Use It or Lose It

This week has been a very interesting one for those of us who watch the MCPS budget.

Its hard to know who is telling the truth  - Valerie Ervin, President of the Montgomery County Council, or Chris Barclay, President of the Montgomery County Board of Education.   Even the ever so unlikely councilmember Phil Andrews sent out an email indicating a problem - but without identifying the key issue.  And, for the chuckle of the day, George Leventhal asks his Facebook friends for advice.

Did the MoCo Board of Education really have an $18 million dollar slush fund?  That's not a term coined by this blogger, but used today in an editorial by the venerable Washington Post.   Clearly, the explanations do not match.

What's the resolution?  Can the taxpayers of MoCo expect to receive more emails this week from its leadership?

We don't have to receive any emails.   We shouldn't have received any in the first place. Resolution of this dispute is easy, and its in the capable hands of those county council members who have been lighting up the internet this week.  

The county council has the authority to conduct an investigation.  Here is the statutory provision from the legislative oversight section of the County Code:

Sec. 29A-8. Power of council to subpoena witnesses and administer oaths.

     Upon request by the director, and pursuant to the authority contained in chapter 2, section 2-20 of this Code, the county council may issue subpoenas for witnesses, and the presiding member of the council may administer the oath or affirmation to any witness who may be examined before the council or a council committee in connection with any investigation, inquiry or survey authority pursuant to this chapter. (1976 L.M.C., ch. 18, § 1.)

Wait, there is more - here is the sanction for not cooperating with the council subpoena:

Sec. 29A-10. Penalties.

     Anyone failing to respond to a valid request by the office pertinent to the matter under consideration for the production of records and information pursuant to section 29A-7 of this chapter, anyone failing to respond to a subpoena issued by the council pursuant to section 29A-8 of this chapter, anyone who knowingly gives false or misleading information in connection with any audit, survey or investigation conducted pursuant to this chapter, or anyone who retaliates against or who threatens retaliation against any person for that person's furnishing of information or cooperation in any investigation or inquiry conducted pursuant to this chapter shall be punished for a class A violation as set forth in section 1-19 of chapter 1 of this Code. (1976 L.M.C., ch. 18, § 1; 1985 L.M.C., ch. 3, § 1.)

Here is my plea to the County Council  - stop the emails and do your job.  In public.  Stop the little private sessions with one or two members of the Board of Education, and stop claiming executive privilege for budget negotiations.  Instead of exercising that send button to your email lists, draft a subpoena and get to the bottom of this.  Don't make those of us who actually pay our taxes held hostage to the County Council and Board of Education behaving badly. 

Lets stop playing with puppets and find out who is telling the truth and who is not.  And if you can't play well together, then maybe its time to step aside and let those who are more capable step up.