Baltimore County Council passes Inspector General legislation after council chair withdraws amendments

Baltimore County legislators passed unanimously Monday a pair of bills enshrining the Office of the Inspector General into county law in a highly-anticipated vote after Council Chair Julian Jones Jr. announced he was withdrawing widely-criticized amendments that would have hamstrung the watchdog agency.

The county council voted 7-0 to pass two bills that codify the three-year-old office into the county charter and require public hearings and written notice to justify any future attempts to shrink the agency’s budget. Residents will vote Nov. 5, 2024, via ballot initiative whether to establish the office in the county charter.

The Office of the Inspector General, led by Kelly Madigan, investigates fraud, waste, and abuse in county government.

A draft bill by Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, was discussed during a packed work session last week where residents, watchdog groups, and government officials testified against it. Democrats Izzy Patoka and Mike Ertel previously told The Baltimore Sun they would not vote for Jones’ bill, nor did they believe it had enough support to pass the council.

Jones’ bill, which leaked to the press ahead of its introduction, would have required the inspector general to submit investigations ahead of publication to an oversight board and seek judicial approval before subpoenaing external records during an investigation. It would have also provided an avenue for any employees involved in an investigation to recoup legal fees.

Jones did not introduce his bill for consideration during Monday’s legislative hearing. The council chair told reporters after last week’s hearing that he would not “kill the [original] bill entirely” if it passed without his amendments. He posted on Twitter during Monday’s hearing that he would allow the legislation to go forward “as proposed without amendments.”

That was a reversal from Friday night, when he posted a six-minute Instagram video defending his bill as providing an avenue for county employees who disagreed with the outcome of an investigation to air their grievances.

He said the advisory board would “provide a service to [county] employees and others by providing a place for people to come and voice their concerns if they think they were treated unfairly, or if they think an [investigative] report…was inaccurate or factually wrong.”

“Right now, they cannot do that,” Jones said. “There is no oversight or anyone or any place for them to go if the report is inaccurate.”

County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., a Dundalk Democrat, threw his weight behind the Inspector General’s office in a press appearance with Madigan Monday afternoon.

In a statement after the vote, Olszewski said he “applaud[ed] the members of the County Council who voted to strengthen and affirm the independence of the Office of the Inspector General – and to further enshrine the principles of ethics and accountability into the fabric of our laws.”

“I’m thrilled,” Madigan said after the council vote on Monday night.

Jones previously said he drafted his bill to protect county workers and provide a “check” on the inspector general’s authority.

Madigan told the chair during last week’s meeting that he was confusing search warrants with subpoena power, which is a standard practice in Inspector General offices throughout the U.S.

“I disagree with this idea that an inspector general is running loose and issuing subpoenas,” she said. “In fact, it’s false.”

Jones was cited in two investigations in 2022, for improperly soliciting campaign donations via a government email, and for overriding public works’ officials to use county funds to pave a private alleyway owned by one of his campaign donors. He previously criticized the inspector general’s findings as “a lot to do about nothing” and for “making molehills into mountains.”

A host of watchdog groups and residents criticized Jones’ amendments. The Baltimore Area Young Republicans denounced his bill as “antithetical to government transparency” in a statement released Monday afternoon.

Only two people, Towson resident David Riley, and David Rose, the newly elected president of the Baltimore County police union, testified last week in support of Jones’ amendments.

Riley said he supported Jones’ bill because of his experience as a Department of Defense employee who had been investigated by a “vindictive” Inspector General.

Rose, the President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, said he supported requiring the Inspector General to have judicial approval before executing subpoenas, similar to how judges must approve search warrants for law enforcement.

“I’ve worked with the inspector general’s office before and found her to be accommodating, inquisitive, polite and helpful,” Rose said. “This is by no means any slight on that office or the inspector general, but I’ve been in this county for almost 37 years, and I’ve seen what almost unfettered power can give somebody and what harm can be done.”

Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming said an oversight board was “shocking” and “unheard of.” She told Jones her own advisory board, which works with her on budget issues, did not have any knowledge of her investigations before publication.

“That is a pillar of independence,” Cumming said.