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going to be involved in the consideration
of the budget.
I suggest that while this power of the
legislature to preserve whatever power it
might decide to give to the Board of Public
Works is theoretically present, as a prac-
tical matter if the governor wanted to
diminish it, to distribute it around so it
could not be effective, to eliminate any pub-
licity the legislature might have required
for the board action, any resourceful gov-
ernor could delay the legislature acting
for this fifty-day period.
The question therefore is not whether it
is desirable that this be a constitutional
board, but whether it is desirable that we
have any such board. If you feel we are to
have such board, the only way to protect
it is to make it constitutional.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Grum-
bacher.
DELEGATE GRUMBACHER: Mr.
Chairman, I rise to correct what I believe
is a misunderstanding on the big hassle
we had last year in the legislature over
the purchase of some land from the Naval
Academy Athletic Association.
My memory seems to be that at that
time the Department of Public Improve-
ments, not the Board of Public Works, was*
negotiating for the purchase of that prop-
erty at $1,300,000, that three members of
the House of Delegates got together and
had at least three appraisals made, all of
which were very substantially low, in fact
a fraction of this figure; that the governor
and the legislature together in cooperation
then worked out and set up a figure of
$800,000 as a limit that the Board of Pub-
lic Works could pay for that property; and
that is the amount which the Board of
Public Works approved on the 10th of
January of this year.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Bushong.
DELEGATE BUSHONG: Mr. Chair-
man, I cannot get over the fact that if you
take the Board of Public Works out of the
constitution that the governor of Maryland
will be able to do pretty much what he
wants to do insofar as the legislature gives
him authority, In answer to Delegate Han-
son, I am surprised that a person as knowl-
edgeable in public law as he is would not
know that a three-to-two minority report
published might do some good for the
people of Maryland if there were some-
thing rotten in Denmark.
THE CHAIRMAN: Delegate Gleason.
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DELEGATE GLEASON: Mr. Chairman
and fellow delegates: In listening to the
discussion that has taken place with re-
spect to this proposal today, I am some-
what at a loss with respect to its evolving
around the question of its contributing or
adding to the governor's power.
I had one experience in appearing be-
fore the Board of Public Works represent-
ing some clients who owned some property
they were duped into buying in Massapique
Island.
The government wanted to take over the
property. After analyzing the proposal, I
felt it was a bad deal for the state govern-
ment. I was not opposed to having that
property taken over for all the people.
We were entitled to a two-day hearing
before the Board of Public Works. These
property owners constituted something like
over 1,000 individual families. I felt then
it would have been much better if those
people had an opportunity to get to their
House of Delegates and State Senate and
urge their case before committees of the
General Assembly with respect to that pro-
posal of the Department of the Interior.
I feel this is not a question of adding to
the governor's power. If I felt it was so,
I would vote for the proposal and against
the Committee Recommendation.
My answer to Senator Clark is that if
they want to change this every four years,
that is what we entrust them to do; if in
their judgment it is the state of things
that it be changed, it should be.
I do not like a legislature to delegate
their power to a body that is not responsi-
ble to the people. I hope the Committee
Recommendation will be supported.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does any delegate
desire to speak in favor of the amendment
against the Committee Recommendation?
There is opportunity for one speaker.
The Chair recognizes Delegate Mason to
speak in favor of the recommendation for
one minute.
DELEGATE MASON: I merely want to
ask Delegate Morgan a question.
THE CHAIRMAN: That would not be
possible, because he is on the opposite side.
Does anyone desire to speak for one min-
ute in favor of the Committee amendment?
DELEGATE MASON: I have a brief
question.
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