THROW AWAY the Rolodex and the Baltimore area code. There's a new gang in town. And for anyone who wants to do business in Annapolis, lunch at the Center Club's out and so's Corned Beef Row and Little Italy.
It's now Upper Marlboro, a Tobacco Road town to the south on U.S. 301 where the wheeling and dealing's done and a wink and a nod will get a private audience with the governor.
The only redeeming social value is that Prince George's County and Baltimore City politics ramble hand-in-hand, the kind of rough-and-tumble politics where they stab you in the front, not the back. The demographics are pretty much the same and so are the smoke-free law offices where the shopping-bag price of politics is determined by which string-puller you hire.
So wave goodbye to the old Harborplace crowd of Baltimore bozos -- Robert Hillman, Richard Berndt, Mark Wasserman and Jim Smith.
Lainy LeBow's out, Frances Anne Glendening's in. And so, too, are Lance Billingsly, John T. Willis, Major F. Riddick Jr., John P. Davey and Joel Rozner -- names largely unknown outside the brackets of Prince George's County politics.
They're the backstage apparatchiks of the Parris Glendening administration who by dint of the association are destined to become the power brokers of the mid-1990s -- the Irv Kovenses, Peter O'Malleys and Larry Gibsons of their time and place.
Oh, sure, the out-front flank of cabinet officials is made up mostly of wonks, technocrats and RoboPols who come with the territory, the patronage tag team that'll run interference for the newly installed governor.
By and large they're pretty much strange faces, mostly from the other end of the state on the Maryland side of Washington, the state's new population as well as political epicenter. Of the 14 cabinet secretaries, only four are from Baltimore.
But anyone who wants to buy clout by the hour had better log in with Mr. Billingsly, Mr. Davey and/or Mr. Rozner. And for an added measure of cold comfort, get to know Frances Anne, Mr. Willis and Mr. Riddick, too.
For openers, Mr. Riddick, as chief of staff, is the official gatekeeper and paper pusher as well as one of a half-dozen Glendening insiders. No person, no piece of paper, moves into the governor's office without Mr. Riddick's OK.
And Mr. Willis, A Baltimorean and secretary of state, is the administration's official political junkie because that's what his job is all about. Mr. Willis, lawyer, author, campaign strategist and Mr. Glendening's former chief of staff, is ambassador to the Maryland political community at-large as well as the in-house ear-to-the-ground.
There are other roles for Mr. Billingsly, Mr. Davey and Mr. Rozner to fill. Mr. Billingsly may ultimately have an official job in Annapolis, but until then his shingle hangs in Prince George's County where he's been a close chum of Mr. Glendening's since the 1960s and has run several of his campaigns. His politically connected law firm operates under the banner of Myers, Billingsly, Shipley, Rodbell & Rosenbaum.
Mr. Billingsly's also a close friend of Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md) and was a University of Maryland College Park roommate of state Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller Jr.
Mr. Davey is another lawyer who's close to the Glendenings, a friendship that goes back 15 years. Mr. Davey was chief of staff during Mr. Glendening's first term as PeeGee County executive and chief administrative officer during the second. He was also finance director of Mr. Glendening's campaign for governor which raised an estimated $6 million. His law firm, Nylen & Gilmore, recently merged with O'Malley & Miles, to become the largest law firm in PeeGee County.
Mr. Rozner, a lawyer, is also another former Glendening chief of staff. Until Mr. Glendening was elected governor. Mr. Rozner was a lobbyist with the firm of Rifkin, Evans, Silver and Rozner but along with Gerald Evans defected to form another Prince George's firm with close connections to Mr. Glendening -- Dukes Evans Rozner Brown & Stierhoff. Mr. Rozner's wife, Michele, is one of four deputy chiefs of staff in the Glendening administration.
That's the new lineup for power-lunching. And for the most part, his inner circle as well as his personal staff is a short list of people who've worked with Mr. Glendening throughout his political career and a few patronage appointees from the administration of Mayor Kurt Schmoke.
But for those political rubberneckers who want to cut their losses, not to worry. Mr. Glendening's promised to spend two days a week in Baltimore in the -- are you ready for this -- William Donald Schaefer State Office Building.
And for anyone wanting to go through the back door, Messrs. Schmoke and Gibson may still have some chits to call in.
Don't be surprised, though, if the law firms of Messrs. Billingsly, Davey and Rozner suddenly open offices in Annapolis and Baltimore.
In the wonderful world of Lawyers 'R' Us, the new guys in town are ready to practice one of their specialties -- influence peddling. It's as American as money.
Frank A. DeFilippo writes on Maryland politics from Owings Mills.