Evening star., 1955-02-23
DeIl1ocratsDraft
Bill toCapture
Planning Group
Prince Georges and
Montgomery Would
Name s Members.
sy q sior s,aff Correspondent

by Sfor Stofr SoHespohoeW
ANNAPOLIS, Feb. 23s-The
two State senators from Mont
gomery and Prince Georges
county today were drafting legis-
lation to increase the Maryland
National Capital Park and Plan
ming Commission to eight mem-
bers and bring it back under
Democratic control.
The bill will follow the pattern
already set in the Washington
Suburban Sanitary Commission
reorganization measure. intro
duced earlier in this session of
the Maryland legislature.
The planning commission now
has six members, four Of them
Republicans. When Republican
Gov. McKeldin last summer
named a Republican to the COM
mission to succeed the late Rob-
ert M. Watkins, who died in
July, the G. o. P. took control of
the bi-county agency for the
first time in its 27-year history.
That control will be short
lived, if the Democratic -domi-
mated legislators from Prince
Georges and Montgomery Sue
ceed in passing the bill agreed
on in a joint meeting yesterday.
Could Name But Two.
Under the measure being
drafted by Senators H. Winship
Wheatley. jr., of Prince Georges
and Edward S. Northrop of
Montgomery. both Democrats.
the Governor would name only
two of the eight commissioners.
Now he appoints all six of them,
with minority representation
guaranteed.
The other six commissioners,
it was agreed, would be ap-
pointed three each by the Mont
| gomery County Council and the
Prince Georges County Commis-
sioners. Both of those bodies are
Democratic.
| All eight of the commissioners
would serve part-time and the
provision for a full-time commits
! sioner to serve as Montgomery
park commissioner would be
abolished. Delegate Warren Boxx
Browning, Democrat, of Mont
gomery argued successfully that
the post of park commissioner
| is completely administrative.
Two $4,000 Posts.
| The chairman and vice chair
man of the new commission
would be paid $4,000 each. and
the other six members would get
So, 500 a pear
The terms of four of the six
present commissioners expire in
May. Two Of them have two
more years to serve on their
terms. They are Sidney M.
NOliver of Montgomery and Carl
ton E. Pyles of Prince Georges,
both Republicans.
The Joint delegation agreed to
introduce separate legislation to
take care of other changes in the
tanning commission. The
Prince Georges legislators said
they had not decided what fur
ther changes they will propose,
but Delegate Blair Lee, Demo-
cratic chairman of the Mont
gomery House delegation, said
his group had agreed to propose
the following changes:
/. Extend the planning COM
missions jurisdiction throughout
Montgomery, thus abolishing the
Upper Montgomery County Plan
ming Commission.
Merit System for Employees.
2. Require the four Montgom-
cry members of the commission
to serve as a county planning
arm of the County Council.
3. Let the planning commits
sion continue to draft subdivi-
sion regulations and administer
them, but transfer the power for
adopting them to the County
Council. in the same, manner as
is done now on coming regula-
tions.
4. Require a merit system for
commission employees.
S. Empower the County Coun-
Gil to set the administrative tax
rate for the commission, now set
in law nv the IeCiS1atnre