A Maryland Court of Appeals judge quoted Frank Underwood in the court’s decision to uphold two lower court rulings that found the county acted within its authority when it rejected a raise for police in 2011.
In the first paragraph of the opinion, Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. wrote, “ ‘Proximity to power deludes some into thinking they wield it,’ observed the character Francis Underwood…” Harrell continued by writing that while the police union in Montgomery County is close to power—it is able to negotiate its contract—it does not wield it. That’s because the County Council is ultimately responsible for approving the budget, and therefore can alter a negotiated police contract. “As the well-known adage provides, ‘he who holds the purse strings rules the roost,’ ” the judge wrote later in the opinion.
The court found that the county was within its authority to reject a negotiated 3.5 percent raise and other benefits because the changes were fiscal in nature and a renegotiated agreement was never submitted to the council. At the time, the county was dealing with the effects of the recession.
The Washington Post noted that this is just the latest in a series of legal disputes between the police union and the county. In March, a state circuit court judge ruled that County Executive Isiah Leggett and public information director Patrick Lacefield violated state election law by using county funds to promote a 2012 referendum that repealed specific collective bargaining rights for police, according to the paper. The court did not impose any penalties on Leggett or Lacefield in that case because the judge found that they were acting in good faith on the advice of attorneys. The union and the county are currently appealing that decision.
