Ike Leggett is trying to give himself and future Montgomery County executives greater leverage in hiring and firing more high-level government employees.
Already he’s able to appoint the heads of Montgomery County’s departments.
But a new bill Leggett is backing would up this authority by converting about 15 merit positions, which have protections that make it much tougher to get rid of workers under this heading, to non-merit positions, which are more directly controlled by the executive.
Specifically, the bill gives Leggett power to fill the following slots: executive directors of the Commission for Women and the Office of Human Rights and Office of Consumer Protection; assistant chief administrative officers; regional service center directors; chief technology director; and director of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission.
“What will change is the ability of the county executive to have his own person in there,” Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said. “He essentially has to work with whatever he’s given. … But he can more easily hold someone accountable if he has the ability to hire them.”
Regardless of whether they’re considered merit or non-merit, the people in the positions listed above ultimately report to the county executive or someone directly under the executive.
The big difference in the classifications, though, is job security and who does the hiring. A merit employee is not impossible to fire, but the worker has a right to a hearing in front of a special county merit board before being terminated, so county executives cannot easily remove them.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a non-merit employee is, essentially, an at-will worker.
“Aside from the protected classes of employees because of the laws of the United States, Maryland or the county, you can be replaced at any time,” Lacefield said.
Under the bill in question, classification changes won’t be made immediately. Rather, the changeover from merit to non-merit position status would occur after each current employee leaves.
