Laurie DeWitt/The Gazette

"In 16 years in elective office, I have always been available for on-the-record discussions with Maryland's reporters," he said in the statement. "Candid, forthcoming leadership fosters the responsive government that all Marylanders deserve."

Ehrlich also pledged: "No staff. No written statements. Just Bob."

The announcement comes in stark contrast to Democratic frontrunner Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, who has held a series of off-the-record lunches with state political reporters after keeping them at arms length for most of her seven years in office.

Townsend also is rarely seen without protective political guru and Chief of Staff Alan Fleischmann.

-- Steven T. Dennis

Parting shots

Ehrlich fired off an early salvo in the governor's race at last week's Lincoln Day Dinner sponsored by the Montgomery County Republican Party.

But it wasn't aimed at Townsend. Instead, Ehrlich made the outgoing governor the butt of his jokes.

"I don't want to take too much of your time. I just have a couple of promises to make," he told more than 350 celebrants at the Indian Spring Country Club in Silver Spring. "One really big dog. One fence. One Sine Die party, everybody's invited. One first lady, and one balanced budget."

-- David Abrams

Tough going

And speaking of the Republican gala, it sure is hard to be a member of the Party of Lincoln in Montgomery County.

A number of picketers showed up outside the event protesting Rep. Connie Morella and her former campaign manager, Montgomery County Councilman Howie Denis.

Oddly enough, the picketers were Republicans!

"They're anti-gun and anti-freedom," proclaimed Bob Brand of Gaithersburg, a member of the pro-gun Tyranny Response Team.

Fellow protestor Jeff Brown of Gaithersburg, dressed in full patriot garb, also identified himself as a Republican, "which will probably shoot all my chances of making the Republican Central Committee," he quipped.

When asked about the people outside, Denis and Morella were all smiles.

"We had a little mix-up," Morella said.

"That's democracy, but we managed to win," Denis chimed in.

Brown was handing out a takeoff on the infamous Gus Alzona flier depicting Montgomery County state Sens. Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington, Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Chevy Chase and Del. Mark K. Shriver (D-Dist. 15) of Bethesda dressed in Nazi uniforms.

The takeoff has Morella strapped to a donkey, with Alzona beaming in the background, lampooning Morella's support of the Million Mom March and a clipped quotation that she would vote for Al Gore if the 2000 election ended up in the House.

-- David Abrams

Whetted appetites

Fresh off the high of winning more money for Montgomery County schools because of the revamped Thornton education plan, some County Council members are yearning for more.

Members of the Education Committee learned Monday from a report in Education Week that Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Dist. 5) of Mitchellville had secured $200,000 in federal money to expand Cleveland's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "Rockin the Schools" program. That's Cleveland as in Ohio.

That prompted a discussion between Michael L. Subin (D-At large) of Gaithersburg and Nancy H. Dacek (R-Dist. 2) of Darnestown about increasing the presence of county lobbyists at the Capitol.

County schools have some great fine arts programs, Dacek said, and "I think he might be able to find things for us, too."

Hoyer had no comment.

-- David Abrams

Mining the money

The lighting was dim. The music was Big Band. The hundreds of attendees -- many with ties to the development community -- were sufficiently stuffed and sloshy. And Maryland's Democratic upper-crust made their cameos: Comptroller William Donald Schaefer, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, Baltimore County Executive C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp and other politicos of all stripes.

And so the fund-raising season in Montgomery County has revved into high gear. And the dough and drink are flowing.

County Executive Douglas M. Duncan, host of last week's dinner at the Silver Spring Hilton, vacuumed up more than $300,000 in his campaign for re-election (so far, he has no challengers).

The same night, a few miles north at the posh Indian Spring Country Club, top Republican lawmakers were wining, dining and writing checks at their annual Lincoln Day Dinner keyed by federal EPA chief Christie Todd Whitman.

County Council candidates are following suit:

George L. Leventhal, former head of the Montgomery Democratic Central Committee, raised mucho bucks earlier this month at a crowded-house do in Potomac attended by U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. Democrat Thomas E. Perez has a big fund-raiser planned Tuesday in Rockville. Silver Spring activists Sally L. Sternbach and Cynthia Rubenstein, both Dems, have events in the works.

But with cargoloads of local dollars going to the heated District 8 congressional race, some Democrats are concerned that the campaign cupboard will be bare come September.

Says one Montgomery lawmaker: "It's only April, but it feels like October."

-- Theodore Kim

Look out, Loudoun

Roads advocate Ken Reid has said for years that he supports Montrose Parkway even though he lives near the North Bethesda project.

Now that the parkway is going forward, Reid is leaving the neighborhood for Leesburg, Va., in June.

And he's not leaving quietly.

After the County Council approved the $63 million parkway on April 9, Reid sent out pointed e-mails to about 15 neighbors who opposed the road.

"Glad I'm moving," he wrote. "What's your strategy now -- sue, or stand in front of the bulldozers?"

Another announced a photo contest, and read: "your community web site is hosting a contest for the best photos of Spring or Summer (sic) in Tilden Woods."

Attached was a photo of a torn-down home next to a bulldozer, alluding to residences that will be demolished to make room for Montrose Parkway.

"I'm just having my fun," he explained Thursday about the e-mails. "I've gone through real hell with some of these people."

Reid said parkway opponents wouldn't talk to him after he came out in favor of the parkway in 1997.

"They lost. They basically spent their years fighting the inevitable," he said.

Reid said he's not moving because of the parkway, but to reduce his living and business expenses and to be near family.

"This is a very impersonal neighborhood," he said of his soon-to-be former home. "Leesburg is more of a small-town environment."

In a county that has put the brakes on growth and roads.

-- Scott Herbstman

Howie, Duchy, Duchy, Howie

A subtle public relations war has erupted between Republican incumbent Howard A. Denis and Democratic challenger Duchy Trachtenberg in the race to represent Montgomery County Council District 1.

Trachtenberg, president of the National Organization for Women's county chapter, in recent months has sought to attract more media coverage while gradually ratcheting up her criticism of Denis.

When Denis recently characterized a county investigation on underage drinking as a "wake-up call," Trachtenberg slammed the councilman as disengaged from the community in a letter to The Washington Post.

But Denis, a cagey former 18-year veteran of the Maryland Senate, knows a thing or two about political jujitsu.

After the media seized upon charges of domestic violence against Del. Dana Lee Dembrow earlier this month, Denis unexpectedly sent out a news release the next day criticizing Dembrow and asking for his resignation. It wasn't until later in the week that Trachtenberg, who has championed domestic violence issues, called for Dembrow to resign.

This week, Denis appeared to throw Trachtenberg another curve ball, co-sponsoring council legislation to improve supervision at a battered women's shelter in Rockville.

At a news conference Tuesday, Denis stood at the podium while Trachtenberg, who had helped publicized the problems at the shelter, sat in the audience.

The two council candidates, we understand, shook hands politely later. A harbinger of civility?

-- Theodore Kim