By Adam Pagnucco.
Montgomery County government hires the vast majority of its employees through its merit system, which is insulated from direct participation by elected officials. However, a relative handful of top managers are political appointees, who are nominated by the county executive and confirmed by the county council. A new bill soon to be introduced by Council Member Will Jawando, who is the Democratic nominee for county executive, would convert at least sixteen of these merit positions into political appointments.
Expedited Bill 50-26, lead sponsored by Jawando and cosponsored by Council Members Shebra Evans, Evan Glass, Sidney Katz and Kristin Mink, would expand the direct appointment powers of the county executive. As an expedited bill, it would take effect “on the date on which it becomes law.”
The bill summary states:
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Under current County law, certain deputy directors of County departments and principal offices are merit positions, whereas others are non-merit positions appointed by the County Executive and confirmed by the County Council.
The Expedited Bill would convert deputy director positions (or their equivalents) that are currently merit positions into non-merit positions. In addition, the bill would make certain heads of non-principal Executive offices into non-merit positions.
Specifically, the following currently merit positions would become appointees of the Executive subject to Council confirmation:
– Deputy County Attorney;
– Executive Director, Office of Animal Services;
– Executive Director, Office of the Commission for Women;
– Executive Director, Office of Community Use of Public Facilities;
– Executive Director, Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security;
– Executive Director, Office of Human Rights;
– Deputy Directors, Department of General Services (currently, only one is appointed);
– Chief Operating Officer, Department of Health and Human Services;
– Deputy Director, Department of Permitting Services;
– Deputy Director, Office of Public Information;
– Deputy Director, Office of Human Resources;
– Chief Operating Officer, Department of Finance
– Chief, Division of Fire and Rescue Operations, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services (MCFRS);
– Chief, Division of Support Services, MCFRS;
– Chief, Division of Fiscal Management, MCFRS;
– Chief, Division of Human Resources, MCFRS;
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Another expedited bill would add two Assistant Chief Administrative Officer (ACAO) positions, who are already political appointees under current law.
Sec. 401 of the county’s charter states, “Any law which creates a new department, principal office, or agency, or designates a position as a non-merit position, requires the affirmative vote of seven Councilmembers for enactment.”
Jawando makes this case for the bills in his transmittal memo: “Residents judge the County government by whether it works: whether the permit gets issued, the call gets returned, and the program does what we said it would do. These bills strengthen County government by giving every department clear leadership that answers for results, with the Council confirming who those leaders are.”
I recall that both Ike Leggett and Marc Elrich persuaded the county council to convert some merit positions into political appointments early in their tenure, so Jawando’s proposal is not unprecedented. Moreover, Bill 50-26 states that current merit system occupants of these positions will retain them until they leave “through transfer, promotion, demotion, retirement, or other separation from service.” Also of note is that all of the above positions pay well into six figures.
Who would County Executive Jawando hire to occupy them? And who other than Jawando and the council members would evaluate the job qualifications of the candidates and vet their past performance?
Government merit systems exist for a reason: to protect civil servants from political influence. Efforts to erode merit systems, such as those by President Donald Trump, may yield benefits for politicians (and those seeking jobs from them) but not so much for taxpayers. The council must ask whether this legislation is truly in the public interest before voting on it.