Highway Backer a Steady Ehrlich DonorProposed Route Crucial to Success of Developer’s ‘Mini-City’ Project By Matthew Mosk The $4,000 checks started arriving in Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s reelection campaign treasury Jan. 2 from such obscure corporations as Freestate Owner LLC, Muirkirk, Chase Limited and President Street Associates. By Jan. 3, there were seven of the checks, each from a company directly linked to developer Kingdon Gould III, a descendant of railroad barons who is one of Maryland’s most prolific political donors and a vigorous booster for the intercounty connector. That same day, Ehrlich’s transportation secretary signed off on a final study of the controversial highway, an 18-mile ribbon of asphalt that would extend east from Rockville to the gravel pits where Gould plans a massive commercial and residential development called Konterra. State officials said they had no idea the checks were coming in as they were sending out the long-expected report. Ehrlich® said the contributions, and numerous others from Gould and his companies, were based on friendship and a shared belief that the road connecting Interstates 270 and 95 should be built and that Konterra should flourish. Gould declined to be interviewed for this report; his brother, Caleb Gould, did not return several messages left at his office. Billed as a future mini-city the size of Reston, the 2,000-acre development site near Laurel has spent two decades stalled at the intersection of commerce and politics. Success has always banked on economic factors and on key decisions made by local and state politicians. From Ehrlich, who is now seeking reelection, Gould has sought help pushing a series of transportation projects through the pipeline. Among them, a new I-95 exit that would feed directly into Konterra; a well-placed stop along a proposed Metro Green Line extension; and two ramps off the endlessly debated intercounty connector, itself a critical artery for Konterra. The transportation proposals, and the connector, long predate Ehrlich’s tenure as governor. But records show that Ehrlich has helped move those proposals forward and that the Goulds have had ready access to the governor and his top aides to advocate for the projects. Supporters as well as critics of Ehrlich said they believe that the Goulds’ contributions flow only to those who help. “The connection between contributions and land use is something some people find sinister, but it’s nothing new,” said Thomas E. Dernoga (D), chairman of the Prince George’s County Council and an opponent of the connector. “I always tell people, the battle to get a politician’s attention pits your vote against developers’ money.” Former governor Parris N. Glendening (D) said Gould was one of his top donors when he first ran for governor in 1994. “But when I started cooling on the idea of the ICC,” he said, “the support I was getting from the whole Konterra crew basically evaporated.” When Ehrlich ran in 2002 pledging to build the connector that Glendening had shelved, Gould’s companies gave generously. This year, as Ehrlich seeks reelection against Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley (D), Gould has plainly pinned his hopes on the Republican incumbent. His corporations have donated $750 to O’Malley since 1999, compared with $50,500 directly to Ehrlich. Further, they’ve given $21,000 to Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele®, $163,100 to the GOP’s state and federal accounts, and $65,000 to other state and local politicians. If those numbers sound jarring—Maryland campaign finance laws prohibit donors from giving more than $4,000 to any individual and from donating more than $10,000 in one four-year cycle—there is an explanation. Gould exploits a well-worn loophole by making his donations through his limited liability corporations. Gould is not alone. Homebuilder J. William Ruppert gave O’Malley $25,000 through various companies at a Jan. 11 fundraiser, according to a Common Cause Maryland analysis. Aris Mardirossian, developer of Crown Farm at the western end of the intercounty connector, gave $20,000 through relatives and businesses to County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) who was running for governor, and $8,000 to Ehrlich, campaign finance records show. Montgomery County Council member Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), a former state Common Cause director, has criticized this practice, saying such donations “make a mockery of the campaign finance laws.” “These contributions unquestionably have a corrupting influence on state government,” he said. Ehrlich disagrees, saying the donations were not intended to exert influence but rather to lend support because of a longtime friendship between the Goulds and first lady Kendel S. Ehrlich. “Kendel lived with Susan Gould on their property as a bachelorette, and they’ve been supportive of my campaign all the way along,” Ehrlich said last week. Ehrlich said he has met with the Goulds on “Konterra-related issues” on a couple of occasions, and he wouldn’t rule out the possibility that Gould has attempted to press him on various transportation projects over the years. “Obviously, I mean, does he have credibility? Is he a success? Of course he has credibility,” Ehrlich said. The governor said he considers the development a terrific project, ideally suited for the expected explosion of jobs from the expansion at nearby Fort Meade. He also supports the intercounty connector, persuading the federal government to “fast track” its approval. The gravel pits in Laurel that the family bought in 1981 have much to offer a developer. The land sits halfway between Washington and Baltimore. It is not far from a major airport. And it straddles busy I-95 and the CSX rail line used by the state’s commuter railway. Kingdon Gould Jr. first circulated his mini-city proposal in 1982. Early estimates suggested that it could yield at least $500 million in tax revenue for the county, more than $700 million for the state and, ultimately, more than 40,000 jobs. What has kept the family from building, said former Prince George’s county executive Wayne K. Curry (D), is one simple thing: “They don’t have the interchanges.” Without major road improvements, said former Montgomery planning chairman Gus B. Bauman, “Konterra can only develop so far.” Under Ehrlich, several projects aimed at resolving those problems have moved ahead. A study published Oct. 14, 2004, for instance, details plans to build a $100 million interchange off I-95 and makes clear the purpose: “Sufficient access to the Interstate system will be critical for the Konterra property to develop into its full potential,” the State Highway Administration report states. Ehrlich also included $1 million in the budget this year to study extending Metro’s Green Line through Konterra. One option would divert the rail line from the CSX tracks into the project’s town center. State Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr. (D-Prince George’s), whose legislative district includes Konterra, said he began aggressively pushing the Metro extension after meeting with Caleb Gould. “He told me someone approached him and asked if he would be interested in a station there,” recalled Giannetti, who has received $3,000 in contributions from the family. “I thought, ‘Wow, we had never thought about that.’ ” Giannetti took the idea to Metro officials and argued for it in the Senate Budget Committee. Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan said it is an idea that has been discussed but that at this early stage virtually every idea will be considered. Prince George’s planners are also discussing the idea but have questioned diverting the rail line through the town center. “Getting off the straight line probably doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Dernoga said. But the Konterra team is pursuing it aggressively. “They have essentially tried to take the bull by the horns.” No project, though, has been more central to the Goulds’ plans than the connector, which was slated to intersect the property before the family owned the land. On master plans going back decades, the road includes off-ramps into the property, and in more recent years, Konterra has been clearly identified as the destination. One ramp is “needed to provide access to a proposed upscale mall,” planning documents say. Another is for access to the “proposed Konterra Town Center area.” As much as the Goulds have sought the highway, though, they are not donating land for the road or its interchanges, as some developers do. State Highway Administrator Neil J. Pedersen said the properties involved are being appraised and that it would be improper for him to estimate the cost to the state. Pedersen, who signed the final environmental statement, said he knew nothing about the campaign contributions but said the Jan. 3 approval was certainly a momentous occasion. “This was an indication that they were prepared to approve the intercounty connector,” he said. “That’s probably how [the Goulds] viewed it, too.” Research database editor Derek Willis, researcher Meg Smith and staff writer Miranda S. Spivack contributed to this report. © 2006 The Washington Post Company |
