Duncan retreats from the scandal he created

Faced during his gubernatorial campaign with a growing scandal of his own engineering, Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan backs away from his campaign to surplus Seven Locks Elementary School.

In a February 28 letter to a Montgomery County PTA leader, Duncan passes the buck to the school board and says he agrees with Superintendent Jerry Weast's recent about-face not to surplus SLES.

Duncan writes to Churchill PTA Cluster Coordinator Janis Sartucci, "As you know, the ultimate decision on the surplus of school sites rests with the Board of Education. Since my original request in 2003 for surplus properties, I have not made additional requests to the Board of Education and I concur with the Superintendent's decision to not declare the Seven Locks site as surplus, thereby keeping it in use by the school system."

Duncan's letter means little for the Seven Locks community, as his term ends after the November elections. The two Democrats fighting to succeed him have radically different views. Ike Leggett created the Office of Inspector General and supports strengthening its powers to investigate corruption in the county government. Steve Silverman, one of the most relentless pushers of the Kendale scheme, says he does not.