Which shell covers the real costs in the county budget?

    One of the more intriguing shifts in the county budget is the $75,000 the commissioners have added to something called the "legal defense fund." The plan, apparently, is to take the state to court -- or defend the county when the state takes the county to court -- to fight the Maryland State Growth Plan.
     They're going to need more money than that, even more than the $5,000 they saved by cutting the salary of departed county attorney Kim Millender. Millender left to take a job with the state. Before that, her number two, Terri Jones, left to take a better job. The staff is down to bare bones, but rumor has it that Roberta Windham, recently named an administrative coordinator (that's the new name for special assistant to a commissioner), is leading the list for the top legal job on the county payroll.
     Commission president Doug Howard brought in Windham at $35,000 a year. Officially, she is not his special assistant, because he and the other four commissioners said they would get rid of special assistants, that's his story and he's sticking to it.
     But she does coordinate his schedule, acts as his aide. Officially, she is assigned to chief of staff Steve Powell, but that's just for public display. She works for Howard,  and he set the $35,000 number first, then told staff to work the hourly pay rate out to a 30-hour work week; comes to $22.44 per hour.
     Richard Rothschild, who also said they would bar special assistants, championed the hiring of Kathy Fuller as administrative coordinator, at 25 hours a week, also, at $22.44 per hour. She is assigned to manage the schedule for Commissioner Rothschild, but she may have a promotion pending, too.
   The fact that Howard brought Windham on board miffed Commissioner Robin Frazier, and she insisted that her -- well, the administrative coordinator assigned to her through Powell -- be Shawn Reese, an ally when Frazier was in office prior to her election loss in 2002, and who was reassigned to citizens services jobs. She will not, apparently, be required to take the cut in pay that would put her at $22.44 per hour, and she is designated as an administrative coordinator III, which apparently outranks the others.
     But then the previous commissioners had assistants -- much more open about it, perhaps, but they each had one at upwards of $30,000 a year. The top pay went to Amanda Miller, who was hired by former commissioner Michael Zimmer, who, you may recall, campaigned for office as a critic of money spent on special assistants.
     More interesting is that budget allotment cryptically referred to as the "legal defense fund."  Apparently, the commissioners, who like to call themselves "The Fighting 59th", are girding to fight state planning and land use rules. Going to take them to court, if the state does not take them first.
     This, from the board that campaigned as critics of all the money the previous commissioners spent defending state growth policies over the past eight years.
     See, you have all these lawyers, and all these politicians, and all these irritable activists for and against growth and environmental regulations, and property rights issues, and on and on.
     Courtroom drama is inevitable, and the money must come from somewhere.
     When you get right down to it, tax dollars were spent by two previous boards of commissioners to defend the public against development and residential growth pressures.
     This board will spend your tax dollars defending development interests.
     Doesn't that kind of change make you feel just wonderful?