Posts about Jack Johnson

In the first part of this letter, we'll review a few of the political problems which we believe have kept Prince George's County from making the most of its transit resources, generating greater job growth and improving economic opportunities for all residents, reducing crime, and more. In part two we offer ideas for transforming the way Prince George's County does business and plans for future growth.

How did the County get to where it is today: with its Executive and his wife, an incoming Councilmember, being arrested, along with several police officers, business owners, and possibly others to follow?

Unfortunately, these aren't just a few bad apples engaging in illicit and illegal behavior. There is a long history of insider politics, cronyism, and outright corruption in Prince George's County. The players are white and black and new and established immigrants from around the world (see in the County.)

In the wake of Jack Johnson's arrest, a number of the Post's articles have touched upon previous cases of corruption and cronyism in the county, but they've stopped short of a more systematic analysis of the problem which would, among other things, lead them to recommend more solutions to "clean up" corruption in the county.

Before there was Jack Johnson, there were Anthony Cicoria and Jesse Baggett, who gave zoning and support for development projects away in exchange for money and influence. According to a 1975 New York Times article profiling several high-level Maryland officials in trouble, "the root of corruption in Maryland was clear; it was the land itself. As the corridor from the Delaware line to Washington became more urbanized, the value of the gently rolling farmlands skyrocketed. A minute change in a zoning classification could mean that a parcel of land might increase in value by 500 percent."

To be fair, Maryland wasn't alone in land-related scandals at the time. In nearby Fairfax County in the late 1960s, 15 elected officials, developers, and land use attorneys were indicted. Eight were convicted of similar charges, including 3 elected officials from both parties. A recent article in the Washington Business Journal discusses this case and other, more contemporary ones from around the region.

The difference is that things never cleaned up in Prince George's, and questionable to corrupt behavior continued through the '80s and '90s. Unlike other jurisdictions in the region with stronger commercial and office tax bases, Prince George's "bread and butter" since the 1980s has been low-density residential development. With some recent and welcome exceptions, there has been tremendous pressure for it, along with sprawling commercial development to serve it.

The pressure has come from market forces and some citizens who rightly want to be able to meet their retail needs in the county. It has also come from insiders—certain developers, land use attorneys, and politicians—who have benefited (in some cases for decades) from an antiquated development model. Zoning changes and development project approvals don't account for the long-term costs like heavily congested roads, long commute times, damage to streams and waterways, and more.

We recognize the need for economic development in Prince George's County, and welcome it, but it must take a new form. Much of it should take the compact, transit-oriented form that has been embraced by some of our neighbors. This is a form that the insiders seemingly do not embrace, understand, believe that government can support, or some combination thereof.

The cumulative impact of several decades of a low-density development model on the county's economy is unclear. So is the damage that the recurring political scandals and related misallocation of public resources on the County's reputation. The tax base and population have expanded over the last 40 years, but several catgories of crime have also increased and concerns about public schools remain. And while the county has recently attracted some high-end development like National Harbor and Wegmans, poverty in some of the county's communities persists. Then there is the perception that Prince George's is losing some of its affluent African-American residents to other counties, that retailers don't want to do business in the county, and more.

In this, perception is almost as important as reality. Perception may be enough for some citizens to lose confidence in their government and to believe that it's not worth their time to be engaged in local politics. Thankfully, many Prince Georgians do continue to work to make the County a better place. Perception could be enough to make prospective employers and retailers decide not to bring their business to the county. It may also be enough to dissuade future residents from bringing their talent and tax dollars.

Despite all of this and a constrained fiscal environment, you have a tremendous opportunity to remake the County's image. We believe that you have the talent required to be the County Executive that the residents of Prince George's County have long deserved. But a clear understanding of "what you're up against" is a must for this task, which is why we feel the need to delve into not just the cases of illegal behavior but the more pervasive "insider politics" in the County. In the second part of our letter, we'll offer our ideas for how you can become the best County Executive in Prince George's County's history.

Chairman Parker, an AICP-certified professional planner with more than 25 years of professional experience in the areas of historic preservation and community revitalization and redevelopment, has dutifully served the Planning Board since 1991, first as part of the Planning Department staff and now as a member and then chairman of the Planning Board. He has overseen substantial revisions of the county's transportation master plan, its historic preservation resources plan, and numerous area and regional master plans. He is currently shepherding the Envision Prince George's initiative, to help develop and implement a vision for the future of Prince George's County.

I am troubled that the county executive is putting forward a nomination as critical to the county as the Planning Board Chairman when he has fewer than nine months remaining in his lame-duck administration. The full County Council, likewise, will be up for election this November. Given that Chairman Parker has already been dutifully and actively serving in his current position since his term ended this past June, and given the number of important planning initiatives that are currently underway under his leadership, it makes sense to allow Chairman Parker to continue in his role until the new county government is in place in December 2010. To fill the position at this juncture would rob the new county government of the power that it should rightfully have to appoint the officials with whom they will need to work over the next four years. Confirming Mr. Byrd in this manner would also be unfair to the voters of Prince George's County, who deserve a chance to have the government they elect this November determine who will lead Prince George's County into the future.

For these reasons, I urge the PZED Committee to issue a negative recommendation on the nomination of David Byrd to the Planning Board. Likewise, I urge you and your colleagues on the council to vote "No" on the nomination when it comes before the full council.

As always, people should feel free to submit emails to individual council members, in addition to their official snail-mailed or oral comments. But it is crucial that the council have an official record of the public's opinion on who should serve in this critical post as Chairman of the Prince George's County Planning Board.