James M. Herl, Member of Council In Pr. George's, 49

[DGH]

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James Michael Herl, whose one-month term as chairman of the Prince
George's County [Maryla] Council abruptly ended in 1990 after he
passed a half-gram of cocaine to an undercover officer in a College
Park bar, died January 21, 2003, at Washington [DC] Hospital Center,
from congestive heart failure, at the age of 48.

Mr. Herl was stripped of his leadership post by fellow council members
in January 1990, four days after his troubles were made public and
shortly before DC. Mayor Marion Barry was arrested on cocaine charges
in an undercover investigation in Washington DC

Mr. Herl, a popular Democratic politician who served on the council
for more than seven years, pleaded guilty the next month to one
misdemeanor count of cocaine possession. He was placed on probation
for three years, fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 240 hours of
community service. He resigned from the council that May. Barry was
sentenced to six months in prison.

Holding political power had been a long-held ambition for Mr. Herl,
who rose from modest roots in Bladensburg, Maryland. He served as an
errand boy in the Prince George's Democratic Party and was a council
aide.

Mr. Herl told the court when he was convicted that alcohol and drugs
had played a role in his life for some time. He agreed that as a
public official he should be subject to a "higher standard."

After he left office, he was a land acquisition consultant to
developers and companies that included Howard Johnson's. For the past
five years, he was a project manager for the Maryland Department of
Transportation, procuring land for mass transit.

Mr. Herl was born in Miami, Florida, and raised in Bladensburg, where
he graduated from Bladensburg High School. After attending the
University of Maryland for a few years, he began working for County
Executive Winfield M. Kelly Jr.

Council member Frank P. Casula took him under his wing in 1978, hiring
Mr. Herl as his legislative aide. Mr. Herl also served on the county
Democratic Central Committee.

At 29, he bucked the political establishment to run for office,
defeating a slate-backed candidate by a slight margin. He represented
College Park, Maryland, where he lived, as well as Berwyn Heights,
Maryland, Riverdale, Maryland, and New Carrollton, Maryland, and won
reelection in 1986. He was said to be considering a run at county
executive. He took over the annually rotating chairmanship at the
start of what was to be a critical election year.

Mr. Herl was described at the time as symbolizing the evolution of
county politics, which melded the old Democratic establishment with
young families concerned about issues such as schools, growth, crime
and roads. He was reported to have built a strong base among his
constituents and positioned himself as a coalition builder.

He was called on several missteps, however. In 1984, it was reported
that he had used county money to eat at a restaurant that featured
nude dancers. The next year, about the time he and his wife, Dee Herl,
were divorcing, colleagues pressured him to stop working as a
bartender at R.J. Bentley's Filling Station, a University of Maryland
hangout where he had been employed for a month.

The following year, there were disclosures that he had used more than
$8,500 in campaign funds to lease a car. In 1986, he was fined for
driving under the influence of alcohol and with an expired driver's
license.

In 1989, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of
Maryland and began studying for law school entrance exams.

After he left the council, Mr. Herl worked for clients who included
Daniel I. Colton, a developer who had contributed to his campaigns. He
said the work did not violate the county ethics law because he was not
functioning as a lobbyist.