By Adam Pagnucco.
Yesterday, an open letter by former Planning Board Chair Gus Bauman caught fire and generated lots of discussion. Some agreed with Bauman’s critique of county politics. Others disagreed and were even offended. But at least a robust discussion was had, which was why I printed it.
Is Bauman right?
First, before answering that question, let’s acknowledge Bauman’s fifty year history in county affairs. Bauman has been a direct witness and sometimes a player in landmark county events like the redevelopment of Silver Spring, the history of the Purple Line, the formulation of policies on transportation and WMATA funding and the major land use battles of yesteryear. I value the perspective of people with this kind of experience whether I agree with them or not. A good supplement to the testimony of folks like Bauman is Suburb: Planning Politics and the Public Interest, the excellent book on county history by former Planning Board Chair Royce Hanson. We can always benefit from studying the county’s past, especially when guided by folks who lived through it.
Now to three points on which I agree with Bauman.
The Media
There is no question that the volume of coverage of this county has declined significantly over the years, and that’s not a problem unique to us. In pure political terms, the media can offer great value by helping us detect the differences between candidates. When I first moved here more than twenty years ago, it was hard for me to see how candidates substantively differed from each other because their messages (invariably that of left-wing Democrats) were often so similar as to be indistinguishable. That problem has gotten worse, because when local media recedes, voters have less information on which to cast educated votes. Providing that information is a major mission of Montgomery Perspective, but that’s no substitute for seeing a Gazette newspaper on your doorstep every Wednesday morning or having a team of Post reporters operating out of an office in Rockville.
The Economy
Bauman is indisputably correct that the county’s economic competitiveness has deteriorated over the last two decades. This has been a major theme of my writing for most of my tenure. If you don’t believe it, check out my latest series on comparative economic statistics, which was one of many on the topic. The longer this problem goes on, the harder it will be to fix.
The Federal Government
Bauman was right to point out MoCo’s vulnerability to reductions in the federal government. I have previously written about its huge role in our economy and our county budget. The federal government has been our security blanket in the past, but now President Donald Trump is using it to smother us and our state government as well. Every single elected official in the county is worried about this and you should worry too.
Now to bits of difference. Bauman casts shade at “the ever-larger number of sub-par egos” running for office and says, “Instead of electing somebodies we are increasingly being urged to elect nobodies.” Well, OK. I think it can be a natural tendency to idealize the past. I do it myself. For example, when County Executive Ike Leggett was in office, I criticized him relentlessly (and earned the ire of many of his loyalists). My opinion of him has improved over the years, perhaps because of comparison with his successor. But when I compare the county council of 20 years ago to the one of today, I don’t see major differences in intelligence, temperament or talent overall. (I have my favorites from each era.) There was factionalism, pettiness, mud-slinging, statements of dubious truth and so on back then just as there is today. Politics is politics, folks!
Nevertheless, there are major differences between the political worlds of then and now. The first is the nationalization of local politics. The council of yesterday was consumed with the issues addressable by their direct authority: the budget, taxes, land use and local legislation. The council of today – and not just ours! – adds national and progressive fad issues to the mix. One example: when Marc Elrich was on the council, he never introduced a rent control bill because he knew he didn’t have the votes. This council passed rent control on a 7-4 vote and look at how that turned out. Defunding police and immigration matters are other national issues playing out here. Some of this is because of choices made by our politicians, but much of it is also driven by national realities and demographics.
Another difference is a breakdown in culture, particularly at the council and partly due to term limits. When I worked at the council from 2010-14, my employer was a freshman council member (Hans Riemer). He and former Delegate Craig Rice were the only two freshmen on a nine-member council. The place had an old guard at the time, both among the members and the central staff, who would break in the newbies. Some were quite two-fisted about it while others were more kind. (Roger Berliner stood out for his gracious nature.) Either way, the message was that the place had rules. There were things you could do and other things that would get your knuckles rapped. There was also a time for politics and a time for getting serious (especially on the terrible budgets of the Great Recession). The system turned newbies into the old guard themselves, who would pass on the traditions and structure of the place to the next generation.
