/trachtenberg d/about.asp
We believe that this request of independent prosecutors for such investigations is not only appropriate but fully consistent with Councilmember's own stated priorities of “transparency, equity and fiscal responsibility.” Id.
Similar requests are being made to the Montgomery County State’s Attorney and the United States Attorney.
Sincerely,
Denise Gill Acting Secretary
cc:
John McCarthy
State’s Attorney
Montgomery County, Maryland
Judicial Center, 5th floor
50 Maryland Ave.
Rockville, MD 20850
Rod J. Rosenstein
United States Attorney
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Maryland
36 S. Charles Street 4th Fl.
Baltimore, Md. 21201
Here is a copy of the letter on letterhead.
Here is a copy of the NOW grievance decision referenced in the letter.
Here is a copy of the recommended Maryland NOW bylaws changes that were considered after Trachtenberg left as their Treasurer.
The Gazette article can be found here and the MPW post referenced in the letter can be found here.
Update: The Gazette also has this story.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Police, Fire Fighters and MCGEO Launch Independent Expenditure Campaign
MCGEO and the unions representing the police and the career fire fighters have joined forces to launch an independent expenditure campaign with three goals: decry budget cuts, push back against the school system and help three candidates in the Council At-Large race.
The independent effort, called Protect Your Montgomery, includes both a website and one mailer (so far) that we reprint below.
Here’s what they say about the school system:The budget and service cuts didn’t have to be so deep, so harsh, or so concentrated on just a fewessential County services.
And here’s what they say about the three at-large candidates they are supporting:
The County’s School Board Bureaucracy got 57% of the $4.3 billion County budget. The School Board budget protected 2,626 Education bureaucrats who earn more than $100,000
a year. The School Board did cut some classroom teachers, but School Superintendant Jerry Weast, with an annual compensation package worth $489,763 last year, refused to participate in any austerity— rejecting even a symbolic “furlough” to cut into his own income.
The Education Bureaucracy is highly skilled at protecting itsprerogatives, leaving it up to you, your neighbors and your communities to absorb the harshest cuts in this budget.Some candidates for office in the County agree with our concerns, while others have turned their backs on us.
Ironically, Leventhal, Elrich and Riemer have also been endorsed by MCEA.
There are three At-Large seats on the County Council. In 2010, incumbents George Leventhal and Marc Elrich have proven themselves to be Champions of Public Service. We believe that Hans Riemer, because of his background and experience, also qualifies as a Champion of Public Service.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Park Police Union Makes Endorsements
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 30, which represents the Park Police, has announced their endorsements for County Council and the state legislature. Following is their press release.
For Immediate Release:
August 29, 2010
Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #30 – Representing the Men and Women of the Maryland National Park Police announce their endorsements for Montgomery County Council, State Senate and State Delegate for Montgomery County.
Upper Marlboro, MD – Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #30, announce their endorsements for Montgomery County Council, State Senate and State Delegate for Montgomery County. FOP, Lodge #30 represents the men and women of the Maryland-National Park Police in both Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, protecting both citizen and environment in over 60,000 acres of recreational area and parkland.
We proudly endorse the following candidates for State Legislature:
Senator Rona Kramer – District 14
Senator Rob Garagiola – District 15
Senator Brian Frosh – District 16
Senator Jamie Raskin – District 20
Delegate Kathleen Dumais – District 15
Delegate Bill Frick – District 16
Delegate James Gilchrist – District 17
Delegate Ben Kramer – District 19
For County Council:
Roger Berliner – District 1
Royce Hanson – District 2
Valerie Ervin – District 5
Hans Riemer – At Large
Becky Wagner – At Large
Nancy Floreen – At Large
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Police Union Endorses for Council
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 has announced their endorsements for County Council. They are supporting:
Council At-Large: Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, George Leventhal, Hans Riemer
Council District 1: No Endorsement
Council District 2: Craig Rice
Council District 3: No Endorsement
Council District 4: Nancy Navarro (unopposed)
Council District 5: Valerie Ervin (unopposed)
The Police and the career Fire Fighters made joint endorsements in the state legislative races. But we hear that the Fire Fighters' council list has at least one difference from the police.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Police, Fire Fighters Picket Trachtenberg Again
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664 and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 enjoyed picketing Duchy Trachtenberg’s campaign kickoff so much that they decided to do it again last night, this time at her joint fundraiser with Marc Elrich at McGinty’s. The unions were careful to make clear that they were picketing Trachtenberg and not Elrich. While the two unions have picketed other Council Members, Trachtenberg has provoked them in particular with her last-day introduction of a disability bill, her slamming the county’s entire public employee labor movement and her decision to cross the unions’ picket line in the past. Following are pictures of the picketers along with a special guest.
