Officials in Prince Georges county have adopted a sense of
entitlement when it comes to the proposed new headquarters for the FBI. The
county believes it has been short changed when it comes to sharing in the
largess of federal government spending when compared to the other counties that
border the nation’s capital. When the FBI issued a solicitation of interest
from neighboring jurisdictions, Prince Georges county saw this as their chance
to even the score.
Not so fast said Montgomery .
According to this story by Miranda S. Spivack and Victor Zapana in
The Washington Post, the county’s economic development director “confirmed that
he is soliciting local developers and consulting with federal agencies about
potential sites.”
“Montgomery ’s effort
surprised Prince George ’s officials, who said
they thought they would be alone in Maryland
vying for the lucrative deal. Last year, Prince George ’s
lost out to Montgomery for a $450 million
lease for a federal Health and Human Services office complex that instead
is remaining in Rockville .”
This move also surprised a few local officials including
our own economic development director, Laura Nueman. According to the
article, at a recent meeting of state and local economic officials she asked if
any other counties were planning on responding to the solicitation “and no one
spoke up.”
Huh?
What about HoCo?
There are quite a few HoCo residents who work for the FBI
and make the daily commute to DC. Why shouldn't HoCo throw its hat in the mix?
I’m willing to wager that this was never even considered and
one of the reasons is likely political. Our county exec is trying to build
statewide support for his governors race and supporting PG’s bid would be a
smart political move, particularly considering the fact that more than a few
major employers like Merkle have abandoned PG for HoCo in recent years.
