The Montgomery County Council today voted down a proposed ambulance fee that County Executive Isiah Leggett said was needed to balance the budget during the economic downturn but was vehemently opposed by many residents and the influential volunteer firefighters' organization.

The proposed fee was designed to charge health insurance companies -- not residents -- $300 to $800 for ambulance transport, an amount is similar to charges in the District and Prince George's and Fairfax counties.

But the volunteer firefighters and some residents aregued that it might discourage people from calling emergency services.

Leggett (D) warned that he might have to cut other programs and delay improving emergency services if the fee was not approved.

Voting against the fee were council members Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville), Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), Valerie Ervin (D-Silver Spring), Nancy Navarro (D-Eastern County) and Duchy Trachtenberg (D-At large). In favor were Marc Elrich (D-At large), Mike Knapp (D-Upcounty), and George Leventhal (D-At large). Nancy Floreen (D-At large) abstained.

Leventhal unsuccessfully proposed extending the debate by six months.

Never mind that the County Council and its staff knew for four years that there would be a vacancy on the Planning Board on June 15, when Commissioner John Robinson's second four-year term expired.

And never mind that sometimes in the past, when a commissioner's term expired and the council did not quickly pick a replacement, the seat sat empty until a successor was named.

This time, the council and Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson quietly came to an agreement to delay picking Robinson's successor until later this summer, allowing Robinson to stay on as the panel attempts to complete some major pieces of work.

The five-member board is in the midst of discussions about a new growth policy, a new master plan for the western portion of the area near Gaithersburg and a new master plan for the White Flint area, among other weighty and politically volatile topics.

The decision to allow Robinson to stay a bit longer was not publicly announced or formally voted on by the council. It has not sparked any dissent from members, council President Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg-Rockville) said.

Robinson, a lawyer at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and an enthusiastic and knowledgeable member of the Planning Board, said Tuesday that he is available to serve until July 20, when he leaves for vacation in China. That means he might be able to inform the debate but not necessarily vote on all the issues, because some might linger past that date.

Hanson and Andrews said they thought it was a good idea to keep Robinson on. "Otherwise we lose the benefit of his expertise," Andrews said.

Jim Humphrey, who heads the land-use committee for the Montgomery County Civic Federation, said he finds the move troubling.

"The council has chosen to ignore state law in delaying this appointment," he said. "Why did they not get it done?"

On June 16, a day after his term expired, the council interviewed six candidates for Robinson's seat.

Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large) said he was puzzled by the move. "I am not sure why we are doing this," he said.

Robinson was appointed to the Planning Board in 2001 and reappointed in 2005. In addition to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Robinson has worked on real estate, finance and employment issues in the private sector and federal rail regulatory change in the public sector. He also has been a civic activist, serving as president of the Rock Creek Hills Citizens Association, the Noyes Children's Library Foundation and the Kensington Historical Society.

The Montgomery County Civic Federation honored several community activists at its annual dinner Friday in Gaitherburg.

The federation, which next year marks its 90th birthday, is made up of delegates from civic organizations across the county.

The group honored honor former president Wayne Goldstein, who died April 27 of a heart attack while on his way to a hearing on Suburban Hospital's proposed expansion of its Bethesda campus.

County council president Phil Andrews (D-Gaithersburg, Rockville) read a proclamation honoring Goldstein, and County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said he planned to name the CountyStat office in Rockville for Goldstein. The Countystat program is an effort to use data to make government agencies more accountable and better able to measure their work.

Others organized by the federation were:

---The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, which received the Gazette Award for public service;

---Stormwater Partners Network of Montgomery County, which received the Sentinel Award for contributing to good government;

---Luella Mast, who received the Star Cup, given annually to a federation delegation for outstanding public service.

Meanwhile, the Planning Board is expected to recommend soon that a Kensington park be renamed in Goldstein's honor.

Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) today criticized the County Council's latest take on the county's $4 billion-plus budget, telling the 18th annual Affordable Housing Conference that the council should drop a proposal that he said would put the brakes on funding increases for a county program aimed at providing financing for moderate-income housing.

In an interview after the noon speech at the county's convention center in North Bethesda, Leggett said the spending plan now being devised by the council would put county leaders in the position of going back on promises to boost affordable housing.

"However you look at this, it is a cut that is inconsistent with what everyone has said," Leggett said. He urged the council instead to reconsider his plan to institute a fee for emergency ambulance services that would add about $15 million to the county treasury.

Much of that would be picked up by insurance, he said, and would enable the county to avoid cuts in health care, housing and other social programs he said are sorely needed.

The council has balked at approving the ambulance fee, which is opposed by the county's well-organized volunteer firefighters and some residents.

The tributes keep pouring in for Wayne Goldstein, the Montgomery County civic activist who collapsed on Monday on his way to a hearing about proposed expansion of Suburban Hospital. He died a short time later at Shady Grove Adventist Hospital.

Goldstein's family and friends -mother Trenice, two brothers, and his companion Judith Pont - will receive friends at the Danzansky-Goldberg Memorial Chapel, 1170 Rockville Pike, 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday. A public memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at the same location, with a private interment to follow.

Earlier that day, a group known as Stormwater Partners plans to remember Goldstein, 56, at its regular meeting. Diane Cameron, a scientist and founder of the group, praised Goldstein in an email to the group, calling him "a good friend to many of us [who} was appreciated for his biting sarcasm, absurd sense of humor, and encyclopedic knowledge of planning and history in Montgomery County. He was also a thorn in the side of developers and those public officials whom he saw as fronting for developers."

Another Stormwater Partner, Joseph Horgan, wrote: "If, as Woody Allen once observed, 90 percent of life is showing up, then Wayne lived 250 percent. He showed up when we did, and when we didn't.
And he didn't "just" show up; he participated. His death is a major loss to the Stormwater Partners & to Montgomery County. "

Goldstein's death has brought an outpouring of warm sentiment for the 56-year-old Kensington resident, whose trademark ponytail and affinity for hats made him stand out in almost any crowd.

County Council President Phil Andrews (D-Rockville, Gaithersburg) acknowledged Goldstein's sartorial leanings in comments at the council Tuesday, noting Goldstein's "great collection of hats." Andrews praised Goldstein for his "impish sense of humor" as well as his tenacity, research abilities and advocacy for historic preservation. He said Goldstein was relentless and an outstanding leader, whose death "is a terrible blow to the community."

Goldstein was a former president of the county's Civic Federation, president of Montgomery Preservation Inc. and a columnist for the Sentinel weekly newspaper. He operated a landscaping business, and was an avid gardener.

County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said he was "deeply saddened" by Goldstein's death. "Wayne was an earnest and perceptive watchdog on county government and county politics but he never let that earnestness get in the way of a delightful sense of humor and love of life," Leggett said in a statement.

"I have lost a friend," Leggett added. "Montgomery County has lost an institution."

Goldstein played a key role in many community efforts around the county, including an attempt to preserve a Cesar Pelli-designed office building near Germantown. He gave of his time and expertise without charge to almost anyone who wanted his help, and was known for his extensive research, crisp writing style and pleasant demeanor.

Sometimes those efforts could be bruising. Goldstein was the target of a $2 million defamation lawsuit by developer Aris Mardirossian.

Mardirossian's suit was based on a letter Goldstein wrote to him asking about a rumor that the developer planned to cut trees to create a view of the Potomac River from his property. Mardirossian alleged that the letter was "widely circulated" in the county and harmed his reputation, while Goldstein's attorney called the suit frivolous.