“Duchy Furloughs Working Moms”
“Why Doesn’t Duchy Support Women Candidates?”
“Don’t Furlough My Daddy”
Ike Leggett Crosses the Picket Line
“Duchy Voted for a Man to Have 4 Bodyguards but Abused Women to Have None”
This was fun, everybody! Let’s do it again!
Friday, July 30, 2010
Fire Fighters, Police Announce General Assembly Endorsements
International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664 and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 have announced their endorsements in the state legislative races. The two unions have cooperated in making these endorsements jointly. They will be endorsing for County Council later. Following is their release.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
The Politics of Union Bashing
Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg is introducing a new bill that would mandate a two-tier disability program for non-school employees other than fire fighters (who bargained one years ago), which is anathema to MCGEO and the Fraternal Order of Police. This is no mere bill, but rather the start of a new round of union bashing by Trachtenberg and the Washington Post going into the last six weeks of the election campaign.
The timing of the bill’s introduction is interesting. It was submitted on the very last day of council work (July 27) prior to the August recess. The next day of council work will be on September 20, six days after the primary. So there will be no public hearing, no opportunity for opponents to challenge it and no analysis of the bill by staff until after the election. The only public comment on the bill will come from Trachtenberg herself, her two co-sponsors (Phil Andrews and Roger Berliner) and the Washington Post’s editorial board.
That’s right, Post editorial writer Lee Hockstader (who openly brags about his power to determine elections) was briefed about the bill over a week before the unions who represent the affected employees were told. Hockstader will now have an opportunity to praise Trachtenberg, blast the unions and blast the Council Members who voted against mandatory imposition of a two-tier system a year ago. One of the Council Members who opposed mandating a two-tier system was none other than George Leventhal, whom Hockstader is determined to bring down. Leventhal and Valerie Ervin, Mike Knapp and Nancy Floreen preferred to leave the issue to collective bargaining, as Sec. 33-107 of the Montgomery County Code specifies.
It’s worth recalling the history of the issue. Problems in the county’s disability retirement program were first identified by Inspector General Tom Dagley in 2008. His report did not discuss the need for a two-tier system at all, but instead concentrated on changing management procedures. Dagley wrote:The findings relate to the need for the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to improve internal controls and management oversight to ensure SCDR [service-connected disability retirement] benefits are protected against abuse, and for the Department of Police to ensure compliance with medical examination program requirements and related standards regarding the health status and functional capabilities of police officers.
A ream of data ignored by the Post shows the true size of the county’s disabled police workforce. The number of officers claiming disability benefits since 1985 has averaged eleven per year. That’s right: only eleven. And disabled retirements have accounted for just 1.2% of sworn officers over the last twenty-five years. Furthermore, the two poster children for abuse – officers who collected disability but went on to other jobs – were Assistant Police Chiefs John King and William C. O’Toole. Both of them were senior management who were not represented by the union.
Lost in all of this is that the Fraternal Order of Police actually put forth a proposal for a three-tier disability system last year. Here it is:
For whatever reason, this proposal did not make it through bargaining with the Police Department. If management had accepted it, a multi-tier system would be in operation today.
The bottom line is that the Inspector General diagnosed management failures as responsible for program problems. Management could fix them tomorrow by cracking down. But that would mean that senior managers like King and O’Toole could not avail themselves of benefits so easily. And so, at the hands of opportunistic politicians like Trachtenberg and union-bashing opinion writers like Hockstader, a management issue has been morphed into a “union problem.” Just how far they are willing to go is demonstrated by the fact that Trachtenberg accuses the Inspector General of ethics violations but still uses his work to score political points.
And so this last-minute bill is not about policy. If it was, it would have been introduced months ago and subject to public hearings and free and fair debate. Instead, it is all about giving Duchy Trachtenberg something to run on and giving Post editorial writer Lee Hockstader a reason to beat up unions over a management issue and slam any politicians willing to talk to them.
