Our neighbor county to the north, Prince George's County, has a heavy burden to bear. The "heavy" in this case is our state "Senator for Life" Mike Miller, whose district encompasses southern Prince George's County and most of Calvert County. It seems that, although he moved to the idyllic shores of Chesapeake Beach from Clinton several years ago, he can't stop returning to the old homestead to wreak havoc.

I guess running up record tax increases and billion-dollar deficits in Annapolis isn't enough to keep him busy, he's flexing his muscles in a local zoning issue. I didn't know that was part of his job description as a state senator, but let's humor him and see what's going on that warrants the old bull's attention.

The town of Accokeek is in a battle over the rezoning of rural land for commercial use. Many residents feel that the Prince George's County Council and their council member, Marilynn Bland, are circumventing the will of the people by proposing the rezoning of 60 acres to allow the construction of a shopping center. This is a very familiar battle in this part of Maryland; people who wish to preserve the rural character of their community and others who seek to bring the amenities of modern living closer to home.

Here in Calvert County, if there's one issue that transcends party or ideology, especially among long-time residents, it's pro-growth vs. slow-growth. Proponents of the "Keep Calvert Country" movement include Democrats and Republicans, as does the development-friendly faction.

Since the slow-to-no growth faction in Accokeek was critical of the process by which the decision to rezone was made, they went over the heads of their local elected officials and county government, appealing to Senator Miller and even the governor, Martin O'Malley, to intervene. Given the intricacies of local zoning battles and their lack of jurisdiction over such matters, one would think such an appeal would be met with silence.

Not so fast, my friend! Senator Miller jumped into the fray with gusto, remarking:

"It's a complete outrage. It goes against the recommendations of Park and Planning and the community. I can only ascribe it to ulterior motives."

One thing I learned from the infamous "Skip" Gates episode of last month is not to shoot first with my mouth and ask questions later. Otherwise, I'd be forced to host a beer summit at my house to smooth things over, and I don't drink beer. What kind of host would I have been? But I digress.

When I read Mike's response, I wondered to myself, "Is this any of his business?" Our legislators in Annapolis are faced with a budget deficit in the current fiscal year approaching $1 billion and are struggling to find cuts to close the gap. The counties are being told to brace for cuts in state aid, and the impact of these budget decisions and those to come in the years ahead is impossible to overestimate. Sounds like they have a lot of heavy lifting to do.

So what's Mike doing wading into the middle of a local zoning dispute? Isn't that why you have a county executive and county council? Isn't that why they hold public hearings so people can voice their support or opposition?

I'm puzzled as to why he feels compelled to get involved in this one. His influence is such that he doesn't even have to do much more than he already has. Just his words of condemnation sent shock waves through the community.

Maybe he's bored with being a senator and he's trying out new things to see how they fit. Hey, there's an open county council seat in the district that includes Accokeek. There may even be spots on the Park and Planning Commission. Should he choose to seek one of those positions in lieu of a 10th term in the state Senate, he would likely win and could then engage in local zoning disputes to his heart's content.

Right now, however, he's out of his jurisdiction. He needs to be escorted back to Annapolis to clean up the mess he made there and let the locals work out the zoning issues themselves.