The Capital (Annapolis, MD)

May 3, 2009 Sunday
BYLINE: ERIC HARTLEY Staff writer
SECTION: ARUNDELREPORT; Pg. D1

We could use a few more people like Victor Bernson in public office.

Not because he's right about everything; he's not. And not because he's more conservative than his colleagues on the county Board of Education.

It's because Bernson is often the only one saying, "The emperor has no clothes," the only one willing to challenge orthodoxy - in short, the only one who will say "no."

In less than three years on the school board, he's been the "1" on the losing end of quite a few 8-1 votes. He was once booed in public when he called a proposed $153 million budget increase irresponsible. He calls the idea that teachers are underpaid a "myth."

Yet Bernson, 44, is no fire-breathing radical. He's gregarious and easygoing, with a quick laugh.

"I see myself as a realistic person representing the citizens," Bernson said recently over breakfast.

That might seem obvious: Someone on a public body represents the citizens. But to Bernson, who lives in Millersville, it's an important distinction because it means he represents all the people, not just the schools or the parents.

"If you take that perception of 'I'm an advocate for education' too far, even inadvertently, you can become a rubber stamp," Bernson said.

After all, who wants to say no when it's for a good cause? Teacher raises? More testing coordinators, custodians, school secretaries? Sure.

Bernson was quick to add that he doesn't view other board members as a rubber stamp. He said the board has serious and prolonged discussions before votes, and he knows his colleagues take their jobs seriously.

But in the end, Superintendent Kevin Maxwell usually gets his way.

"You hear the same things all the time: 'for the children, for the children, for the children,' " Bernson said. "Anything is OK as long as it's for the children. ... You never have all the resources you want, so you have to make hard decisions. I think if you abdicate that responsibility, you're doing a disservice to the citizens."

Tricia Johnson, a board member for almost six years and a former chairwoman, was surprised when I asked her about Bernson's role as the voice of dissent.

"I never really thought of that that way," she said.

That's strange, given the fact that

Bernson has voted against all three of Maxwell's budget proposals, twice being the lone opposing vote. (In 2007, Michael Leahy also voted no.)

Johnson said she, like most of the members of the board, thinks of herself as a fiscal conservative, too.

But the board passed last year's $99.9 million requested budget increase, as The Capital's Elisabeth Hulette reported at the time, "with no amendments and after hardly any discussion." In 2007, Maxwell requested and the board OK'd an even more eye-popping increase of 19 percent, or $153 million.

Despite those 8-1 votes, Bernson said he thinks he's played some role in bringing fiscal sanity into the discussion. This year, Maxwell only asked for a 2.9 percent increase, though that has more to do with a recognition of the economic climate and budget realities than it does with Bernson's moderating influence.

An attorney and former Navy lieutenant commander, Bernson is a Ronald Reagan fan who was once named "Republican Man of the Year" in the county. Under the second Bush administration, he was legislative counsel for the Department of Defense and general counsel for the White House Office of Administration.

Despite disagreements, Johnson said all the members get along well and respect Bernson's passion and integrity. He's worked hard on things that have nothing to do with politics, like getting money for walls in "open-space" schools. And he takes pride in responding to e-mails and calls personally, and helping people navigate the bureaucracy.

Though he's the most obvious voice of dissent, Bernson isn't the only one. Leahy and Ned Carey are conservative voices at times. Eugene Peterson of Laurel is on the other side of many issues, but similarly outspoken and a passionate advocate for raising taxes for better schools. Just as Bernson's arguments aren't very popular on the board, raising taxes is not a very popular idea in this county - all the more reason to talk about it frankly.

"I guess I'm seen as the liberal contrarian," Peterson said with a smile. "That's fine. I don't care."

Peterson abstained from voting on the budget last year because it didn't fund a liaison for homeless students - a position that has since been added. The board's only black member, he's also been outspoken on issues concerning minorities.

Bernson and Peterson said they respect and like each other, in part because they recognize a similar approach, even if it's sometimes on opposite sides. With more people like them, there might be more honest and enlightening debates.

"I would prefer even more open and candid discussions, because it's more interesting," Bernson said. "It's just more interesting."