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Montgomery exec candidates bristle at housing forum exclusion

Independent, Republican charge organizers with favortism toward Democrats

Friday, April 14, 2006

Two candidates for Montgomery county executive are accusing a nonprofit affordable housing advocate with giving preferential treatment to the two Democrats in the race.

Independent Robin Ficker and Republican Charles R. ‘‘Chuck” Floyd said the nonprofit Affordable Housing Conference has relegated them to second-class status by not allowing them to debate the Democrats at a May 3 affordable housing summit in Bethesda.

But the AHC said Ficker and Floyd were not included on the 1 p.m. county executive candidates panel because neither man responded to a March 8 invitation before the group’s plans were made.

But after the men raised objections, a second panel featuring Ficker and Floyd was scheduled for 3 p.m., said Barbara Goldberg Goldman, an AHC chairwoman.

But Ficker and Floyd are still not happy, calling the new plan unacceptable and demanding to be part of the 1 p.m. session.

They separately disputed Goldman’s explanation for the scheduling change. This week, Ficker sent Goldman a letter accusing the organization of violating its tax-exempt status by giving preferential treatment to the Democrats. He cited a March 19 letter from AHC that told Ficker and Floyd that it had decided to limit the forum to Democrats.

‘‘Isn’t it suspect that they cannot put four people on the same panel? What are they afraid of?” Ficker, a lawyer, asked this week. ‘‘When you’re in court, the prosecutor and defense attorneys are in the same courtroom. When you have everyone in the room, the truth is more free to come out.”

Floyd asked AHC reconsider its decision by April 12; if not, he threatened in an e-mail, he would take his case to the public. He also plans to ask Democrats Isiah Leggett and Steven A. Silverman to intervene, he told The Gazette.

What: Annual affordable housing summit Who: Hosted by the Affordable Housing Conference When: May 3 Where: Montgomery County conference center, 5701 Marinelli Road, Bethesda Details: www.affordable housingconference.org

‘‘I plan to be there all day, and for the early session, if I get to talk or not is something else,” Floyd said. ‘‘The people attending the conference will be focused on the 1 p.m. session. At 3 p.m., who will be there? I think this was intentional.”

The annual summit features expert panels on affordable housing and presents awards. With this year an election year, five candidate panels are scheduled.

‘‘I am surprised that this situation has become the focal point of the summit instead of our goal of finding solutions to affordable housing,” Goldman said. ‘‘We have done everything we can to accommodate [Ficker and Floyd]. Unfortunately they have turned this into a political debate, and this is not a debate.”

Sixteen candidates have been invited to the summit, including candidates for governor, county executive, U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.

‘‘Anybody we heard about as a candidate for these offices received an invitation,” Goldman said, adding that organizers consulted with the League of Women Voters on the list.

Floyd and Ficker have been included on the AHC’s updated Web site as speakers at the 3 p.m. panel.

AHC’s decision is the latest in a methodical plan to keep them from exchanging ideas with the Democrats, Ficker and Floyd charged.

A debate last month on library issues hosted by the Chevy Chase Friends of the Library has been the only forum thus far open to all four county executive candidates. Floyd was unable to attend that event.