Did "Dernoga Money" Hurt College Park Development?

On Thursday, the Washington Post published a story on former Dist. 1 County Councilman Tom Dernoga, revealing his possibly illegal habit of soliciting money from developers - some of whom had projects pending in College Park -  to fund local schools. 

Dernoga, who until November represented the area north of MD-193 in College Park, collected around $1 million in "donations" from developers during his eight years in office. 

“You have these people making millions, and all this density and all the traffic [we’d] absorb on Route 1. You mean to tell me you have nothing to help out our schools?” Dernoga told the Post. “I found it greedy on the part of the property owners." 

One such developer was Joe Lasick, who recalls a time in 2007 when Dernoga pulled him aside moments before the county council was to vote on a site plan for two luxury condominiums in which Lasick was involved. 

"Lasick said Dernoga told them that the measure wouldn’t pass that day unless the group gave $200,000 for county schools. Dernoga said during a recent interview that he had asked for $100,000 and that he wasn’t holding the site plan hostage," the Post reports. 

Lasick and the other developers did not make the donation. Various delays, paired with the onset of the recession, ultimately caused the project to fall through. 

According to the development blog Rethink College Park, Dernoga's "shenanigans" have had a highly negative impact on the city. In the space where Lasick's condominiums would have stood, a pair of overgrown lots loom. 

"The delays he introduced for developers, including for those who didn’t make donations, meant that many parcels of land on Route 1 never got developed during the real estate boom, and we’re stuck with strip malls, parking lots or vacant land instead of useful properties that house residents or shops and contribute to the city’s tax base," writes Rethink College Park editor David Daddio. 

Dernoga's actions were the impetus for a new piece of legislation, signed into law on April 12, banning Prince George’s council members from asking anyone who is seeking legislation or approvals to provide anything of monetary value. However, Dernoga told the Post that at the time, no legal or ethical boundaries were crossed.

"If you don’t want to contribute, I’m not going to hold it against your project,” he said. “I’ll treat your project fairly. But don’t come look to me for favors,” he said.