{"id":14015,"date":"2020-10-20T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=14015"},"modified":"2020-10-19T20:43:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T00:43:22","slug":"elrichs-first-veto-the-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=14015","title":{"rendered":"Elrich\u2019s First Veto: The Politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

County Executive Marc Elrich has a soft and raspy voice. Close your eyes and imagine that voice saying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just think that developers should pay their fair share.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week was a terrible one for Elrich. His chief administrative officer and emergency management director were blown to smithereens by the county council<\/a> over the pace of the executive branch\u2019s distribution of federal assistance funds. The story dominated the local press for days. Elrich responded to the council with this saucy comeback<\/a>: \u201cI used to be a legislator, and it\u2019s the best job in the world because you can just say, \u2018I want to spend this money,\u2019 and tell someone to go spend it. And you don\u2019t actually figure out how to do it.\u201d There is more than a bit of truth to this, but the observation won\u2019t improve Elrich\u2019s relations with an irate council<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That came on top of numerous other headaches, including the ethics problems that forced the resignation of Elrich\u2019s first chief administrative officer<\/a>, criticism of Elrich\u2019s mushrooming COVID pay liability<\/a>, the beatdown<\/a> the administration took from Governor Larry Hogan over reopening private schools, pushback<\/a> over Elrich\u2019s joking that the council was \u201cfact proof\u201d<\/a> and the general drudgery of having to deal with the crises in public health, the economy and the budget spawned by the coronavirus. Whether one is sympathetic to Elrich or not, the stories about his administration of late have nearly all been bad. (One exception: the opening of the county\u2019s first bus rapid transit route on Route 29<\/a>, an event that would never have happened without Elrich.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But all of that bad news is wiped away, at least for the moment. That\u2019s because Elrich changed the subject by vetoing legislation providing 15-year property tax breaks for Metro station high-rise developers<\/a>. What\u2019s the new subject?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I just think that developers should pay their fair share.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporters of the vetoed bill argue that it was necessary to enable development of high rises at the pending Grosvenor-Strathmore Metro station project<\/a>. They feared that failure to act would doom or shrink the project. That urgency prevented them from examining other, more time-consuming, paths to a deal including an appropriation from the economic development fund (in which Elrich would get to play) or providing financing through the county\u2019s economic development corporation or the Housing Opportunities Commission. But unlike those mechanisms, legislation is a highly public thing. By giving Elrich an opportunity to veto the bill, his critics on the council gave him an opportunity to go on offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait a minute, you say. The bill passed on a 7-2 vote<\/a>, one more than necessary to override a veto. When the council overrides Elrich, doesn\u2019t that make him a loser?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those who think that do not understand how Elrich got elected executive. During his twelve years on the county council, Elrich was the sole no vote on a host of master plans<\/a>, all increasing density. Yes, he \u201clost\u201d those votes again and again. But he also picked up support in those communities from skeptics of the plans who came to see Elrich as their only champion. Those folks became a critical and expanding part of Elrich\u2019s base. Few if any politicians in the county have ever won more from \u201closing\u201d than Marc Elrich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elrich\u2019s opposition to many new development policies have prompted his critics to brand him as a NIMBY. But there is more to his political success than pure NIMBYism. When you listen to him discuss development closely, he is making an equity argument as much as a land use argument. Here is what he said about development in 2002<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our beleaguered middle-class is told that the County can no longer afford to provide the quality of life that made this place so attractive at the same time it throws millions in subsidies into the pockets of millionaires. We make great claims about ending welfare, but we\u2019re really only changing the beneficiaries. What we\u2019ve done is to recast developers as the new poster children of the Nineties. This blind devotion to growth is great – if you\u2019re a developer or a tumor – but it doesn\u2019t work so well for the rest of us who are better served by priorities that strengthen our communities and our schools.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other words, throwing public money at developers reduces the money available for schools, public safety, health and human services, libraries, parks and more. Here is a more refined version of this argument from his 2018 campaign kickoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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