This sort of thing is why many people hate politics.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Police, Fire Fighters Picket Berliner Fundraiser
First Nancy Navarro, second Nancy Floreen, third Valerie Ervin and now Roger Berliner's event in Chevy Chase. These two unions are a threat to wind up anywhere now.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Police Picket Ervin Fundraiser (Update)
Last night, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 picketed Council Member Valerie Ervin's fundraiser in Downtown Silver Spring. It's one thing for the police to picket Nancy Navarro or Nancy Floreen, but it's quite another for them to picket a twenty-five year veteran of the labor movement like Ervin. Still, Ervin supported furloughs along with the rest of the council.
Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg, who has changed her position to reject all county employee union support, prepares to cross the picket line.
Update: We hear other politicians crossed the picket line too. Trachtenberg is the only one for whom we have a photograph.
Wednesday, June 09, 2010
Police, Fire Fighters Picket Floreen Fundraiser
Less than three weeks after picketing Council Member Nancy Navarro's fundraiser in Silver Spring, the police and fire fighter unions picketed a fundraiser held by Council President Nancy Floreen in Bethesda tonight. Someone at the event was so unhappy with the demonstrators that he or she called police management to complain. Ever hear of the First Amendment, people?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Consequences of the Budget, Part Three
The school system was not the only powerful institution that was challenged by the budget. Also in the crosshairs were the public employee unions.
Labor
When analyzing the unions, it’s important to keep in mind their differences rather than assume them to be monolithic. There are six county employee unions. MCEA, which represents teachers, SEIU Local 500, which represents school support staff, and the Montgomery County Association of Administrative and Supervisory Personnel (MCAASP), which represents school supervisors, all have members in the school system. They negotiate their contracts with the Superintendent, who sends them to the elected Board of Education for approval. The County Council can set the overall size of the school budget, but they cannot dictate line items in school contracts or specific employee policies (like furloughs). The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 represents police officers, the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664 represents career fire fighters and MCGEO represents nearly all other non-managerial line workers. These three unions negotiate contracts with the County Executive, which are then approved by the council. The County Council has lots of authority over these contracts, and can reject them, refuse to fund increases contained in them and can even strike individual provisions in them. In most years, the six unions get similar gains, but this year was different.
One significant result of this budget is an angry split between the public employee unions. None of them are getting general wage adjustments or step increases, but in other ways they are being treated differently. The County Executive’s original proposal subjected non-public safety employees to ten days of furloughs each. (The Executive does not have the authority to decide questions related to staffing in the school system.) So of the six public employee unions, only MCGEO – which represents nearly everyone except for police officers, fire fighters and education employees – would have been hit by furloughs.
MCGEO fought back, arguing that they were unfairly targeted and basic fairness held that all employees should be furloughed at the same rate. Four County Council Members agreed with MCGEO in principle at their parking garage rally. Council staff found that if furloughs were spread across the government, each employee would only have to take 1.5 days. This prompted a response from the school unions, who raised questions about the feasibility of furloughs in the schools and argued that changes to the county reserves would be sufficient to prevent all furloughs. But the council, which was under pressure from bond rating agencies, did not buy it. In the end, they chose to implement a progressive furlough structure of three to eight days for non-school employees, with higher-paid workers taking more furlough days. The school system took a budget cut but did not have to take furloughs.
This approach created winners and losers among the unions. MCGEO is a loser, but it did suffer fewer furlough days than under the Executive’s proposal. The police and fire fighters are big losers. The Executive did not propose furloughs for them, but the council implemented them anyway. The school unions successfully held off all furloughs.
Most importantly, the six unions could not agree on a common approach to the budget. While the three school unions largely stuck together, the remaining three county government unions (MCGEO, the police and fire fighters) not only went against the schools, they also went against each other. Next year could see a similar conflict. While there has always been occasional friction between the unions owing to different budget priorities and different styles (especially among the leaders), it has been a LONG time since they were this far apart.
This picture of a public safety worker protesting Council Member Nancy Navarro’s fundraiser says it all about the state of inter-union relations.
The big question is whether the unions’ disagreements over the budget will spill over into their electoral cooperation. Regardless of their squabbling, they are all better off if they make the same endorsements and work together on behalf of their candidates. If not, only their hardened enemies on the council will benefit.
Tomorrow, we’ll look at the long term.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Police, Fire Fighters Picket Navarro Fundraiser
Council Member Nancy Navarro won last year’s District 4 special election with lots of labor support. But that did not stop members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35 and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1664 from picketing her fundraiser in Silver Spring’s Forest Glen Seminary yesterday. Navarro, along with the rest of the council, decided to furlough public safety workers after County Executive Ike Leggett recommended furloughs only for non-public safety employees. If the police and fire fighters will do this to Navarro, they will take on anyone. We have photos below.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Police Union Accuses Gazette of Irresponsible Journalism
Following is a letter sent to the Gazette by Walt Bader, Executive Director of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, concerning a recent article published by the newspaper on the budget and a reader's response to it. When the Gazette addresses this, we will link to their comment.
