THE CURMUDGEON AND THE SAINT
THESIS — Maryland politics spent a decade pretending the Board of Public Works was a polite formality. It wasn’t. It was a knife fight disguised as a meeting agenda. And the only reason the public ever saw the truth is because Peter Franchot, armed with Len Foxwell, refused to play along.
I. THE PRESSURED KING
Martin O’Malley entered the BPW chamber with a halo and a headache.
Good and saintly. Earnest. Surrounded by advisors, donors, cabinet secretaries, and the Mike‑and‑Mike machine.
Everyone pulling him in a different direction.
Everyone telling him what “had” to be done.
He governed like a man carrying a cathedral on his back.
And when the land deals came — the brownfields, the conservation tracts, the revitalization loans — he voted the way a pressured governor votes.
Predictably.
II. THE CURMUDGEON WHO DIDN’T CARE
Peter Franchot walked into the same room with no halo and no headaches.
Independently wealthy.
Patrician birth.
Immune to pressure.
Immune to donors.
Immune to the bosses.
He had been the most progressive member of the Maryland General Assembly, not because he was obedient to the left, but because he was obedient to no one.
When the Speaker told him to sit down, he stood up.
When leadership told him to shut up, he called a press conference.
When he lost a vote, he roasted the winners.
He was hated for it.
He didn’t care.
III. THE LANCELOT FACTOR
Behind Franchot stood Len Foxwell — the strategist who understood that the Comptroller’s office could be weaponized for the public good.
Foxwell built the machine:
- Refunds in three days
- Phones answered in under a minute
- Constituent service that embarrassed every other agency
This wasn’t customer service.
This was political engineering.
Foxwell made Franchot the most popular statewide official in Maryland.
And popularity gave Franchot something no one else had:
Freedom.
IV. THE THREE BPW FIGHTS THAT EXPOSED THE SYSTEM
1. Langenfelder — Kent Island Brownfield
O’Malley wanted a $7.2M industrial parcel.
Franchot said the price was inflated and the site was contaminated.
Treasurer Nancy Kopp sided with the governor.
Vote: 2–1. Franchot loses.
But the public saw the only man in the room willing to say the deal stank.
2. Kudner / Talisman Farm — The Land That Wouldn’t Perk
A conservation purchase on the Eastern Shore.
The soil failed perc tests.
Franchot said the appraisal was fantasy.
O’Malley and Kopp approved it anyway.
Vote: 2–1. Franchot loses.
But the public saw the only man who understood market value.
3. Greene Turtle — Towson Revitalization Loan
A $240,000 loan for a profitable sports bar.
Franchot called it corporate welfare.
O’Malley and Kopp approved it.
Vote: 2–1. Franchot loses.
But the public saw the only man who refused to subsidize a franchise. Every time Peter lost he became politically stronger.
V. THE TREASURER WHO FOLLOWED ORDERS
Nancy Kopp played her role.
Institutionalist.
Predictable.
Aligned with the General Assembly leadership — Mike Miller and Mike Busch — who aligned with the governor.
She wasn’t the villain.
She was the structure.
And the structure always sided with the crown.
VI. THE CURMUDGEON’S ADVANTAGE
Every 2–1 vote made Franchot stronger.
He wasn’t losing.
He was branding.
He became the man who stood alone.
The watchdog.
The contrarian.
The only statewide official who didn’t bow to the palace.
And Foxwell sharpened every edge.
VII. THE TRAGEDY OF ARTHUR AND LANCELOT
Franchot could have been governor.
Everyone knew it.
Everyone said it.
But Arthur cannot win without Lancelot.
When Franchot and Foxwell parted ways before the governor’s race, the architecture collapsed.
The aura dimmed.
The sword dulled.
Franchot ran without the strategist who made him mythic.
And Maryland politics lost the most effective partnership it ever had.
VIII. THE LEGACY
The BPW fights were never about land.
Never about restaurants.
Never about conservation easements.
They were about independence.
They were about courage.
They were about the last Democrat in Annapolis who didn’t care what the bosses thought.
Franchot was the king.
Foxwell was the knight.
And together, they made the Board of Public Works the most honest room in Maryland government.
This is beautifully done, Barry. While I don’t deserve the praise you have given me here, I’m grateful for the recognition of what the Comptroller’s Office stood for at the height of our service. Good days and good people.
Those were the best of times.