County Council sees rift between Leggett, Hanson

Montgomery executive, planning chief deny tension

But now, two years later, some of those same County Council members are asking why the two can’t get along and why Leggett can’t communicate better with them about what he wants. They want to know why he can’t follow the same rules the county has for other developers.

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring ticked off a list of projects and issues Thursday where Leggett and Hanson have clashed: the Silver Spring Transit Station, the Silver Spring Library, the new Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission headquarters and cuts to Park and Planning staff.

‘‘On all of those, there has been tension between the executive branch and Park and Planning,” Ervin said. ‘‘What you saw [Tuesday] is what we witness a lot and that is there has been no cooperation or meeting of the minds on how we will proceed to develop these areas of the county and Silver Spring is where it’s being played out.”

At Tuesday’s council meeting, Hanson called out the council, saying it should require Leggett to submit plans for the Silver Spring Library to the planning review process. But Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Diane Schwartz-Jones told the council that was not necessary under state law.

The feuding between the executive branch and Park and Planning has been ‘‘quite striking,” said Councilman George L. Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park.

At issue is the public review process for county projects, which, according to state law, limits the authority of county planners to make changes to proposals for buildings designated for public use — a library or meeting center.

In the case of the Silver Spring Library, the County Council wanted it to be included as part of a mixed-use design, so the library would be part of a complex that also included a partnership with a private developer to build affordable housing and retail space. The mixed-use space would require a thorough Planning Board review. Instead, Leggett’s staff presented a plan that included the library building only.

‘‘The executive obviously feels dealing with Park and Planning is a time sink and Park and Planning wants to assert its authority,” Leventhal said. ‘‘The council at this point is clearly a bystander. There’s a lot of angry history here and it’s spilling over to the library project.”

After developers built hundreds of homes in Clarksburg that exceeded the county’s height limit, ‘‘the answer was, ‘Let’s spend a whole lot more money’” on staffing, putting records online and televising meetings to improve transparency, Leventhal said.

Now Leggett has proposed cutting 50 positions at Park and Planning as part of his budget savings measures aimed at reducing a $297 million shortfall.

‘‘Royce feels like he’s been given the task of cleaning up after Clarksburg, and he’s not given the resources to do it,” Leventhal said.

Both Leggett and Hanson say they have a good relationship, though.

‘‘[Leggett’s] feeling is what we’ve got here is a difference of opinion and he doesn’t see any tension,” said Patrick K. Lacefield, Leggett’s spokesman.

Hanson said tension exists between the two ‘‘now and then,” but it is not serious.

‘‘I think overall our working relationship with the executive is very good,” Hanson said. ‘‘My view is differences of opinions on matters are not destructive. They can actually be pretty constructive in defining issues. These are not angry discussions. They’re essentially attempts to figure out how to do things well.”

Leventhal said it’s not about personalities; it’s about institutional issues.

‘‘Park and Planning is an independent authority that is not accountable to the county executive and the county executive would — any county executive would — rather have a department like that as accountable to him,” Leventhal said. ‘‘They’re not a department that answers to him. No question Park and Planning does not get a lot of love from civic activists or county officials or builders.”

Leggett should not bypass the review process at the planning board, Ervin said.

‘‘Why set up a system of checks and balances when the government doesn’t have to do what the private sector has to do?” Ervin said. ‘‘The county government should be just like all of the private sector. They have to follow the same rules — even more so when it’s a public building. We should be setting the example.”

When the county bypassed the review process for the Silver Spring Transit Center, it ended up with a building that is ‘‘ugly,” Ervin said.

Hanson agreed.

‘‘The executive has an argument that the [county administration] is controlled by the budget and that’s true, but they also have the ability to go and ask for additional funding,” Hanson said. ‘‘Our basic concern is we’re interested in improving design, particularly public buildings.”

Asked what he didn’t like about the transit center’s design, Hanson said, ‘‘It was ugly,” but then revised that and said, ‘‘I think it could have been more beautiful.”

By avoiding the full review process, the county is able to save time and money, Lacefield said. And the public still has input on building designs.

‘‘Under Royce, Park and Planning has spread its wings,” Lacefield said.

The county had been told by Hanson’s predecessor, Derick Berlage, that it did not need to go through the Planning Board for approval under a process known as ‘‘mandatory referral.”

‘‘That was a mistake. I tried to cure it, and I didn’t win,” Hanson said.

Tension in the county goes beyond that of Leggett and Hanson. There is also tension between Leggett and the County Council, some council members said.

‘‘There’s a lot of tension at council, but that’s because when we have to make big decisions we don’t hear from the executive until the last moment,” Ervin said. ‘‘We need to be working in concert with them instead of the other way around. Collaboration is a two-way street.”

Besides, she said, Leggett campaigned as a leader who would bring people together.

‘‘We have a council now that seems very disjointed and I’m not saying that it is his fault, but I don’t know how he’s part of the solution,” Ervin said. ‘‘I don’t know if I’m disappointed because I didn’t pay that much attention to the campaign rhetoric, but I’m worried about the county’s future if he continues to manage that way because we need an executive branch of government that tries to work together with others to try to solve problems.”

Proposals from Leggett’s office often don’t arrive until ‘‘the last minute” even when it involves her council district, Ervin said.

‘‘I don’t get the calls until a day or two before we vote and that’s not enough time,” Ervin said.

Council President Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown agreed.

‘‘It needs to be clearer sometimes from the executive branch what we’re trying to do,” Knapp said. ‘‘Sometimes we look for the executive for clarity and that’s not always coming.”

‘‘Certainly I think I had frustrations with County Executive [Douglas M.] Duncan at times,” Knapp said of Leggett’s predecessor. ‘‘But I always knew where he stood. We may not have been on the same side, but I knew where he was. I like [Leggett]. But there are times I’m not sure where he is.”

Lacefield defended Leggett, saying the executive and his staff have communicated with the County Council in a timely manner.

‘‘I’m not sure that complaint is justified,” Lacefield said. ‘‘I understand frustrations people have, but we’re in constant communications with the council. We’ve got good communication with them.

‘‘Leadership is always easy when you have ample resources,” he said. ‘‘It’s a test of leadership of any government when resources are scarce and you still have critical services to provide.”