Mayor Martin O'Malley has requested that Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. deploy the Maryland National Guard and state police to help Baltimore provide protection for potentially vulnerable facilities.
An O'Malley aide said he faxed a formal request to Ehrlich on Monday, but has been calling the governor for two weeks asking for additional protection for the port of Baltimore and for the city's water treatment facilities, subway stations and industrial areas.
A spokesman for the governor said last night that Ehrlich discussed the request yesterday with Col. Edward T. Norris, the state police superintendent, and Maj. Gen. Bruce F. Tuxill, adjutant general of the Maryland National Guard. Greg H.N. Massoni, Ehrlich's deputy director of communications, said no decision has been reached.
O'Malley's press secretary, Raquel Guillory, complained that Ehrlich had not returned phone calls from the mayor since the war in Iraq began. Massoni responded that Ehrlich's staff has been discussing the request with Deputy Mayor Jeanne D. Hitchcock.
"For the mayor to imply that he can't get something done because he can't speak directly to the governor is ridiculous," Massoni said.
The mayor said he is following the recommendation of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in "Operation Liberty Shield," which suggests that state and local governments work together to provide homeland security.
O'Malley's request has been on the table as Ehrlich pushed on Capitol Hill yesterday for $97.6 million in federal funds for homeland security costs. The mayor also visited Washington yesterday, and criticized President Bush for "insufficient" help to the cities.
Ehrlich detailed his request in a thick document that he gave to the state's congressional delegation as he asked for the lawmakers' support in obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds for a long list of items ranging from food stamps to recreational boating safety.
At a Capitol Hill meeting, Ehrlich and Norris highlighted their homeland security request for $5.3 million to establish a "joint intelligence center" staffed around the clock by federal, state and local agencies involved in fighting terrorism.
This week, Bush sent Congress a $74.7 billion supplemental budget that includes $2 billion to help states and cities pay homeland security costs. Of that, $1.5 million would go to the states for equipment, exercises and planning, with the requirement that the states pass 80 percent to local governments.