That has broken down a bit, partially because of term limits and partially because of staff turnover. When a majority of the county council are freshmen (as this one is) and many of the central staff are new (or newish), it’s hard for any “old guard” to preserve cultural norms and decorum. That encourages the latent instinct of most politicians to be political entrepreneurs, or even worse, showmen without substance. But let’s not blame the politicians as individuals alone: it’s also an institutional thing. And because term limits are forever and today’s central staff have less professional autonomy than their predecessors, this problem may be hard to solve.
One more factor is the decline of the Washington Post editorial board. This has been going on for quite a while. An elected official once told me that when they first came into office more than twenty years ago and the Post issued a strong local editorial, it would be accompanied by dozens or even hundreds of comments from constituents. By the time this person left office, constituents seldom commented on the Post’s views. Now the Post editorial board barely writes about us at all. I had lots of differences with them (for example, I found them to be ideologically anti-union), but at least they were a counter-weight to the interest groups, many of whom want more tax dollars. In hindsight, meaningful political diversity – and not just slightly varying shades of deep blue – can be useful.
Finally, the local challenges of today are more severe than twenty years ago. (An exception was the Great Recession of 2008-12, which was a national crisis confronted by all localities.) The challenges faced by MoCo local elected officials in the early aughts were chiefly caused by the consequences of success. The county had robust economic growth and competed hard with Northern Virginia. Some of this growth was driven by excellence at MCPS. In 2007, U.S. News and World Report’s list of the 100 best high schools in America included Thomas S. Wootton (34), Walt Whitman (40) and Winston Churchill (42). In today’s list, no MCPS high schools make the top 100. The highest ranked is Whitman at 130, followed by Wootton at 191 and Poolesville at 272. No other MCPS high school breaks the top 400.
And so the elected officials of twenty-plus years ago were preoccupied with how to deal with development and new residents. How would we plan and pay for all the infrastructure needed to accommodate the people and businesses who wanted to move in? Impact taxes, transportation policy reviews, the Intercounty Connector, land use policies and the optimal rate of growth were urgent and major issues on which county leaders disagreed. Political lines were drawn between those who favored more development and those who didn’t, but nearly all county candidates agreed that we were going to get it and we would have to manage it.
Today’s challenges have to deal with managing relative – and maybe even absolute – decline. We trail most of our competitors on almost every meaningful economic measure, we are losing taxpayer income to net out-migration at accelerating rates and our crown jewel – MCPS – has been called into question. And while our revenue potential dries up, the needs of our community are much greater than they once were. These problems didn’t start overnight, so let’s not idealize our leaders from the past. But whatever their origin, they are serious and growing. Even our best leaders, then and now, would struggle to fix them.
In reacting to Bauman’s piece, one long-time reader commented, “What’s missing is how we get from here to there.” That’s a great question. To the extent that Bauman is right, what are we supposed to do about it?
The answer does not lie with the politicians. It’s really up to you, the resident. If you want to impact the destiny of this county, you should read everything you can about it. Sign up for the emails from Bethesda Today, the MoCoShow and the Banner. Follow your elected officials and candidates on social media and get on their email lists. Read any blogs that you believe have merit. If an issue you care about shows up at the county council, read the staff packets. They’re jam packed with facts prepared by professional analysts. So are the reports prepared by the council’s Office of Legislative Oversight. The county budget is another great resource. When you have strong feelings, speak up. Politics is a numbers game. Few individuals have power on their own. But when they band together, they can push the boulder and make it move.
And when election time comes, find out who the candidates are and visit their websites. Ask them questions. Concentrate on identifying the differences between them. (This isn’t easy but you have to give it a shot!) Figure out which ones best match the direction you would like to see the county follow. And then VOTE. Vote in every election you can. In the last round of state and county elections in 2022, 36% of MoCo Democrats, 25% of Republicans and 7% of unaffiliated voters voted in the primary and 57% of MoCo Democrats, 52% of Republicans and 38% of unaffiliated voters voted in the general. We have a lot of room for improvement.
So we can criticize the politicians all we want, but as voters, you get the final word over them. You have power. Get together with your fellows and use it. That’s the path to a better place for Montgomery County and Maryland.