Monday, December 18, 2006

Ervin, Elrich break balls in council chambers

County councilmembers Valerie Ervin (District 5) and Marc Elrich (At large) are kicking ass and taking names in Rockville, the Washington Post says. No one is safe from the ball breaking. No one.

While Ervin and Elrich are newbies to the job, neither is a virgin. Ervin was a school board member and council aide before getting this gig. Elrich spent 20 years as an activist and is a veteran of Silver Spring's redevelopment battles, the Post writes.

Their backgrounds--along with the political enema that was the 2006 midterm election--have buffed their brass balls and erased any deference to senior councilmembers.

At a council meeting on Tuesday, what would have been a straight up-or-down vote on the grant application process dragged into verbal tongue lashings between newbies and vets, the Post says.

Senior councilmember George Leventhal (At large) and council president Marilyn Praisner (District 4) proposed to give grant applications to an independent review panel. Under Leventhal and Praisner's plan, the ultimate decision of who gets how much would be reserved for the council.

Ervin, on the other hand, would like to see the independent panel have the final say. Two more freshmen--councilmembers Roger Berliner (District 1) and Duchy Trachtenburg (At large)--say the same, writes the Post.

During the meeting, Leventhal reminded his "new colleagues and friends" that any five of the nine councilmembers can dole out money as they see fit, the Post reports.

"Thank you for the lecture on counting," Ervin snapped back. "I think all four of us that were elected count really well, and we understand that it takes five votes to do anything on this council."

"I also know that five votes taken in private did not exactly make the grants process transparent," Ervin added.

"Council freshmen quick to speak up" (Washington Post)

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