Members of Montgomery County's House delegation weren't just admitting their flaws in Annapolis yesterday. They were flaunting them.
Most of the 22-member Montgomery contingent showed up in the House of Delegates chamber yesterday sporting badges proclaiming: "Montgomery Character-Flawed and Proud of It."
The badges were a good-natured swipe at Del. Howard P. Rawlings, a Baltimore Democrat and a leading defender of the $254 million school-funding agreement between the state and the city that has aroused strong opposition in Montgomery.
Rawlings was quoted Sunday in the Washington Post as saying Montgomery County's "wealthy" legislators "just have a character flaw," and that "most are from other states and have no history and root connection to [Maryland]."
Montgomery Del. John Hurson, the House majority leader, said he was a "co-conspirator" in the decision to display the badges.
"We're poking a little fun at the chairman of appropriations," Hurson said. "The vast majority of the people in our delegation were actually born and raised in Montgomery County. We aren't all rich. We have a few poor people down here, too."
Rawlings was unmoved. "The truth hurts," he said.
Pub Date: 1/10/97
