Council president shuffles committees

Retains fiscal committee, structure to fit more closely with executive’s government reorganization plan

Knapp and Floreen are generally considered more favorable to development.

‘‘By making the changes on the PHED Committee, Mike has made a subtle move towards a pro-growth, pro-development stance,” said Drew Powell, president of the Montgomery County Neighbors PAC. ‘‘PHED is the most powerful committee. Folks have repudiated the call for slower growth in the 2006 election and the [Knapp⁄Floreen] majority on the committee means there is a lot riding on that.”

Comments like Powell’s are what Knapp is expecting.

‘‘I’m sure there are people who will say the makeup is dramatically different, and that’s fine,” he said.

After discussing the changes with his council colleagues, Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown notified them over the weekend of the final changes. The changes take effect on Monday when the council returns from spring break.

He characterized the changes as ‘‘trying to get a sense of where after having been on the council together for 15 months where some of the newer council members’ strengths and weaknesses were and included them in the changes,” he said.

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring will take over the Education Committee.

‘‘I’m thrilled about it. Clearly a lot of my focus is on children and youth and the public school system,” Ervin said.

On her list of initiatives for the committee is access to high-quality preschool services for all county families and closing the achievement gap between some minorities and their white and Asian American peers.

Knapp also renamed the Transportation and Environment Committee to the Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee, which will work on the executive’s plan to restructure the county’s public works and transportation and procurement departments.

He leaves open seats on the Management and Fiscal Policy, and the Public Safety committees. Those positions will be filled by whoever wins the May 13 District 4 election, which decides who will succeed Marilyn J. Praisner, who died last month.

‘‘I think people are generally pleased with the changes,” Knapp said. ‘‘We have a dilemma in which we could have nine council members from the majority party and only six committees so everyone cannot chair a committee. So we are working to make sure that everyone feels as if they are contributing to what we are doing. It’s a balancing act.”

By taking over PHED, Knapp takes the seat held by Praisner. Her leadership reflected what many saw as a mandate for slower growth in a county with some of the nation’s worst traffic and limited space for development.

‘‘Mike certainly represents a point of view more closely associated with Nancy’s point of view,” said Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park. ‘‘One has to hope that he will look openly at these issues. I feel like he could have put himself on the committee and had a two-person majority [without taking the chairman role]. We’ll see how the votes start coming in.”

For the most part, Knapp’s changes followed the assumptions of council observers — even the PHED move — although some thought he would dissolve the MFP Committee, leaving its chairwoman, Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg, without a committee to lead.

‘‘I am heartened to see that the decision to keep the MFP committee,” Powell said. ‘‘Duchy has been doing a good job chairing the committee and will continue to do a good job.”

Earlier this month Trachtenberg accused Knapp of trying to marginalize her and her role. After Praisner’s Feb. 1 death, when Knapp originally debated changes to the council’s makeup, Trachtenberg said Knapp did not discuss the possibilities with her. Knapp said he was giving Trachtenberg — one of Praisner’s close friends — adequate time to grieve.

‘‘I’m delighted that the committee remains intact as it is an important committee within the structure of the council, and I’m also delighted that I will remain the chair,” said Trachtenberg this week. ‘‘I stand by my comment that MFP is where all the action is. Issues like contracts, county finances all get handled in this committee, and with the budget season upon us that will become very clear.”

Knapp said phasing out the MFP Committee really was not a consideration.

‘‘The issue was more that MFP as created in 1990 and had never had a chair other than Marilyn and that committee handled those issues that were of interest to her which didn’t’ necessarily mean that they were of interest to others in the same way,” he said.

Instead of dissolving the committee, Knapp changed the committee’s membership, and moved some of the procurement issues from the committee to the expanded transportation and environment committee.

‘‘It makes sense to re-look at things so you get different perspectives, and so that things can be done in a more orderly way,” said Gail Ewing, a former County Council member. ‘‘I think Duchy is the only one who has shown a keen interest in the same things that Praisner did. She is the only one that has had the process concerns that come up in MFP. She’s got more dedication and commitment to follow through in those areas.”