Mums the Word on Revenue Authority Ethics Bill
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County officials say there has been no discussion on whether to support or oppose an effort to place the Baltimore County Revenue Authority under county ethics laws.
Don Mohler, a county spokesman and chief of staff to County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, said there has been no discussion on a proposal by state Del. John Cluster that would authorize Baltimore County to include the authority under county ethics rules.
"We honestly haven't had time to discuss the issue," Mohler said. "We've been involved in other things."
Cluster, a Parkville Republican, said last week that he plans to file the bill after a report by Patch revealed that neither state nor county ethics laws apply to the authority.
The authority is a quasi-public agency created in the 1950s by the General Assembly to oversee county parking operations. The agency has evolved over the last 20 years to include five public golf courses and an indoor soccer-ice rink facility in Reisterstown.
They authority is empowered with the ability to issue bonds and condemn land for public purpose. While it receives no money from the county, all of the land on which its garages and golf facilities are built is owned by the county taxpayers. Those properties are valued at about $60 million, according to one estimate, and generate between $10 million and $15 million in revenue annually.
A news report about William "Lynnie" Cook, chief executive of the authority, soliciting a golf outing at the exclusive Pine Valley Golf Club in New Jersey found that the legislature failed to establish which ethics rules applied to the agency. The county is in the midst of updating its ethics code but cannot add the authority without action by the state legislature.
Cluster said that his bill would give the county the authorization it requires.
Mohler said he couldn't comment on Cluster's bill. When asked if the county supported the concept, Mohler said: "We honestly haven't discussed it but we will at the appropriate time—when we talk about legislative packages coming up shortly.
Bart
3:36 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
While I don't know Del Custer personally, he should really get a better picture.
K Blue
6:27 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
One of the 5 Board members, when dealing with the public, has reportedly treated it as a government agency subject to certain limitations. The other 4 have not expressed the same attitude. There is one member that has been neither replaced nor reappointed, and many months have passed by since his term ended. This agency has the power to condemn property for public use and to issue bonds -- two gigantic powers. It is responsible for approx. $60 million in taxpayer assets. It rakes in $15 million in revenue. This agency needs clear limits and guidelines governing conduct, accountability and transparency. Every time something goes awry with this agency, most people point a finger at government in general, more particularly the CE. If I am not mistaken, he is powerless to command this agency, its director, or its Board members. The state legislature needs to step in here, and define this agency in a way that all Board members and its Director understand and are obligated to follow. Towson Circle is not too far away.
fred
7:04 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Leave it alone. The revenue auth is making money that is going back into Balto. Co. property. Give the county gov. more control and that all goes away. They have been doing this since the 50' s and it works, why break it now. Make it a government entity as the golf courses were and it goes back to losing money and costing tax payers more.
K Blue
9:49 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
I am not writing about control. I am writing about ethics, accountability and transparency. The legislature needs to decide if ethics rules should apply (and if so, which ones -- local or state). They need to decide whether an agency created by them with the power to condemn, the power to issue bonds and which is in charge of $60 million in publicly-owned property needs to bid out contracts over a certain amount (and if so, what amount should that be). They need to decide whether and what this agency needs to disclose to the public and when regarding their dealings (and with Towson Circle on the horizon, this may become a huge point of contention). This agency suffers from clear directions and expectations. All of this has been brought to light recently primarily because of their dealings relative to the golf component of the agency. Garages, sports complexes and golf courses are one thing, but add to that Towson Circle development, and I sense future confusion and discord.
Jason Danaher
7:38 pm on Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Kinda scary that they can take private property from the people and ethic rules dont apply.
Diane
6:38 pm on Saturday, November 26, 2011
Eminent domain!
Towsonite
12:47 pm on Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Are we really debating (and are members of the Council and the County Executive really struggling with) the concept of requiring a branch of the County government that spends millions of taxpayer dollars, to abide by some ethics rules? Really? I mean, really?