More News

Ehrlich gives on land sale ballot wording

Conservation group sues state to force simpler language on question

Friday, Sept. 1, 2006

The Ehrlich administration will use the General Assembly’s wording of a ballot question that, if passed by voters, would require legislative oversight of all state land deals.

Hours after the Maryland League of Conservation Voters filed suit Thursday against Secretary of State Mary D. Kane, the governor agreed to use the legislature’s 52-word passage over its own longer version, called convoluted and misleading by critics.

The concession by the governor is seen as diffusing a potentially messy and costly legal battle before the Nov. 7 general election.

‘‘After we had seen there were issues with Question 1 [the land sale amendment] ... we believe that the General Assembly’s ballot language was adequate,” Kane said Thursday.

The administration supports the constitutional amendment and there was no intent to mislead voters, she added.

‘‘We were just trying to simplify it and make it as easy as possible for the voters to understand,” Kane said.

Open space advocates were quick to proclaim victory.

‘‘Clearly, they succumbed to public pressure,” said Cindy Schwartz, executive director of the League of Conservation Voters. ‘‘We pushed and they heard. The language that was put forth by the legislature was clear and it’s concise and it’s not misleading to the public.”

The amendment stems from a 2004 scandal after the Ehrlich administration offered to sell a politically connected Baltimore real estate developer, Willard J. Hackerman, an environmentally sensitive 836-acre parcel in St. Mary’s County for nearly the same price the state had paid in 2003.

Hackerman stood to receive $7 million in tax breaks in exchange for donating about 200 acres to St. Mary’s County for schools and preserving the remaining land, but he pulled out of the deal when it was learned that he planned to build houses on portions of the property.

Lawmakers passed a bill in 2005 that would give the legislature final approval over the sale or transfer of state parkland.

After reviewing the administration’s wording last week, land preservation groups pounced on Ehrlich for altering the language recommended by the legislature.

The suit, filed in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court, alleged Kane’s version failed to ‘‘properly apprise the voters of the actual scope and effect of the measure proposed” and claimed that it could have impacted the amendment’s outcome.

The secretary of state prepares and certifies wording of ballot questions.

Senate Judicial Proceedings Chairman Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda, a leading open space advocate, commended Kane and said the decision helps preserve the integrity of the election process.

‘‘I think they wrote it upside down,” he said. ‘‘The law that we passed is very simple and easy to understand. ... I think they have come to the right decision.”