Commissioner President Candice Quinn Kelly at an April 25, 2012 town hall meeting.
An anonymous source claimed Charles County Commissioner President Candice Quinn Kelly is violating the county’s ethics code by attending a meeting with the Avalon Homeowner’s Association scheduled for May 16th. Kelly responded on Thursday, calling the accusation a “distraction”.
“She's turned (Meredith Management) to her son and daughter and husband is the CFO. Autumn Hills is being developed by Elm Street,” the anonymous caller told TheBAYNET. “The development headed up by Doug Meeker, a policy advisor to the planning commission and the Charles County Board of Commissioners. There are bonding issues with Avalon. There's the same thing with Autumn Hills. McDaniel was supposed to be open all the way up. After 280 lots, McDaniel road would be open all the way up to 228 but that requirement was changed to 330 lots. Candice Quinn Kelly has a personal interest in it. They're not making developers developing roads. There are a lot of issues here. It all benefits her family and her political career. It's a political tool. All those new developments are under Meredith Management.”
The caller also said that Doug Meeker has contributed to Kelly’s campaign and that is why she sought to have the campaign contributions disclosure take effect in October.
“I don’t get paid by Meredith Management,” Kelly told TheBAYNET on Thursday afternoon. “I feel comfortable serving our constituents. It's unfortunate someone should try to tie this to that. You have to own your conduct and this is not about ethics. This is about me serving my constituents. I leave any opinions regarding ethics up to the Charles County Ethics Commission. I requested an advisory opinion on December 21, 2012 and have yet to receive a response so I am operating under an ethics opinion given to me on October 21, 2005 by then County Attorney Roger Fink. I'm confident I’m in full compliance.
“To try to distract our citizens from the real issue which is the conduct of Commissioner Debra Davis (D: 2nd) yesterday as she attempted to impose restrictions on me as the elected commissioner president to voice my opinion and represent my constituents is unacceptable and I will not stand for it nor will our citizens. This is merely a distraction but be assured it does not distract me. I'm busy everyday doing what I was elected to do which was work to benefit our citizens and not engage in this silliness.”
The Avalon community, which sits off Middletown Road, resides in Davis’ district by virtue of being on the west side of Middletown Road. When contacted on Wednesday, Davis was unaware that Avalon was in her district. Additional calls to Davis have not been returned.
“It’s much ado about nothing,” Commissioner Ken Robinson (D: 1st) said.