Editor
The Gazette
9030 Comprint Court Gaithersburg, MD 20877
Since the Gazette has, on April 28, published a reader's letter about a story it ran on March 17, I think it appropriate that I respond. [Letter by George Stierle, "Police union has no reason to complain," April 28.]
The Story: The March story claimed that "[s]ome Montgomery County union leaders are lashing out at County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) because his $4.3 billion budget proposal for fiscal 2011 includes layoffs, furloughs and wage freezes." In the following paragraph, it was reported that I "say[] Leggett illegally denied police officers the pay raises they were to receive in their negotiated contracts."
"'He's required to put in what's in the contract,' Bader said of Leggett. 'He's required to do that. If he doesn't then he is in violation of the law.'"
The Facts: I never spoke with any Gazette reporter about Leggett‟s actual budget. All of my comments were made on March 12 – three days before the budget was released and more than three days before I first saw the budget. The story certainly misleads a reasonable reader to believe that my comments were made after release of the recommended budget.
I did not lash out at anyone or anything. While the Gazette does not specifically say that I did, Mr. Stierle drew that conclusion and premised most of his letter on the apparent mistaken belief that I had responded to Leggett‟s budget.
The conversation with the reporter was about the law and an arbitration award. There was never a discussion about what Leggett did or did not do.
In a March 12 follow-up e-mail to your reporter, transmitting a copy of the actual arbitration award, I wrote: "Since I haven't seen the county executive's recommended budget, my comments are conditional, hence my use of 'if,' 'could,' 'potentially,' etc"
I further wrote, "By law, the county is required to include the arbitrator's award in his recommended budget. By law, the county executive may not directly or indirectly oppose appropriation of funds in a collective bargaining agreement."
Moreover, I sent to your reporter a chart showing that about $700,000 was spent by the county on tuition that was not authorized under our contract.
Significantly, both the arbitration award and my e-mail to your reporter point out that the FOP proposed giving up a scheduled 4.25% pay increase for the second consecutive year. Had that been reported, perhaps Mr. Stierle would have known that we made significant concessions.
This is not responsible journalism.
Walter E. Bader
Fraternal Order of Police
Montgomery County Lodge 35
Monday, April 26, 2010
Hanson Blasts Leggett’s Proposed Police Consolidation
In a blistering letter sent to the County Council, outgoing Planning Chair Royce Hanson is blasting a new proposal by County Executive Ike Leggett to consolidate the county’s Police Department with M-NCPPC’s Park Police. Hanson’s opposition to the proposal is not unusual, but the blunt language in his letter certainly is!
In his latest round of proposed budget cuts, Leggett estimated that “consolidated command, combined call dispatch and redeployment of Park Police officers” would save $2 million. Hanson disagrees, saying the proposal “is bad public policy and management,” “imperils the safety of park users, especially in down-county parks” and will not save any money. Hanson calls the proposal “another attempt by the Executive to wrest power over the park system and park land.” Hanson claims that the average cost of a Park Police work year is $101,000 compared to the $117,000-123,000 average cost of a county police work year. He says, “There has been no underlying analysis of the assumptions used to reach the purported savings nor any impact statement.” Translation: Hanson thinks the $2 million number is pure fiction.
Hanson summarizes his position with this statement:The proposal is a first step toward destruction of a great park system, and ultimately, the [Park and Planning] Commission. The Executive has made no secret of his interest in taking control of the parks. Even though it is clear that the only way money might be actually saved through a merger of Commission functions and County functions is through a merger of the [county’s] Department of Recreation into the [Commission’s] Department of Parks. Such a merger was accomplished 40 years ago in Prince George’s County. The result is a far richer recreation program than we have in Montgomery County. By dismembering the Park Police the predictable result will be a decline in park safety, which will then be used as an excuse for transferring the entire department and its management of all of the County’s parkland to the Executive. This will place 10% of the County’s land area that has been acquired over the years and dedicated to active and passive parks, conservation areas, and environmentally protected areas under direct political control, rather than in the trust of the independent Park and Planning Commission. This is a result that I shall oppose with every bit of energy and resolve I can muster.
We reproduce the entire letter below.
