Realignment

Several years ago, when he was Maryland's secretary of economic development, David S. Iannucci buttonholed Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on the subject of base closings. He knew that two Southern Maryland bases might be moved or downsized. "He completely disregarded me," Mr. Iannucci recalls. In a picture taken during the encounter, Mr. Iannucci realized, somewhat ruefully, that he and Mr. Rumsfeld were talking at the same time. But maybe Mr. Rumsfeld was listening. When the BRAC (base realignment and closure)

Let's get companies off the dole in Md. Howard County Executive Ken Ulman is worried about growth, and who can blame him? Defense realignment is bringing an estimated 2,259 jobs and 1,853 residents to the already booming locality. He wonders who'll pay for all the extra roads, schools and police officers that will be needed. Incoming federal employment "brings some very significant challenges," Ulman said in a speech a couple of weeks ago, and he's begging Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski for Washington money to finance it. So why the heck are his economic development people stoking even more growth and throwing away scarce tax dollars in the bargain?

Harford County officials unveiled yesterday an "action plan" detailing land-use planning, transportation upgrades and dozens of other steps needed to prepare for the growth surge expected as Aberdeen Proving Ground gains thousands of jobs from the nationwide military base realignment. "The snowball's rolling downhill, and we're going to continue to keep pace," said J. Thomas Sadowski, chairman of the county's base realignment planning advisory commission. He noted that some of the 8,200 defense positions relocating to the proving ground are expected to begin arriving next year, while some supporting contract workers already have started moving.

Last fall, Mary-Dulany James was in the crosshairs. Republicans believed the two-term Democratic state delegate to be vulnerable in the November election and made a concerted effort to bring about her defeat. "I made the hit list," she said. James not only survived the election, but she won by the biggest margin in her three campaigns. And with the General Assembly session now under way, James is expected to be a key member of the Harford delegation as a builder of bridges between her conservative-leaning county and a new Democratic administration in Annapolis.

Greg Bily wanted to work in Maryland. So he took a job in New Jersey. The 30-year-old former Abingdon resident was hired by the Army for a job at Fort Monmouth, N.J., that will migrate to Aberdeen Proving Ground as part of the national base realignment process. "I thought this was a great opportunity to learn a lot and a great chance to improve myself," said Bily, who has a law degree from the University of Baltimore and was hired for an internship as a management analyst. A recent military survey estimating that only a small fraction of the workers at Fort Monmouth plan to follow their jobs to Aberdeen has sparked a hiring spree by the Army aimed at putting about 2,600 workers in place at the New Jersey base long before it moves to Maryland.

In the pursuit of state school construction money last year, most county and state elected officials were in agreement that Harford County came up short. Their initial request paled in comparison to those made by other jurisdictions, and they missed out completely when $91 million was later doled out. This year, Harford officials have asked for nearly $60 million, compared with last year's $17 million request, as part of County Executive David R. Craig's plan to build or renovate seven schools by 2010.

With the Pentagon's military base realignment expected to bring tens of thousands of jobs to Maryland in the next five years, officials warned yesterday that state and local governments will have to act quickly to deal with the influx, despite mounting opposition among voters to new growth. Speaking at a daylong seminar sponsored by area homebuilders, state, local and military officials said that the incoming O'Malley administration and the General Assembly that convenes next month must find the money to pay for costly highway and transit projects, school expansions, and water and sewer upgrades to accommodate the 40,000 to 60,000 new jobs expected to be created by the base realignment.

The impending military base realignment looms as Baltimore's opportunity to boost its population and contribute to the reversal in recent years of the decades-long flight of residents to the suburbs. The plan, also known as Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), could bring as many as 40,000 jobs to Maryland as a result of expansions mainly at Fort Meade in Anne Arundel County and Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County. While much attention has been focused on expanding housing and improving infrastructure in suburban counties, Baltimore could figure prominently in the BRAC process by virtue of its housing stock, public transit and cultural amenities, business and government officials said.

A Lutherville developer is planning $230 million worth of new warehouses, offices and apartments near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport and Arundel Mills mall that could serve employment growth expected from the nation's base realignment. Preston Capital Management LLC expects to build 2 million square feet of commercial space over five years on four sites in the Baltimore-Washington corridor, said David P. Scheffenacker Jr., president and chief executive of Preston Partners Inc., a commercial brokerage and development firm that launched Preston Capital two years ago. The projects could eventually house agencies or firms employing some 5,500 workers, Scheffenacker said.

As Anne Arundel and Harford counties plan for the growth that will result from the nationwide military base realignment, officials should put more emphasis on improving rail and bus lines to meet demand, according to a transportation advocacy group. Early planning has focused much attention on improving roads for the thousands of residents coming to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford and Fort Meade in Anne Arundel as a result of the realignment process known as BRAC, according to the Baltimore Transit Alliance, a subsidiary of the Greater Baltimore Committee.