Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett was meeting with a major local soccer group while he pushed the school system to lease the county land being used by an organic farm so it could be converted into ball fields — years before outraged Potomac residents were given short notice of the move. In a letter dated Nov. 10, 2009, Leggett recommended that the former Brickyard Middle School site be transformed into soccer fields, saying the 20-acre organic farm was “largely vacant and underutilized.”

“As I am sure you are aware, the demand for playing time on ball fields is significantly greater than the available supply,” Leggett wrote to the school board.