By Adam Pagnucco.
County Executive Marc Elrich wants to hire a former county council member to work in his office. But there’s a catch: the position does not currently exist. So Elrich has sent legislation over to the council to create the position as a political appointment. The estimated cost?
$214,391 a year.
The legislation in question is Bill 4-23, which has the innocuous title of “Administration – Non-Merit Positions – Special Projects Manager.” The bill would “create a second non-merit Special Projects Manager position in the Office of the County Executive,” meaning that the executive would nominate and the council would confirm its occupant.
Elrich went into more specifics about the position’s duties in his transmittal memo to the council.
The Special Projects Manager will coordinate efforts to extend the physical infrastructure needed to access high speed broadband to every corner of the County; ensuring every resident has the tools they need to leap the digital divide, including access to affordable high-speed broadband, a home computer, and digital literacy training; strategically seek and deploy grants; establish a network of digital navigators; and create a comprehensive online digital literacy resource portal.
The bill’s fiscal impact statement notes that the position will have a salary of $175,000 plus benefits for a total annual compensation cost of $214,391. The statement also says, “Future compensation increases could increase the cost of this position, however, it is difficult to estimate compensation increases for non-merit positions at this time.”
The executive left no mystery around who he wants to appoint to this new position. In an email sent to the council on January 17, the executive’s administrative specialist, Adrienne Craver, wrote:
*****
Subject: Confidential – Recruitment of Special Projects Manager
Good afternoon,
On behalf of County Executive Marc Elrich, please find attached the County Executive’s confidential transmittal memorandum relating to the recruitment of Craig Rice for Special Projects Manager in the Office of the County Executive. This appointment is contingent upon Council adoption of Bill XX-23E, Administration – Non-Merit Positions – Amendment and Executive Regulation 24-22: Special Projects Manager (transmittal package attached for reference).
Thank you,
Adrienne Craver
*****
This email was widely copied, including to members of Elrich’s senior staff. It was no secret in Rockville. Craig Rice is the former council member for District 2 (Upcounty). He left office last year due to term limits.
I am troubled by five aspects of this legislation.
First, this is only the latest instance in an ongoing expansion of the executive’s personal staff. When Doug Duncan first became county executive, he was empowered by the charter to fill three special assistant positions. (He split one of them between two part-time employees.) The current executive has the same special assistant arrangement as Duncan but he also has five additional staffers not counting the assistants to the chief administrative officer. Since 2019, at least two bills – 3-19E and 22-20E – have added positions in the office of the county executive. Is another bill necessary for the taxpayer interest?
Second, this trend of adding new positions in the executive’s office runs counter to Elrich’s 2018 pledge to reduce positions through restructuring. After years of doing nothing but adding positions, Elrich’s “Cost Efficiency Study Group” recommended eliminating just 9 positions in the entire government. Before considering this bill, the council should ask about the current status of restructuring.
Third, the transmittal email from the executive’s office specifically naming Rice was not included in the documents pertaining to the bill on the council’s website. So even though the council knew that Rice was intended to get the job, the general public had no way of knowing. That contradicts the council’s recent discussions on enhancing transparency. As a result, the bill’s hearing had just one speaker – the county executive’s chief administrative officer. If the public had known that this bill was intended to hire a specific recently departed council member, I guarantee that the council would have received more input on it.
Fourth, the county government already has an Office of Broadband Programs that has an $18.8 million budget in FY23 with 57.5 full-time equivalent positions. With that level of resources, is this office incapable of performing the duties outlined in Elrich’s new job?
Finally, while it is not unusual for former council members to be hired by county government, they typically occupy already existing positions that need to be filled. I could be wrong but I don’t recall the drafting of legislation specifically intended to create a new position for a former council member in the past. How many members of the general public can hope to have legislation introduced on their behalf to create a $175,000 county job for them to occupy?
Now to Craig Rice. I have always liked him personally and I thought he was a capable, sensible and conscientious council member. I don’t dispute his qualifications to work on broadband issues since he co-chaired the National Association of Counties’ National Broadband Task Force to Bridge the Digital Divide. If he were to win a fair competition for an existing vacancy in a position related to broadband, there would be no issue here. If he were to win a competitive, openly advertised contract through the procurement office for broadband work, again there would be no issue. The executive branch had options for bringing him in that would have passed muster. It’s also worth noting that Rice made no endorsement in last year’s county executive primary so Elrich cannot be accused of rewarding a political ally.
But this is not about Rice as an individual or his qualifications. It’s about the culture of county government. If the county council allows a county executive – any executive – to create brand new politically-appointed positions for term-limited politicians, that raises questions for the future. Is this going to become standard practice? How does this affect the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches? Will council members be reluctant to criticize executives if they think a high-paying job will be created for them if they play nice? How does this impact public confidence in their government?
The new council began its tenure in office with a major discussion about transparency and good government. Assuming that they were serious, what does that mean for this bill?
We shall find out!