The two top officials in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties are scheduled to meet with Maryland’s soon-to-be governor today to discuss what the state can do to meet the needs of each jurisdiction.
Ike Leggett, Montgomery’s newly elected county executive, and his counterpart in Prince George’s, Jack Johnson, are each set to travel to Martin O’Malley’s transition office in Baltimore for separate chats with the state’s governor-elect.
Johnson’s spokesman, John Keary, would only spell out a few of the issues his boss will be taking up with O’Malley: protecting senior citizens, funding for education and the state’s commitment to regional hospitals.
“He’s looking forward to the meeting,” Keary told The Examiner on Tuesday. “There are a lot of common topics that he’d like to discuss.”
Keary said this will be Johnson’s first official discussion on legislative priorities with O’Malley since the outgoing Baltimore mayor’s election victory last month. But he emphasized that Johnson has been an adamant O’Malley supporter from the start and that the two have been in contact.
Leggett’s meeting with O’Malley will focus on a few topics he’s been highlighting during recent events and speeches, mainly state education spending and a proposed gas-tax raise, according to county spokesman Patrick Lacefield.
Both Leggett and Johnson were sworn in about two weeks ago.
Phone calls to O’Malley’s communications director, Rick Abruzzese, were not returned Tuesday.
