Opponents in the debate over the future of Montgomery County’s Department of Liquor Control (DLC) are escalating their attacks from the political to the personal.
On Monday, Len Foxwell, chief of staff for state Comptroller Peter Franchot, used his personal Facebook page to call out local union President Gino Renne for an alleged prior domestic incident, saying the union leader should not be the one to raise ethical questions about others. Renne’s UFCW 1994 MCGEO union represents approximately 350 DLC employees.
Foxwell’s comments came after Renne called for an ethics investigation of state Del. Bill Frick (D-District 16) and hinted that Franchot received campaign contributions tied to businesses that could benefit from opening the county’s alcohol market. Frick is the primary sponsor of a bill that would call for a referendum to enable county voters to decide if the alcohol monopoly should end. Five other legislators signed onto the bill as co-sponsors. Renne alleged that Frick stands to benefit because his wife works for a large liquor producer.
Franchot, a Democrat, is charged with regulating the state’s liquor industry. In October, he detailed a proposal to end the county’s alcohol monopoly by allowing private distributors to enter the market.
Currently the county controls both the wholesale distribution of all alcohol and the retail sale of all liquor in the county.
Foxwell’s post quoted a 2010 Gazette story about an alleged fight Renne had with his wife, in which the union leader reportedly pointed a revolver at her. Renne was charged with assault in the case, but later acquitted after his wife refused to testify against him, the Gazette reported.
Foxwell concluded in his post, “I’d think that folks throughout the county and state will be watching carefully, as the effort to end Montgomery County’s liquor monopoly heads to the legislature, to see how much clout a person of Gino Renne’s character wields over the outcome.”
Foxwell told Bethesda Beat Tuesday that the Facebook post was written without Franchot’s knowledge or consent, but that the comptroller shares his views “on Mr. Renne’s disturbing history of spousal assault, and of his fitness for a position of such civic and political prominence.”
Renne, who was acquitted in the 2010 incident, responded in an interview with Bethesda Beat Tuesday that he’s disappointed a prominent employee for a high-ranking state elected official “would stoop to such a low level.”
“I won’t accept and can’t believe it was done without Peter Franchot’s knowledge and approval,” Renne said. “Whenever people cannot win an argument based on merits, they panic and start slinging mud.”
Renne said the incident with his wife was a personal issue that only became public five years ago because it was intentionally leaked to the press.
“What went down in that room was between my wife and me,” Renne said. He added that his wife and family have moved “far beyond it.” Renne called for Franchot to remove Foxwell from his position, saying, “If Mr. Franchot had any level of decency and integrity he would take immediate and swift action.”
Foxwell contended that Renne has emerged as a face of the opposition to reforming the county’s alcohol monopoly.
“In the coming weeks and months the leadership in the legislature has a choice to make: Support the failed and outdated arguments of people like Gino Renne or stand with consumers and small businesses,” Foxwell said.
The DLC issue has opened a rare political divide in the heavily Democratic county. On one side are eight of nine Montgomery County Council members and County Executive Ike Leggett who are attempting to protect the more than $30 million in profit earned by the DLC that pays for county services and bond obligations. On the other side are restaurant and small business owners as well as a group of state legislators who believe the county’s alcohol monopoly is hurting business and limiting consumers’ product choice.
The union represents about 350 employees who work for the DLC as well as about 7,000 full-time county employees in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The union is supporting a County Council-drafted proposal to allow private distributors to sell certain fine wines and craft beer in the county—the so-called “special-order” products that the DLC has struggled to deliver effectively.
Renne reiterated Tuesday that the union is investigating whether proponents of opening the county’s alcohol market stand to personally benefit from legislation being proposed.
“When someone or something endangers my members and their families’ economic stability, I get very passionate about that and I go on the offense and the defense,” Renne said. “I’m going to do everything I can to protect those jobs.”
Del. Kirill Reznik, (D-District 39), who signed on as a co-sponsor of the Frick bill, said Tuesday the heated rhetoric is not helping to address the issue.
“It’s not good for us to reasonably and effectively debate the issue,” Reznik said. “I thought it was inappropriate for Mr. Renne to go after members of the delegation, and I think it’s equally inappropriate for elected officials and their staff to go after Mr. Renne and his union on a personal level.”
