Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s proposed budget would pay his four bodyguards an average of $90,000 a year in salary and benefits.
With the county facing unprecedented budget deficits of more than $520 million, some County Council members are questioning whether lower-paid guards could be used. And one councilman is questioning whether Leggett needs a security detail at all.
“I’ve just always asked myself whether such a security detail was required for anyone in that position,” said Council Vice President Roger Berliner, D-Potomac/Bethesda.
Leggett’s security team is made up of four lieutenants from the county’s Security Services Division. The lieutenants split their time between guarding Leggett and supervising the division, said Leggett’s spokesman. The division has a nearly $5 million budget and is responsible for guarding county facilities.
Assistant Police Chief Drew Tracy said the Beltway sniper attacks in October 2002 prompted the county to assign a security detail for county executives.
Berliner, who sits on the County Council’s Public Safety Committee, said he would be “loath” to recommend cuts to Leggett’s security detail because he isn’t privy to security information about the threats Leggett may or may not be facing.
But he added that he would like to see Leggett take a look at whether the costs are necessary, especially given the county’s budget woes.
Leggett spokesman Patrick Lacefield said he couldn’t provide details of how and when the security details is used, and added that he didn’t think it was “appropriate” to say whether threats had been made against Leggett.
But he added: “It’s a given that people who are in elected office, who are making hard decisions about hard issues … sometimes will receive threats to varying degrees based on the work they are doing.”
Lacefield said the county government’s opinion is that the security detail was a “reasonable precaution,” and added that other local elected officials have similar arrangements.
“Is this unusual in the region? I don’t think so,” Lacefield said.
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s security team is made up of three full-time police officers, according to a police department spokesman.
But across the Potomac, it’s a different story.
Alexandria’s elected officials have no dedicated security detail, according to a spokesman.
And in Fairfax County, neither the county executive nor any member of the Board of Supervisors, including the chairwoman, have security personnel.
“It’s just something we never thought was necessary,” Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said.
Staff Writer William C. Flook contributed to this report.
