Playing Politics with Ethics?
Local politicians divide over ethics reform, allege partisan politics
Article updated 3/6. See below.
Two ethics bills launched by state legislators earlier this month have split the Frederick County delegation, fraying an already torn relationship between Democrats and Republicans, and setting the tone for a divisive 2018 gubernatorial election.
[Sen. Michael Hough, left]
The original county-sponsored bill, vetted by The League of Women Voters and in public hearings, was jettisoned in favor of a bill from Sen. Michael Hough (R-Dist. 4). Both bills are making their way through the Maryland General Assembly, with hearings in the Senate on Tuesday, Feb. 23, and House hearings on March 10.
After the county’s bill was rejected by Republicans, who outnumber Dems 5 – 3, on Feb. 3, Democrats
filed the county-sponsored bill separately [SB0805/HB0882], They were roundly criticized by their Republican counterparts for undermining the process. Cooperation and compromise between the Democrats and Republicans has been breaking down since the rift over public funding of the proposed downtown hotel and conference center.
[County Executive Jan Gardner, right]
Lewis Young said the disagreement resulted in Sen. Young getting the boot as the delegation’s vice chair this year. Historically, the minority party in the delegation gets the vice chair seat as a show of good faith, while the majority party takes the role of chair. Del. Kathy Afzali (R-Dist. 4) is the chair of the delegation and Del. Bill Folden (R-Dist. 3B) is vice chair.
The conflict over the two ethics bills will likely get both bills sidelined, an outcome that would result in no ethics reforms before the 2018 election, critics say. “If we get it done now, it will be in place in July, just in time for the 2018 campaign season,” Steve McKay of Monrovia said. McKay was part of the public vetting process of the county-sponsored bill and has been a fervent advocate of ethics reform following the developer-friendly actions of the previous board of county commissioners.
The county’s proposed revisions to the Frederick County section of the Maryland Public Ethics Law would restrict applicants with business before the county’s Planning Commission from donating to commission members who are running for elected office. The county’s change to local ethics laws is one of two county-sponsored proposed bills this year, and was sufficiently modest enough that supporters were confident of getting it passed this year.
Hough’s bill [SB 550/HB 0976], although more comprehensive, is too complex to gain traction this session, opponents say. The senator’s version requires nonelected members of Frederick County boards and commissions to step down upon becoming a candidate for elected office; prohibits a business entity, or a lawyer or lobbyist for the entity, with a pending bid or application before a county board or commission, from making a contribution to candidates, and requires disclosure of contributions by the candidate within 24 hours.
But Hough’s bill Hough’s bill does not match his talking points, County Executive Jan Gardner (D) said in an email. The bill as written, she said, prohibits county employees from making campaign contributions just to certain candidates and would require disclosure in 24 hours of donations/contributions of any size from any county employee.
“This is onerous to a campaign treasurer. If someone had a $5 raffle, the treasurer would have to look up that person to see if they were a county employee, and if so report it within 24 hours. This is in direct conflict with state law. Hough has not addressed this point,” Gardner said.
State law explicitly provides that local government employees retain all constitutional rights and that government employees may freely participate in any political activity, Gardner said. According to Maryland Code 1-303 on Employee rights, “… an employee of a governmental entity:(1) may freely participate in any political activity and express any political opinion.”
Hough accused Gardner of trying to put forward a lame bill just to look productive on the ethics reform issue, an issue Gardner campaigned on heavily in 2014. Since taking office, she has “Then I say let’s work together and do something better, and they lawyer up and hide?” he said in a text.
In defense of his bill, Hough referenced an editorial in Red Maryland, a conservative political blog, denouncing Gardner for taking a $500 contribution from Comcast in March 2016 when Comcast will be negotiating a new contract with the county.
The cable company, whose 10-year contract with the county ends this year, is negotiating a new franchise agreement. Discussions begin in March 2017, and will wrap up by mid-summer. Preliminary work was done in 2016, including a Needs Assessment.
