County Executive 1968-1994
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MONTGOMERY COUNTY ARCHIVES Guide to the Records of the COUNTY EXECUTIVE 1968-1994 Record Group 1: Executive Branch March 25, 1999 Revised August 20, 2015 Revised October 6, 2015 Montgomery County Archives Montgomery County Records Center 8540 Anniversary Circle, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20877 (301) 926-5002 [email protected] www.montgomeryhistory.org GUIDE TO THE RECORDS OF THE COUNTY EXECUTIVE 1968-1994 Record Group 1: Executive Branch ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY Under the provisions of the Montgomery County Charter of 1948, both executive and legislative powers resided in the County Council, which appointed a County Manager to serve at the Council’s discretion. However, the County Council-County Manager system was seen to be inadequate for the rapidly growing population of the County who were demanding more services and accountability from the local government. Many citizens and civic groups called for a charter review to determine whether the executive, administrative, and legislative functions should be separated and an independent County Executive elected by the voters for a four year term. Although the Charter Review Committee appointed in 1965 opposed this plan, the County Council ignored its advice, and submitted the question of an elected County Executive to the voters in 1966, when it was soundly defeated. The County Council was undeterred, and, early in 1967, Council members Richmond M. Keeney and Idamae Garrott proposed the establishment of another commission “to draft a new charter, which would provide for full separation of powers and an elected county executive” [Washington Post and Washington Star, January 11, 1967, as quoted on page 370 in Richard K. MacMaster and Ray Eldon Hiebert, A Grateful Remembrance, published by the Montgomery County Government and Montgomery County Historical Society in Rockville, Md., in 1976]. The Council endorsed the commission’s revised charter and held public hearings during the summer. Although many county residents were still unclear about the distinctions between executive and legislative powers, the majority approved the revised charter in November 1968. The new charter provided for a County Executive who would be elected in 1970 and who would hold the same administrative and executive responsibilities and powers as a city mayor, including veto power over some Council actions. He would be responsible for administering all Montgomery County Government departments, while day-to-day operations would be supervised by a Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) appointed by the County Executive. In 1970, Montgomery County voters elected James P. Gleason as their first County Executive. Besides the CAO, the County Executive is supported by three Assistant CAOs, a citizen outreach/community relations program, planning and fiscal analysis staff, and an Interagency Coordination office. The County Executive’s administrative staff provides budget development and analysis, fiscal and inventory control, personnel and payroll management, training and supervision, contract administration, and procurement. In addition, the staff receives visitors, logs and distributes incoming County Executive mail to appropriate County staff, and drafts responses for the County Executive’s signature. Program staff manage the office automation system, and plan and coordinate projects for office technology applications. October 6, 2015 Guide to the Records of the County Executive, 1968-1994 Record Group 1: Executive Branch 2 Citizen Outreach program staff coordinate responses to correspondence, telephone calls, electronic mail, and walk-in inquiries concerning County programs and services. The staff provide outreach and liaison services to minority, multi-lingual, and multi-cultural communities. Annual programs are sponsored celebrating Black History month, Hispanic Heritage month, Asian and Pacific Islanders Heritage month, Native American Heritage month, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. In addition, this program promotes volunteerism as a community ethic among government, business, religious, civic, and educational segments of the community. This program publishes the Quick Guide, the Directory of Community Resources, and the Directory of Licenses, Permits, and Inspections. The planning and fiscal analysis staff provide analytical support to the Executive on a range of issues, including the Annual Growth Policy, the fiscal impact of master plans, investigation of infrastructure finance methods, input on issues relating to infrastructure costing and the implementation of the County planning process, and limited regulatory support. PROCESSING PROCEDURES General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents and photographs were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere. Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible. Records in folders were arranged, unless otherwise indicated, in forward chronological order, with undated records appearing at the end of the folder. PROVENANCE Some of these records were transferred from Montgomery County Records Center in 1997 and 1998. Some of the monthly reports were transferred from the files of the Upcounty Regional Service Center in 1999. October 6, 2015 Guide to the Records of the County Executive, 1968-1994 Record Group 1: Executive Branch 3 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE The records of the County Executive comprise 88.5 cubic feet of material ranging in date from 1968 to 1995. Although a few subject files from the County Manager’s office were carried over when the structure of the County government was revised in 1970, most of the records in this record title were generated or received primarily during the tenure of the first two Montgomery County Executives, James P. Gleason and Charles W. Gilchrist, who served from December 1970 to December 1986. Some records from the subsequent administrations of Sidney Kramer and Neal Potter are also included, and a small amount of correspondence from County Executive Doug Duncan’s early tenure is here as well. Topics cover the whole range of County issues, and the records also document some of the functions and processes by which the County is governed. The records include subject and departmental files maintained by both Executives; materials relating to appointments to County advisory boards, commissions and committees; correspondence control files from 1973 to 1984 and 1990 to 1994; log slips for 1981 and 1982; and weekly and monthly reports to County Executive Gilchrist from the CAO dating from 1980 to 1983. Materials include correspondence, memoranda, reports, agendas, minutes, transcripts, log slips, resumes, clippings, and notes. The records are arranged in ten series: Series I: James P. Gleason Series IV: Log Slips Series II: Charles W. Gilchrist Series V: Appointments Subseries 1: Chronological Files Series VI: Reports Subseries 2: Subject Files Subseries 1: Monthly Reports Series III: Executive Correspondence Control Subseries 2: Weekly Management Letters Subseries 1: 1973 Subseries 3: Radio Commentary Subseries 2: 1974 Series VII: Sidney Kramer Subseries 3: 1975 Subseries 1: Chronological Files Subseries 4: 1976 Subseries 2: Agencies Subseries 5: 1977 Subseries 3: Reports Subseries 6: 1978 Subseries 4: Subject Files Subseries 7: 1979 Series VIII: Executive Regulations Subseries 8: 1980 Series IX: Executive Orders Subseries 9: 1981 Series X: Neal Potter Awards, Citations, Subseries 10: 1982 Proclamations, Subseries 11: 1983 Resolutions Subseries 12: 1984 Subseries 13: 1990 Subseries 14: 1991 Subseries 15: 1992 Subseries 16: 1993 Subseries 17: 1994 October 6, 2015 Guide to the Records of the County Executive, 1968-1994 Record Group 1: Executive Branch 4 SERIES DESCRIPTIONS Series I: James P. Gleason, 1968-1979 (6 cu.ft.) James P. Gleason was born in 1921 and received a law degree from Georgetown University in 1950. He served as a legislative assistant to Senator Richard Nixon, administrative assistant to Senator Knowland, consultant to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Assistant Administrator of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration, and as a member of many other task forces and committees. He was also chairman of both the Washington Suburban Transit Commission and the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority. In 1968, he was appointed to the Montgomery County Council, and in 1970, Gleason, a Republican, was elected as the first Montgomery County Executive in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. Gleason’s tenure was marked by an extensive reorganization of County government in 1972 and by conflicts with the County Council and County citizens. Loath to compromise, he threatened to withhold Montgomery County funds from Metrorail, which he had help plan and avidly supported, unless it promised to build two lines into the County. He refused to play party politics, and instead appointed department heads and staff with an even-handedness based on merit. In 1978, despite assured reelection, he announced his retirement from politics to pursue a writing career. The records in this series span the years 1968 to 1979, while the bulk focus on the years 1973 to 1978. The files document various activities of the County departments, offices, commissions, committees and boards,