First the hospital, now the harbor

This year, with a hospital plan safely in the clear before the final day of the session, it seemed Prince George’s only obstacle was following through on the deal it had made.

But, again, last-minute wrangling over a different county issue proved embarrassing.

State Sen. C. Anthony Muse (D-Dist. 26) of Fort Washington voiced concerns over a bill he co-sponsored to allow 40 liquor licenses for businesses at National Harbor, a 300-acre, mixed-use development along the Potomac River in Oxon Hill.

Muse’s concerns are legitimate, but the timing was baffling. Muse raised concerns in the waning hours of the session about minority contracting levels at National Harbor.

The county required that at least 20 percent of work at the development go to county or minority-owned businesses, but urged a goal of 30 percent. Developer Milton V. Peterson exceeded the requirement with 36 percent, but only about 3 percent of the contracts went to businesses that were both in Prince George’s and minority owned.

The County Council did not specify how many minority contracts had to be from Prince George’s.

Muse’s concerns are valid. He is hoping to boost business for minority owners in the county who are often overlooked in such large-scale projects.

However, his concerns should have been voiced and resolved when the Prince George’s County Council initially came up with its requirements for minority contracting.

The issue isn’t new; it has been debated off and on for years.

Muse’s ill-timed arguments didn’t end there.

Muse also sought to reduce the number of licenses for the resort to seven, which was then negotiated to 13. Not surprisingly, Peterson officials balked when they found out at the last possible moment that they would get less than half of what was initially proposed.

Again, Muse and his colleagues may have had a good reason to cap the number of licenses. Their argument that the development would be a success even with the reduced number may be true — just as it was when Muse initially signed on to the legislation for 40 licenses.

All of this should have been negotiated earlier. Instead, county legislators maintained their reputation for being unable to reach a consensus, Prince George’s continues to appear to be a bad place to do business and residents were stuck watching another legislative train wreck.

Muse, who has long watched the progress at National Harbor and worked to get the county to reap the best possible benefits from the massive development, should not be lambasted for wanting the best for Prince George’s.

Instead, he — and his colleagues who followed his lead in the final hours — should be taken to task for conducting business in such a frenzied manner.