The implication from Red Maryland and Hough is that the timing of the Comcast contribution is suspicious.Hough’s legislation is needed and preferable to the county-sponsored piece, he said, for instances like this. “They regulate heavily developer-type donations, but they aren’t the only ones,” Hough said in an interview. “Comcast’s $500 check to Jan Gardner, for example. That’s the franchise for the whole county, and they charge you a tax on your bill, and you’re stuck with them. In the middle of ongoing negotiating, they cut her a check.”
UPDATED 3/6/16: Frederick County Government does not charge Comcast a franchise fee, what Sen. Hough termed as a tax, according to Frederick County spokeswoman Vivian Laxton. "Most jurisdictions do, including the cities and towns, so anyone who lives in one of those jurisdictions will see that franchise fee passed on to them on their bill. But people who live outside municipalities – which is the area covered by the County’s franchise agreement – do not pay a franchise fee," she said in an email.
But, according to Gardner, Hough’s bill would have no impact on her Comcast contribution because nothing was pending before the county when the contribution was received, and his bill only prohibits contributions during the pendency of an application or bid.
According to Comcast, negotiations start in March. “Comcast and Frederick County have not begun negotiations around the upcoming non-exclusive video franchise agreement renewal yet,” said Comcast spokeswoman Eliza Findlay. “We will be working with the county’s outside contract attorney throughout the negotiation period, which we expect to begin later this month.”
Critics say that Hough should take his own advice. During his campaign against state funding for the downtown hotel, he and fellow Republicans received a total of $13,069 in contributions between May 14, 2015 and January 7, 2016, according to finance reports, from entities invested in opposing the downtown conference center. Contributors include Randy Cohen, who owns the Holiday Inn on 85 that is expanding to include a large conference center; Bruce Bereano, a lobbyist, and developers of the Jefferson Tech Park, west of Frederick City, whose plans call for a hotel and conference center.
Hough countered that ethics laws for state legislators are much tougher than local laws. “It’s galling what I have to file compared to what they [county officials] are obligated to do,” Hough said. Maryland, however, has always pulled low grades in ethics, usually a D or worse, according to annual reports from the Center for Public Integrity. Read the 2015 report here.
The back and forth over the motivations and machinations of the two ethics bills echo the debates over the proposed downtown hotel and conference center. Frederick City and County leaders support the project, which relies heavily on state funding in a public-private partnership. The delegation’s three Democrats, Del. Carol Krimm (D-Dist. 3A), Del. Karen Lewis Young (D-Dist. 3A) and Sen. Ron Young (D-Dist.3) sponsored legislation for state funding, while Republicans Afzali, Del. Barrie Ciliberti (R-Dist. 4), Del. Bill Folden (R-Dist. 3B), Hough, and Del. David Vogt (R-Dist.4) rallied to have funding cut, and have racked up successes in the past year as state agencies retracted promises of funding for the $84 million project.
Gardner said the current debate over the ethics bill is a partisan ploy by Hough in anticipation of the 2018 election. Afzali, backed by Hough, is rumored to want Gardner’s job, and Hough is heavily courting candidates to run against both Youngs and Krimm.
“This is entirely partisan politics and it is all about the 2018 elections. This is clearly an effort to create an issue rather than advance an ethics bill,” Gardner said.
Hough is holding firm, however, that his bill is the best option and accuses the Democrats of playing politics. “If County Executive Gardner and Democrats continue to fight real ethics reform tooth and nail, it makes it more difficult to pass,” Hough said in a text. “I remain undeterred and will press forward. I realize their preference was to pass a do nothing bill and brag about passing ethics reform. I refuse to play that silly game.”
As for Gardner, she said she’s proud of a long and solid record of supporting strong ethics provisions, so Hough’s allegations hold little weight. “I hear all the time from citizens who are happy with the direction of the county and glad that the smoke has cleared from the prior smoke filled back room,” she said.
