Montgomery County employees “across various departments” have been circumventing a freeze on purchasing sport utility vehicles for use in county jobs by renting the large, gas-guzzling vehicles through the county’s Enterprise Rent-A-Car account.
Fleet Management officials told county council members this week they are now requiring employees to receive written authorization from their supervisors before renting vehicles larger than compact or intermediate size, and give the documents to Enterprise agents when they pick up the vehicle.
“Now, they are trying to make it a lot harder for people to have SUVs,” Councilman Roger Berliner said. “They’re asking those hard questions like what river are you fording that you really need to have an SUV to do your job?”
The SUV freeze stemmed from a seven-bill environmental protection package Berliner sponsored and county leaders adopted this spring that was designed to reduce energy consumption by 15 to 30 percent. Most of the new policies will not take effect until January 2010.
Councilwoman Nancy Floreen, who chairs a committee on transportation and the environment, and Berliner both said they believed progress was being made. Four Montgomery Fleet Management officials did not return phone calls from The Examiner Wednesday.
Berliner acknowledged that some county employees need SUVs to work. But, “It is such a small percentage that I think we need to make sure the need is really there,” he said.
Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett himself uses a county-owned SUV, as did his predecessor, former County Executive Doug Duncan. Leggett’s office bought a new 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee worth $38,665 for him in December 2006 and a 2007 Chevy Tahoe worth $38,116.86 for Chief Administrative Officer Tim Firestine in March 2007.
Last November, the county’s Homeland Security Department also bought a Chevrolet Suburban for $47,698.14 that Leggett and staff often use to attend meetings and events outside the county.
