Four bodyguards at an average salary of $90,000.
Members of President Barack Obama's Secret Service detail? No, that's the price of protecting Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, as proposed in the new county budget, according to the Examiner.
Some might call that a bit excessive, considering the county has a budget deficit of more than $520 million. Now some are asking if lower-paid bodyguards might be a wise idea, or even if Leggett needs a security team at all, the Examiner reported.
The paper said the security detail started after the sniper attacks in 2002, even though the snipers chose their victims at random.
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson has three full-time police officers guarding him in public. But elsewhere it's a different story, the Examiner reported. In Alexandria, no elected official has bodyguards. Neither does the Fairfax County executive nor does any members of the Board of Supervisors.
“I’ve just always asked myself whether such a security detail was required for anyone in that position,” Montgomery County Council Vice President Roger Berliner told the Examiner.
