A Falling Out Amongst Thieves

A couple of weeks we commented on Lieutenant Governor Anthony Brown’s Rodney King approach to the ongoing melee at the BRAC trough.

His plan called for local jurisdictions to give up projects of local (read this as “vote getting”) importance in favor of things that favor the region (read this as Baltimore).

We pegged this as a non-starter then, and the Baltimore Sun reports today:

Local leaders say they favor a coordinated approach to planning for the thousands of military jobs expected to come to Maryland in the next few years — as long as it doesn’t mean giving up too many of their own priorities.

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Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr., whose county could see spillover effects from new jobs heading for Harford and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County, said the region’s most important priority should be improving MARC train service, a project he noted would require the greatest investments in counties other than his.

But there are limits, he said.

“As a blanket thing, I’m not going to say I want to give up Baltimore County projects so they can happen elsewhere,” Smith said. “It depends on the nature of the projects. If you’re just talking about a road somewhere, that’s going to be a harder sell.”

Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson, whose county is home to Andrews Air Force Base and could be affected by BRAC growth in neighboring Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties, said he is interested in cooperating, not sacrificing.

“I don’t know whether we will have to give up anything,” Johnson said.

We have a strong feeling that more hilarity will ensue.