One of the three trustees who set up a controversial Prince George's County pension program said yesterday that it was never intended to benefit top officials who left county government for political reasons.
Eric M. Tucker, the county's former finance director, said the program -- which provides generous early pension benefits for employees forced from their jobs -- was designed only to help workers threatened by layoffs.
"I anticipated this benefit was going to be for people who were laid off for downsizing," said Mr. Tucker, now finance director of Detroit.
"That was it. Any other benefits derived from this are opportunistic," Mr. Tucker said.
The county program has been under fire since it was disclosed last month that Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the former Prince George's County executive, and three top aides stood to collect early pensions because they had been "involuntarily separated" from county service.
The three aides, who were political appointees of Mr. Glendening's in Upper Marlboro, qualified for benefits under the program because he asked them to resign late last year to make room for the incoming county administration.
They quickly followed their boss into high-ranking jobs in Maryland government.
County attorneys said Mr. Glendening was eligible for the early pension because term limits prohibited him from seeking another term as county executive.
Mr. Glendening, however, acknowledges that he had long planned not to seek re-election and instead to run for governor.
The governor and his aides have since announced they will forgo the pension payments, which ranged from about $15,000 to $23,000 a year, and related benefits until they reach the usual retirement age of 55 or leave state service.
Mr. Tucker, who chaired the pension board, said he did not know at the time he approved the plan that political appointees and elected officials such as Mr. Glendening would benefit from the involuntary separation provision.
In retrospect, he said the provision "is suspiciously generous."
Mr. Tucker left his job in Prince George's County last summer after a public disagreement with Mr. Glendening over a decision to reassign another county official. He said yesterday that those differences did not influence his comments.
"There's nothing negative that I'm saying that is not accurate," he said.
His comments yesterday marked the first time an official involved in the pension program has publicly criticized the way it came to be used.
Mr. Tucker's recollection of the intent of the early-pension program is at odds with the plans two other former trustees.
They have said that although it was indeed designed to protect senior employees from layoffs, they also realized it would also apply to top officials leaving government for political reasons.
Frank W. Stegman, the county's former labor commissioner, said he understood that that senior appointees would be eligible for the benefits if they lost their jobs with a change in administration.
"It was intended for any plan participant who was involuntarily terminated with 15 years or more of service. Appointees were participants in the plan," Mr. Stegman said, meaning that they, too, were eligible for early benefits.
"It didn't come as a total shock to me that the 'involuntarily separation' was applicable to appointed officials, but it wasn't the focus of what we were trying to accomplish when we did it," said Michael J. Knapp, the county's former personnel officer.
Mr. Knapp said he did not know exactly when or how the provision came to apply to elected officials.
"When we did this, we were looking for ways to save our employees; we weren't looking for ways to protect anyone's future interests," he said.
Mr. Glendening has nominated Mr. Knapp as personnel secretary for the state and Mr. Stegman as secretary of labor, licensing and regulation.
Apprised of Mr. Tucker's statements yesterday, Mr. Glendening
said, "That's his interpretation. That's what's great about America, we all have interpretations."
Mr. Stegman said: "I don't know what Eric's understanding of the intent was. He was chairman of the board of trustees and he approved everything along with [Mr. Knapp] and myself.
"He's never expressed any concern to me about it."
By all accounts, the pension trustees established the "involuntary separation" provision in 1992 to provide security for senior employees at a time when the county anticipated hundreds of layoffs.
Under the provision, employees who were "involuntarily separated" could receive early pension payments worth 50 percent more money per year than if they had left government voluntarily.
In addition to Mr. Knapp, the other aides eligible for the early pension benefits were Major F. Riddick Jr., now the governor's chief of staff, and Michele T. Rozner, a deputy chief of staff.
Despite giving up the benefits, they and the governor insisted that they had followed the law and done nothing wrong.
"I am unhappy that an effort has been made to discredit these professionals," Mr. Glendening said last week.
"They earned the benefit that they have agreed to forgo in the interest of public service."
Meanwhile, the Prince George's County Council yesterday began its inquiry into the pension plan. Council members did not discuss the propriety of Mr. Glendening and his aides qualifying for the early benefits.
But Walter H. Maloney, a newly elected council member, accused county officials of requesting preordained legal opinions to justify increased benefits and pension payments to elected officials.
"The opinions I read indicate that they are finger-licking good," said Mr. Maloney, who once served as the county's chief attorney.
Only one member of the public stepped forward to speak at the 2 1/2 -hour hearing.
Diane Hickok, a 38-year-old nurse from Upper Marlboro, said she was outraged by disclosure of the pensions and related benefits.
"What now exists is clearly excessive and abusive to the taxpayer," Ms. Hickok said.