By Adam Pagnucco.
My kid reads this site. My parents read this site. So does much of the rest of my family. Many persons of eminence from across the land visit here whether they truly wish to or not. So certain words, no matter how precisely pertinent, cannot be used here for the sake of decorum. But let’s follow the alliterative tradition established by the great Stan Lee – think Peter Parker, Bruce Banner and Matt Murdock – and call the recent eruption over Park and Planning what it is:
A fecal fracas.
I am not referring to the substantive disagreement over the merits of Senator Ben Kramer’s twin bills on Park and Planning. For a thoughtful take in support, check out the words of County Executive Marc Elrich. For a thoughtful take in opposition, check out the words of former transportation planner Larry Cole. Those kinds of issue-based arguments have a respected place in the politics of this county or anywhere else.
But now let us witness the allegations brought forth by former Planning Board Member Partap Verma, in which he makes two disturbing claims:
1. That former Planning Board Chair Casey Anderson influenced two inspector general investigations, one of which targeted a county council member.
2. That a county council member instructed him, as well as Anderson, to fire former Planning Director Gwen Wright.
Verma made these claims on live video in a legislative hearing, which were subsequently carried by the press. He also hinted that the state ethics commission is investigating them.
Anderson returned fire, accusing Verma of “a campaign of character assassination” intended to take his job as chair and said that “none of the accusations that Mr. Verma has made – about the Inspector General, the County Council, or a ‘toxic workplace’ at the Planning Board – have any merit at all.” It’s impossible to reconcile the versions of history offered by the two.
The melee has consequences. Senator Ben Kramer, author of what Council Member Andrew Friedson has branded the “power grab” bills, picked up on Verma’s claims about the inspector general straight away. Consider this exchange between Kramer and Verma at the hearing.
Kramer: Mr. Verma, real fast. Did I hear you say correctly that the former chair of the planning board kept open investigations that somehow tied sitting council members into the, you know, they were tied into the investigations and by keeping these investigations open, this was leverage over the council members’ heads? Do I understand that correctly?
Verma: That is correct.
Kramer: Wow. Okay. Thank you. I think this is shocking. Colleagues, if there was ever the need to act, we’re at that point in time. Thank you madam chair. This is stunning. Absolutely stunning.
Senator Kramer, the luckiest man in town.
That’s not all. Thrive 2050 opponents are hopping all over this like popcorn bursting from the bag. Here is former county council candidate Cary Lamari, who ran against Thrive, thundering on about alleged corruption in its passage.
This may be great fodder for muckraking bloggers, but it is deadly serious stuff. Montgomery County’s side of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission has more than 1,000 employees who do vital work for the public. Their compensation and career paths are at stake with any discussion of structural shifts. If we want to hire, retain and value the best employees for Park and Planning, this level of political instability is destructive.
Moreover, Verma has called into question the integrity of the county council by alleging that one of its members gave orders to fire the planning director and that at least one of them was pressured by an open investigation. He is also alleging a taint affecting Park and Planning’s Office of Inspector General, which ironically enough was established in state legislation sponsored by Senator Kramer. Who knows if Verma is right, but Kramer is not wrong to label the allegations shocking.
Recently, former Washington Post reporter Miranda Spivack wrote the following about the county’s investigation of the above issues.
For now, the bi-county Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Agency, which houses the Montgomery County planning department, is handling the investigation internally (while its spokeswoman told me it is an “independent” probe). The agency has enlisted the help of outside HR expert Susan Ridenhour, who is conducting interviews.
Because the investigation is ongoing, and the agency refuses to discuss a timetable for its conclusion, the council can conveniently hide behind both the investigative exemption and the personnel exemption of the state’s open records law. But at some point, the investigation will be completed. So at that point, the council could enlighten the public about why it pushed out the board members, how long they were paid or if there was some type of settlement using public funds, and why it then turned around and approved their signature document, Thrive 2050. Council President Evan Glass (D) demurred when I asked him about it, only saying that he is a proponent of as much sunshine as possible.
That is not good enough. It is apparent now that an endless spray of sputum is being shot wildly about in a contest to decide the fate of a venerable agency that has done much good for the public. In the absence of facts, no one should prejudge the truth. But whoever is investigating these issues – the state, Park and Planning or whoever else – should state publicly the nature of their investigation. We should know who is doing it, who is overseeing it and what is included in its scope. And they should promise to release the results to the public. Failure to do so promises only one thing.
That the fecal fracas will continue.