Evening star., 1944-09-17
Opponent Of Charter
Accused Of Making
Incorrect Charges

Charter Board which drafted pro-
posed charter for Montgomery
County, charged last night that
Judge Albert E. Brault, executive
secretary and treasurer of the
County Citizens Committee to De-
feat Charter, has made statements
concerning the charter which mis-
state its origin and provisions and
are not factually correct"
Meanwhile, Mayor Douglas A.
Blandford of Rockville, a member
Of the Citizens Committee, declared
approval of the charter at the No
vember election would result in the
loss by county residents of their
power to vote directly for the OFF,
cials who operate the county gov
ernment.
He also declared 1t would "hit us
up-county people in a dozen places
where it would hurt"
Mr.. Lee quoted Judge Brault as
saying "the charter plan is the
brainchild Of q group of professors
and assistant professors, none Of
whom has had any important ex-
perience in governmental affairs
anywhere"
Followed Constitutional Procedure.
Pointing out the procedure for
the establishment of home rule
charters in Maryland counties is
outlined in an amendment to the
State constitution, Mr.. Lee empha-
sized that none of the five Charter
Board members Is a professor or
assistant professor.
He added that the principal fea-
lures of the charter have been pre-
sented by citizens groups through
out the county during the last Is
years, but that the political organi-
cation in power stood pat and
refused to act"
In denying a charge by Judge
Brault that no county in the United
States has the plan of government
provided in the proposed Mont
gomery County charter, Mr.. Lee
explained that the principal fea-
ture of the charter is a council
manager form of government.
Eight counties, including Arling-
ton (Va) have such setup, Mr..
Lee said, while hundreds of cities
have the combined council-manage
form of government.
Referring to another statement
by Judge Brault that there is no
method Of repeating the charter
once it is approved, Mr.. Lee pointed
to section in the Maryland Con-
stitution which, he said, provides
not only for amendment of the
charter but also for It's termination
by the voters at any biennial elec-
ton.
Denies Income Tax Charge.
He also termed erroneous" a
charge that enactment of a high
income tax in the county would be
possible under the charter. Income
taxes in Maryland, according to Mr..
Lee, are imposed by Statewide laws.
The proposed County Council could
not legislate on such matters since
1t is already provided for by
public general law applicable to the
county, he said.
In his statement, Mayor Bland
ford explained that under the pres
ent county system, q reasonably
fair" share Of the county's portion
of the State gasoline and income
taxes are distributed to the various
incorporated towns and special tax
ing areas to help reduce their tax
load.
IF the citizens in these towns
and taxing areas are so unwise as
to relinquish their present privilege
OF electing by their votes every four
years all the officials who admin
lister the county" he warned. II am
sure that they will lose many ad-
vantages and privileges that they
now have
Declaring that he has always been
an independent" voter, the mayor
asserted that If the party in power
produces bad record, I'VE inde-
pendent voters can elect the other
party to power and get relief"
Under the proposed new setup,
however, Mayor Blandford said, I'VE
could vote our heads off and If we
succeeded in electing the new men,
Der of the County Council, they
could fire only the county manager.
All other department heads in the
County Government, who would
have been doing the things we OBJ
ject to, would continue to do Just
what they had been doing and what
we had voted against"
He also predicted a majority of
the County Council would come
from the suburban area of the
county and could ignore" voters in
Rockville, Gaithersburg and the
other rural communities.
With $4,000 voters in the suburban
area of the county as compared with
only $4,000 in the rural area, the
charter would hit us up-county peo-
pie in a dozen places that will hurt"
he declared.