It is customary at the start of Board of Public Works meetings for members to make personal comments, so Comptroller Peter Franchot took advantage last week by introducing his daughter. In case those in the packed State House reception room couldn't locate her, Franchot noted that Abbe, 25, was modestly "hiding behind the television cameras."
Gov. Martin O'Malley, sitting at Franchot's side, grinned broadly and said, "A quality she got from her mother." As laughter filled the room, Franchot - the state's unapologetically outspoken Democratic comptroller - responded with a smile, "It is very unFranchot-like."
In office just four months, Franchot - the former delegate from Takoma Park who ousted William Donald Schaefer - has shown not just affection for the spotlight but an unabashed interest in broadening the policy responsibilities of his office.
He has issued statements about divesting state pension money from Darfur. He has railed against the possible implementation of slot machine gambling to mitigate a looming budget crisis. He supported a doomed House of Delegates health care plan. He led the successful charge against a Kent Island development that environmentalists argued would harm the Chesapeake Bay. And he has cast himself as a chief advocate for expanding Maryland's biotechnology industry.
Hardly matters of usual concern to Maryland's chief tax collector.
Some in Annapolis say Franchot lacks the appropriate deference, not just to the party's new governor but to senior lawmakers. They say Franchot, 59, should stick to managing the state's fiscal affairs, the overarching constitutional mandate of his office.
"No one should tread on the other's defined duties or areas of expertise," said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, a Democrat. "We only need one governor in the state of Maryland."
But Franchot, who is tall and trim and bears a striking resemblance to the actor Richard Chamberlain, is not about to clip his own wings - or let others do it for him. Not in the interest of politics - or personal relationships.
Franchot said he ran on a progressive platform last fall and defeated Schaefer, the "Babe Ruth of Maryland politics," the former governor, Baltimore mayor and comptroller - with that agenda.
"I'd like to supercharge the agency. I'd like to take it to the next level," said Franchot, who announced Friday that he would investigate rising gas prices. "I'm a liberal Democrat who is battle-tested. I got over a million votes in an election. I want to be involved in the economic future of Maryland."
