It took about a year for Jack Johnson and Isiah Leggett to recommend a person to lead WSSC, the water and sewer commission in Montgomery and Prince George's counties. That endorsement came on Tuesday.
It didn't take long after that for the Washington Post to find a few flaws in their candidate.
The former Texas official nominated yesterday to oversee the water and sewer system in Montgomery and Prince George's counties sued two previous employers for breach of contract and left his last job, at San Antonio's water agency, under an agreement that paid him $412,000 and barred another lawsuit, according to news accounts and interviews.
Oops. But clearly Prince George's County Executive Johnson and Montgomery County Executive Leggett researched those previous incidents thoroughly and ruled out any doubts in the man they picked to lead WSSC, right?
Not so much...
An aide to Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said Leggett was unaware that David E. Chardavoyne had sued two private water companies over contract disputes until The Washington Post asked about the lawsuits.
As one can imagine, other county officials aren't exactly thrilled to hear the candidate's past from the press instead of from the people put in charge of finding a candidate. One said she was "very concerned," while another said he would look into the lawsuits further now that they were brought to his attention.
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For his part, the nominee didn't offer up the information during interviews. Which isn't necessarily bad. He wants a job, after all. And a firm that was hired to help find a candidate apparently didn't tell Leggett and Johnson about his past, according to Timothy L. Firestine, Leggett's chief administrative officer.
"It doesn't matter to Ike," Firestine told the Post. "He still thinks David Chardavoyne is the best person for the job."
Let's just hope they can avoid all future contract disputes. Or at least try to ignore any potential lawsuits that follow.
