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It may seem crazy at first: County Executive Rich Fitzgerald essentially taking his own government’s legislative branch to court? Asking a judge to invalidate a minimum-wage ordinance passed by fellow Democrats? WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS FAMILY?

The answer is simple: What’s at stake isn’t just about what the county pays to its workers. It’s about who gets to be the boss.

The ordinance in question, passed by county council over Fitzgerald’s veto earlier this month, would boost the minimum wage for county employees to $18 an hour next year, and to $20 by 2026. Fitzgerald says he’s seeking a declaratory judgment — in which the court determines the rights and responsibilities of two parties — to determine whether the law is valid.

“There is a legitimate disagreement on whether the executive branch or the legislative branch has the legal authority to set wages,” he said in a statement. “The resolution of this lawsuit will have a lasting impact upon future executives and councils.”

This is just the latest squabble in a long-running fight between Fitzgerald and a council majority, and critics accuse him of lashing out at a bill he couldn’t stop on his own. (“When he doesn’t get his way, he throws temper tantrums,” contended council President Pat Catena.) This time, the two sides have each furnished dueling legal...

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