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From the Baltimore Sun
Public works board establishes new tone
By Andrew A. Green
Sun reporter
January 25, 2007
The Board of Public Works might never be the same.
When Gov. Martin O'Malley and Comptroller Peter Franchot sat down for
the first meeting yesterday of the obscure but powerful panel that
approves most state spending, they spent much of their time talking
about how to expand the state's Minority Business Enterprise program.
Their predecessors, by contrast, had rankled black leaders by asking
recently, "When will MBE E-N-D?"
Instead of going on about immigrants, AIDS victims or Koreans, as
predecessor William Donald Schaefer had, Franchot talked about
encouraging counties to build more eco-friendly schools.
O'Malley and Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp mused about making yesterday's
"beg-a-thon" -- a humbling annual ritual in which local officials show
up to plead for school construction money -- the last.
And unlike the days of the love feasts between Schaefer and Gov. Robert
L. Ehrlich Jr., no cakes were exchanged.
"It is the dawn of a new day," Franchot said.
O'Malley began the meeting as Ehrlich always did, by giving opening
remarks and inviting the treasurer and comptroller to provide their
own. It was at that point in the proceedings that Schaefer would
unleash most of the tirades that contributed to the end of his
political career.
Franchot took a different tack. He wrote his comments ahead of time,
and they were, unlike some of Schaefer's monologues, related to the
day's agenda. Where Schaefer tended to mumble, Franchot spoke directly
into the microphone.
Franchot said he wanted to hear from school officials there for the
day's beg-a-thon about their efforts to make environmentally friendly
buildings, a move that he said would save the state money in the long
run.
"Let's resolve together to make Maryland the greenest and most fiscally
responsible state in the nation," Franchot said.
There were plenty of other ways Franchot, a liberal Democrat from
Montgomery County, differentiated himself from Schaefer, the
conservative Democrat from Baltimore. Schaefer sat on the governor's
right, but Franchot, appropriately enough, sat on the left. (It might
have been a practical, rather than political choice; Franchot is
left-handed.)
And instead of berating members of the governor's Cabinet, a favorite
Schaefer sport, Franchot praised Transportation Secretary John D.
Porcari as "one of the great public servants in the state of Maryland."
O'Malley began putting his stamp on the board, too. Shortly into the
meeting, he started grilling officials about how many minority- and
women-owned firms were getting a piece of the contracts he was being
asked to approve. He has said he wants to create a "StateStat" system
of accountability to the governor's office, and he said minority
participation is at the top of the list of things he wants to track.
"One of the most important requirements for a successful MBE and WBE
program is executive determination that is real and not just checking a
box every four years, and fortunately, we have that on this board,"
O'Malley said, referring to programs that assist minority- and
women-owned businesses.
But it was the idea of scaling back the beg-a-thons that was the talk
of Annapolis yesterday.
Every year, an agency within the state Department of Education divvies
up most of Maryland's school construction money but leaves some for the
Board of Public Works to allocate. Over the years, counties have made
increasingly elaborate presentations to win favor, generally bringing
their entire legislative delegations, local officials and others to
impress the board with how important their requests are.
Perhaps the biggest show to date came yesterday, when the Baltimore
City delegation showed up en masse with Mayor Sheila Dixon, school
system officials and dozens of parents and activists clad in orange
T-shirts who filled up the entire ceremonial reception room on the
second floor of the State House.
"Is there anybody in this room who thinks Baltimore City needs this
money?" Del. Curtis S. Anderson said, making the crowd erupt in cheers
and applause.
"Is there anybody in this room that thinks Baltimore City will spend
this money wisely?" he said. More cheers.
"Is there anybody in this room who is going to work hard to make sure
our children get a good education?"
Yet more cheers, as a dazed-looking Franchot, O'Malley and Kopp clapped
along.
Legend places responsibility for the escalating displays on U.S. Rep.
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger who, as Baltimore County executive in the
1990s, figured he could impress the board by showing that all the
officials from his jurisdiction were united in supporting the county's
request. Year by year, the strategy spread, and now lawmakers scramble
out of committee hearings and floor sessions to stand silently in the
board meeting when their counties get called up.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller announced during his chamber's
session yesterday that enough was enough. When the turn came for
Calvert County, where Miller lives, he marched into the reception room
and proclaimed that the beg-a-thon "wastes your time and ... wastes our
time."
"These decisions should be based on merit, not whether the president of
the Senate shows up or who has the largest delegation," Miller said. "I
would hope as you evaluate the process, maybe next year you can
eliminate this process altogether."
O'Malley, who until this year was on the other side of the table as
mayor of Baltimore, didn't need much convincing.
"Well, it's been moved," he said. "Do I hear a second?"
When Carroll County came up, he got it from Sen. Larry E. Haines.
"I was probably the first one back there who said, 'Amen,'" said
Haines, a Republican. "It's not that we don't want to be here, but we
as legislators all want to bring money back home to our districts. We
could say that in writing."
andy.green@baltsun.com
Sun reporter Laura Smitherman contributed to this article.
Copyright © 2007, The Baltimore Sun