http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.franchot28may28,0,2565292.story
From the Baltimore Sun
Sun profile
Franchot seeking a wider role for office
By Jennifer Skalka
Sun reporter
May 28, 2007
It is customary at the start of Board of Public Works meetings for
members to make personal comments, so Comptroller Peter Franchot took
advantage last week by introducing his daughter. In case those in the
packed State House reception room couldn't locate her, Franchot noted
that Abbe, 25, was modestly "hiding behind the television cameras."
Gov. Martin O'Malley, sitting at Franchot's side, grinned broadly and
said, "A quality she got from her mother." As laughter filled the room,
Franchot - the state's unapologetically outspoken Democratic
comptroller - responded with a smile, "It is very unFranchot-like."
In office just four months, Franchot - the former delegate from Takoma
Park who ousted William Donald Schaefer - has shown not just affection
for the spotlight but an unabashed interest in broadening the policy
responsibilities of his office.
He has issued statements about divesting state pension money from
Darfur. He has railed against the possible implementation of slot
machine gambling to mitigate a looming budget crisis. He supported a
doomed House of Delegates health care plan. He led the successful
charge against a Kent Island development that environmentalists argued
would harm the Chesapeake Bay. And he has cast himself as a chief
advocate for expanding Maryland's biotechnology industry.
Hardly matters of usual concern to Maryland's chief tax collector.
Some in Annapolis say Franchot lacks the appropriate deference, not
just to the party's new governor but to senior lawmakers. They say
Franchot, 59, should stick to managing the state's fiscal affairs, the
overarching constitutional mandate of his office.
"No one should tread on the other's defined duties or areas of
expertise," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat.
"We only need one governor in the state of Maryland."
But Franchot, who is tall and trim and bears a striking resemblance to
the actor Richard Chamberlain, is not about to clip his own wings - or
let others do it for him. Not in the interest of politics - or personal
relationships.
Franchot said he ran on a progressive platform last fall and defeated
Schaefer, the "Babe Ruth of Maryland politics," the former governor,
Baltimore mayor and comptroller - with that agenda.
"I'd like to supercharge the agency. I'd like to take it to the next
level," said Franchot, who announced Friday that he would investigate
rising gas prices. "I'm a liberal Democrat who is battle-tested. I got
over a million votes in an election. I want to be involved in the
economic future of Maryland."
Franchot is Maryland's 33rd comptroller, and his victory was far from
guaranteed.
After 20 years in the House and a failed 1988 bid for Congress,
Franchot decided to run for an office he had never coveted. He said he
did not appreciate that Schaefer, a Democrat, seemingly provided a
rubber stamp for Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. on the Board of
Public Works, a powerful panel that approves all state contracts. He
also disapproved of their shared pro-slots view. Schaefer and Ehrlich,
unusually cozy from the start, were "taking the state in the wrong
direction," Franchot said.
"I'm very issue-oriented," Franchot said over crab soup and half a tuna
sandwich at Harry Browne's restaurant in Annapolis. "Unlike other
people who might say, 'Oh, that's part of politics, give a little here,
give a little there. Everything is compromise.' That's not me. So I
objected to that."
Franchot said he suspected early that the anti-Schaefer sentiment among
voters was deeper than anyone thought. And when Schaefer and Anne
Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens, another Democratic contender
for comptroller, began to feud last fall, Franchot bit his tongue and
bided his time.
"It turns out William Donald Schaefer disliked her a lot more than he
disliked me," Franchot joked.
The margin was slim, but Franchot had accomplished what was once
unthinkable. The Montgomery County attorney, educated at elite New
England schools such as Amherst College, had defeated a Maryland
legend, the product of blue-collar Baltimore. Franchot went on to win
the general election handily.
Schaefer could not be reached for comment for this article.
Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell, who served with Franchot in the
House of Delegates, said Franchot probably was emboldened by the
victory.
"Although Peter was at the opposite end of the political spectrum from
myself, he was always very articulate and well-respected and very
informed from his point of view," said O'Donnell, a Republican from
Southern Maryland. "I think he gained additional respect by winning
what many perceived to be a long-shot electoral victory for
comptroller. And although he may raise some eyebrows with some
discussion of far-ranging policy, when he took the reins of the office,
he seemed to settle in fairly nicely as comptroller."
Franchot, raised in Providence, R.I., the son of a corporate lawyer and
homemaker, promised at his swearing-in that he would speak his mind. He
pledged to protect state parkland, encouraged broader investment in
scientific industries and vowed to fight slot machine gambling.
