Effort to weaken Baltimore County IG shows why area residents distrust local government | STAFF COMMENTARY

Earlier this month, the Johns Hopkins 21st Cities Initiative released a survey of 1,352 Baltimore and Baltimore County residents to gauge their thoughts about a broad range of issues from policing to transportation to the condition of their neighborhoods (seven out of eight expressing satisfaction with theirs, by the way). There was, however, one topic about which a sizeable majority was clearly unhappy, and we would urge Baltimore County Council President Julian E. Jones Jr. to pay close attention to this.

Nearly 75% of the people surveyed reported that they didn’t trust their local government. Mind you, it wasn’t just a matter of having suspicious natures. A majority of those same folks said they trust local businesses and non-profit institutions, and nearly two of three said they generally trust other people.

So where does all this wariness come from? At least one possibility was on public display this week as Jones found himself in the awkward position of trying to justify his efforts to hamstring Baltimore County’s inspector general, the individual responsible for detecting and preventing fraud, waste, abuse, misconduct and mismanagement in government. In short, the IG is on the people’s side of public corruption. Where does that leave a council chair who seems to be seeking revenge for having been the subject of two IG investigations in 2022? Looking pretty bad.

The IG’s job has come under new scrutiny as Baltimore County Executive John Olszewski Jr. seeks to enshrine the Office of Inspector General in the county charter, a move that reaffirms and protects this vital role. Jones claims that he’s merely attempting to set some reasonable limits on the position (“checks and balances,” he calls them), but the amendments he’s offered run counter to best practices. They include limiting access to certain records and requiring reports to first be submitted to an independent board for review. Such strings might tie the hands of any investigator with evidence critical of the politically connected.

We might be more sympathetic to the council president’s position if Inspector General Kelly Madigan, a former deputy state prosecutor, and her staff behaved like some out-of-control, power-hungry maniacs. They have proven anything but, however. Indeed, the efforts of Madigan’s office, along with her counterpart in the city, Isabel Mercedes Cumming, have been enormously helpful to the cause of good government. Cumming, too, has confronted public officials who would prefer she be overseen by the mayor and his allies. But her independence has proven rewarding, from her uncovering school officials “double-dipping” with city jobs to former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby’s questionable out-of-state travels.

Let no one in Baltimore County forget that Oct. 10 marked the 50th anniversary of Spiro T. Agnew’s infamous resignation as only the second vice president in U.S. history to step down from office. Agnew’s fall started in Towson, not Washington, D.C. The former Baltimore County executive had a history of taking payoffs (which he failed to report as income) that continued through stints in the Maryland State House and beyond. And then there was Dale Anderson, another former county executive, who was convicted of extortion and tax evasion. Baltimore’s list of public corruption is not exactly a short one either. Under such circumstances how can anyone possibly see the balance of power in corruption cases leaning too heavily toward investigators?

Small wonder that the Hopkins poll found city and county residents more than a little skeptical about the honesty of those they elect to run the government. It’s only reinforced when a high-profile local official — someone well aware of his county’s history — seems more interested in settling scores than following the recommendations of the county’s own Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics and Accountability that proposed the IG governance structure. That Jones now seems more than a bit combative on the matter isn’t helping his public image either. For someone who claims to believe in transparency, his recent behavior hasn’t exactly lived up to the promise.

Members of the Baltimore County Council should approve the IG legislation at their next meeting on Monday, Dec. 18, rejecting the Jones amendments. As for the council president, he might save some face by dropping efforts to weaken the office before a majority of his fellow council members do so for him.

Baltimore Sun editorial writers offer opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. They operate separately from the newsroom.