Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry finds himself in the unenviable position of scrambling to clean up the mess left behind by his predecessor, Parris N. Glendening. But Mr. Curry isn't lashing out at Mr. Glendening in public -- and for good reason. There's nothing to gain in picking a fight with Maryland's new governor.
Not only did Mr. Curry inherit a hushed-up deficit of $105 million and overly generous contracts signed with fire and police unions, he faces a massive unfunded pension liability created by the previous administration's moves to enrich these programs and give non-merit-system workers special treatment.
On that last issue, Mr. Curry's response should be emphatic. The special supplemental pension handout should be scuttled. It was a program that may have been well-intended but which was set up and then modified so that it became a boondoggle. Mr. Glendening's actions late in his final term made it possible for his aides to reap big benefits from this program.
The other immediate step Mr. Curry should take is to get a thorough, expert review of Prince George's County's exceptionally liberal pension benefits. Nowhere else in the state of Maryland are public employees so well compensated for unused sick days, for instance. And nowhere else in the state are non-merit-system employees given such a lucrative benefits package. There may be a need for a "safety net" to protect these workers in case of layoffs, but that can be handled through a severance plan, not long-term pension payments.
Mr. Curry will have to deal with these particular problems, but in Annapolis wary legislators are concerned lest similar actions are taken in the State House under Governor Glendening. Especially troubling is the fact that the governor's new personnel secretary, Michael Knapp, helped mastermind the Prince George's pension giveaway -- and then became one of its prime beneficiaries. He will be deeply involved in pension and benefits matters in Annapolis, too. Confirmation hearings on Mr. Knapp's nomination are set for later this month. He can expect -- and deserves -- to be on the receiving end of sharply critical questioning.