Franchot, Miller hurl accusations, criticism

Comptroller takes fire after claiming Miller is targeting his staff for cuts

Miller is targeting the positions of Chief of Staff David S. Weaver and Deputy Comptroller Len N. Foxwell and is seeking to cut the number of new auditors from 22 to 11 as retribution for the comptroller’s stance against slot machine gambling, Franchot (D) claims.

‘‘The quote repeated to me was ‘We’re gonna pistol-whip your office,’” he told reporters following Wednesday’s Board of Public Works meeting.

Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach quickly denied the allegations during a media gaggle minutes after Franchot levied the accusations, but used the opportunity to volley criticism of the comptroller’s performance.

‘‘I think the bottom line is Comptroller Franchot is no Louis Goldstein,” Miller said, referring to the namesake of the state’s Treasury building, who was comptroller for 38 years.

Recommended staffing levels for state agencies are made by the nonpartisan Department of Legislatives Services, Miller said, adding that he had not yet seen the DLS recommendations.

‘‘I will adhere to them for the most part,” he said. ‘‘I’m not going to go above or beyond with regard to the comptroller’s budget.”

Franchot’s allegations are ‘‘outrageous,” Miller said. ‘‘Part of the problem, I think, is that he doesn’t have tax experts on his staff, he’s got PR people on his staff.”

Miller criticized Franchot and his staff for being ‘‘missing in action this entire year in terms of helping the state solve the budget crisis. ... Certainly, during the entire [22] days of the special session he was gone.”

Franchot said he and Miller do not speak.

‘‘Whenever I speak he tells me to support slots,” Franchot said.

Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. said he would have liked more input from the Comptroller’s Office during the special session.

‘‘It’s within his right to oppose the special session and to oppose the ideas being discussed during the special session,” said Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington. ‘‘But I think he does have a responsibility to the citizens of the state to make sure that the laws that we’re considering, that impact on our residents, are done in a correct and enforceable way even if he opposes the underlying concept.”

House Economic Matters Chairman Dereck E. Davis gave Franchot ‘‘high marks for job performance.”

‘‘I applaud the comptroller for his aggressiveness as he goes about the responsibilities related to his office,” Davis said. ‘‘He has been a watchdog and he has aggressively pursued policies regarding taxes.”

On other matters, ‘‘he has more than ruffled a few feathers,” said Davis (D-Dist. 25) of Upper Marlboro.

‘‘Questioning the wisdom of the General Assembly to call the special session, that’s an issue the public can debate, but it’s not within the purview of the comptroller’s office,” Davis said.

In taking on slots and the special session, ‘‘[Franchot] seems to be much more activist than previous comptrollers,” said Robert L. Swann, a longtime deputy comptroller who briefly served as comptroller after Goldstein’s death in 1998.

‘‘Comptroller Goldstein was a product of the legislature,” Swann said. ‘‘He had great respect for the prerogatives of the legislature. I don’t ever remember any bad blood, so to speak, between him and members of the legislature. To be fair, I think there was some bad blood between [Franchot] and Mike Miller prior to him becoming comptroller, and I think that continues today.”

It would be difficult for Miller to target individual staff in the comptroller’s budget, said Swann, a veteran of 40 budget seasons in the office.

Before Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) in 1994, the governor cut the comptroller’s budget every year, he said.

‘‘Generally the cuts were in new personnel,” Swann said. If a comptroller requested 20 auditors ‘‘through the process you may end up with 10 of those,” he said. ‘‘You very seldom ever ended up with 20.”

House Speaker Michael E. Busch said the House Appropriations Committee and subcommittees ‘‘judge every budget on its merit.”

‘‘Our duty is to put every budget through the legislative process and to do so in a fair and equitable way,” said Busch (D-Dist. 30) of Annapolis.

Busch said he had not yet seen the DLS recommendations for the Comptroller’s Office budget.

‘‘I’m here doing my job,” Busch said. ‘‘We’re in the middle of a budget process. I think it’s not appropriate for us to comment on the level of performance of any elected official.”

The Comptroller’s Office will be the subject of a budget hearing Monday in the House Appropriations Committee and Tuesday in Senate Budget and Taxation Committee.

The dueling news conferences between Franchot and Miller is the latest chapter in a contentious relationship Franchot has had with Democratic leadership.

In July, Gov. Martin O’Malley’s top aides tussled with Franchot over salaries for the state tax collector’s deputies, who are being paid more than some Cabinet secretaries.

Upon being sworn in last year, Franchot reorganized the Comptroller’s Office under a three-person senior management team that oversees day-to-day operations.

Deputy Comptrollers Linda L. Tanton and Foxwell, and Weaver each are paid $148,245 annually.

O’Malley included the salaries in his budget only after a series of letters and e-mails between Franchot and Budget Secretary T. Eloise Foster, in which the two used sharp language to debate the need for the higher salaries and the importance of the senior staff’s duties.

In one, Foster said the jobs of cabinet secretaries ‘‘have distinctly greater responsibilities for statewide programs affecting the quality of life for the citizens of the state.”

Miller’s criticism gained Franchot some unlikely defenders.

‘‘I guess since Mike Miller was done bullying Nancy Grasmick he decided to start bullying Peter Franchot,” said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell, referring to Miller’s siding with O’Malley (D) in a feud with the state schools superintendent that the two appeared to patch up last week. ‘‘It appears Dr. Grasmick was too tough for him.”

Franchot has come under attack because of his opposition to the fall’s special session and to the computer services tax that the legislature passed during that session, said O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby, who sides with Franchot on both issues.

‘‘Sometimes I agree with Peter, and sometimes I disagree with Peter,” O’Donnell said. ‘‘But the only reason he’s in trouble around here is because he spoke his mind and gave some independent thought to some issues, some of which I agree with.”

Franchot’s political transgressions continue to stoke speculation that top Democrats are quietly soliciting term-limited Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. to run against him in 2010.

Smith, one of O’Malley’s close allies, reported a robust campaign treasury in his latest filings with the state elections board. He raised $455,000 in 2007 and has nearly $500,000 on hand.

Although he is a former circuit judge, party insiders do not expect him to run against Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. And few expect him to retire from elected office.

Staff Writer Alan Brody contributed to this report.