Miller told those gathered for the ceremony that he had once said it
would be a cold day in hell when Franchot was elected comptroller.
Indeed, Miller noted, it was awfully brisk outside that January morning.
And though it might be a glorious May, that chill remains.
"He should be balancing the budget," Miller said last week about
Franchot's activism during the 90-day General Assembly session that
ended in April. "He should be focusing on collecting taxes and making
certain the state's finances are in order. He perturbed me to no end
when he supported the House's health care plan without knowing that it
added a $500 million deficit to the already $1.5 billion hole we are
facing."
It is gambling, however, that has established a likely intra-party
brawl among the comptroller, the governor and Miller. And as the
Democrats work to project an image of unity and cohesiveness in
Annapolis, having swept the 2006 elections, some leaders say the last
thing they need is for Franchot to stray off message. But stray he has.
O'Malley declined through a spokesman to be interviewed for this
article.
Democratic leaders are gearing up for a potentially trying debate over
how best to deal with a $1.5 billion budget shortfall next year. They
will discuss raising sales and income taxes, among other measures. Slot
machine gambling is on the table; Miller is in favor, O'Malley appears
to be leaning the same way.
"The San Andreas fault of Maryland politics," Franchot called slots.
Despite having introduced a pro-gambling proposal when he was a
delegate, Franchot said he has come to believe that slots are, simply
put, a "regressive tax on poor people."
Last week, Franchot led the charge to reinvigorate Stop Slots Maryland,
a citizens group that has worked to block past gambling initiatives.
When he entered the all-purpose room of an Annapolis church basement
where two dozen slots opponents had gathered, he was greeted with
vigorous applause. Despite the small crowd and many empty chairs,
Franchot did his best to pump up the mostly over-60 crowd.
He noted that he and the governor do not "see eye to eye" on slots.
Based on turnout at the Preakness, he said, Maryland's horse racing
industry is doing just fine on its own.
"We all like to say we have power," he told the group. "We don't have
the power; we're here temporarily. You have the power. Go and use it."
There is another point of friction between Franchot and other
Democratic leaders elected to statewide office. The officials won't say
it, and they won't speculate about it even privately, but voters
elected four new statewide officials in November who undoubtedly have
their political futures in mind.
"I think there's no question that Peter's an ambitious guy," said
former Comptroller Robert L. Swann, who also served as deputy to
Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein. "As I look at the present makeup of
statewide elected officials, you've got four ambitious guys."
In addition to O'Malley and Franchot, voters elected Lt. Gov. Anthony
G. Brown and Attorney Gen. Douglas F. Gansler. While State House
watchers say Brown and Gansler have sublimated their agendas and egos
to allow the governor to lead, some say that Franchot has not. Others
are more reflective.
"The most important question is whether or not he is performing the
duties that are prescribed in law," Brown said. "As long as he is
collecting taxes and performing his duties on the Board of Public
Works, I commend him for his willingness to serve Maryland as our
comptroller."
The job of comptroller, much like that of lieutenant governor, is
rarely a springboard for a higher office such as governor or U.S.
senator. The last comptroller to be elected governor was J. Millard
Tawes, who won the job in 1958.
Franchot insists that he could happily be comptroller for the rest of
his career.
"I'm one of those lucky people," said Franchot, who has been married
for 27 years and has two children. "I'm completely satisfied where I
am. I never thought I'd win statewide office. ... My own mother didn't
think I was going to win."
But the comptroller's Web site shows photos of a grinning Franchot at
bill signings for several of "his" legislative initiatives:
self-extinguishing cigarettes, the Clean Indoor Air Act and more. It
features a link to information about Franchot's work "leading" a
delegation to a recent international life sciences convention in
Massachusetts.
Over lunch, Franchot said he is "an independent constitutional officer"
and that he would keep the governor's office apprised of his activities
but isn't looking for approval.
"I'm very civil," he said, "but once again, independent."
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Peter Franchot
Born: Nov. 25, 1947, New Haven, Conn.
Personal: wife, Anne Maher, a lawyer; two children: Abigail, 25, and
Nick, 22
Education: B.A. English, Amherst College, 1973; J.D., Northeastern
University School of Law, 1978
Background: elected to the House of Delegates, District 20, 1986;
served on the Appropriations Committee; Democratic nominee for
Congress, 8th District, 1988; elected comptroller, 2006
jennifer.skalka@baltsun.com
Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun