MetCom Attorney Jacquelyn Meiser
Leonardtown, MD — The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County will hold a public hearing on a proposed change in the county’s Ethics Ordinance, which the county attorney says contains loopholes. The proposal was one of four suggested changes in the county code suggested by County Attorney George Sparling.
Sparling said the proposed ethics ordinance change would add the following prohibition: “Any person or entity with which the official or employee has a direct or indirect financial or business relationship.” Sparling used as an example a county commissioner and a planning commission member having business relationship with each other and that business entity having dealings with a third party coming before the planning commission.”
Commissioner John O’Connor [R – 3rd District] said of the proposed change: “It is plain straight forward and makes it clear for everyone to understand.”
Sparling, in a memo to the commissioners dated Jan. 15, wrote of the current St. Mary’s County Ethics Ordinance: “The provisions deal only with various direct relationships between the county official or employee and ‘business entities.’ The provisions are confusing and frequently difficult to apply to actual factual situations. More significantly, the current provisions contain loopholes, the greatest of which is the inapplicability of the provisions to often complex financial relationships between individuals.”
Although Sparling insisted that his proposal was not directed at any particular agency, two of the commissioners latched onto situations affecting the St. Mary’s County Metropolitan Commission (MetCom). Commissioner Todd Morgan [R – 4th District] asked if it would cover a situation in which a commission member was also a developer who could sometime in the future benefit from a water or sewer line going through an area.
Metropolitan Commission member Mike Mummaugh is a developer.
Commissioner Mike Hewitt [R – 2nd District] wanted to know about agency attorneys having outside employment. Hewitt asked Sparling about his situation, He said his contract prevented outside employment. But MetCom attorney Jacquelyn Meiser is allowed under her contract to have outside employment.
Sparling did not specifically address whether the two situations brought up by the commissioners would be covered by the proposed ethics ordinance change.
Sparling also has proposed removing some board and commission members from ethics reporting unless a potential conflict arises. He said that eliminated unnecessarily burdensome paperwork for volunteers.
The two other proposals submitted by Sparling deal with property maintenance remediation agreements and civil infractions. Both had state law changes in the last Maryland General Assembly session which allow the commissioners to make code revisions.
The date of the public hearing for the four proposals has not been announced but the commissioners requested it be at night.
Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet,com