Ethics Task Force Presents Final Report

The Ethics Task Force, appointed by County Executive Jan Gardner in February 2015, completed its work tonight with a series of recommendations for changes to the Ethics Ordinance, state law and processes and procedures.

The recommendations are intended to help one of Maryland’s fastest growing counties maintain public trust in the face of rapid change to the community both demographically and politically, with the first term of Charter government having begun in December 2014.

The Ethics Task Force’s seventeen recommendations and other suggestions cover a wide variety of topics and proposed changes. Some require action by the Maryland General Assembly, the State Ethics Commission, the County Executive, or the Ethic Commission.

A few recommendations seem aimed at recent items of interest such as including “sexual or romantic relationships” to the definition of conflicts of interest. An expansion of the prohibition on campaign donations from those with business before the county to four years seems directed at the building industry.

The task force also recommends re-instating criminal penalties for violations, and expanding who must file financial disclosure forms to many appointed officials on certain commissions.

The entire report is available online at http://www.frederickcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/280831.

County Executive Gardner said, “I commend the Ethics Task Force for their hard work in reviewing the Frederick County Ethics Ordinance and other related documents so that they could make recommendations as to amending the ordinance. They have taken their charge very seriously to improve citizen trust in county government. I believe that elected officials should be held to a high standard of conduct and that citizens should be confident that elected officials are making decisions in the best interest of the public good.”

On February 12, 2015, Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner announced appointments to an Ethics Task Force consisting of citizens with an interest or experience in ethics rules and regulations either in the private sector or in government. The task force was charged with reviewing the Frederick County Ethics Ordinance and other related documents and making recommendations on amending the ordinance to the County Executive and County Council.

The Task Force is a standing committee with a limited time frame to accomplish its work – approximately 120 days.

County Executive Gardner said, “I pledged during my campaign to re-establish citizen trust in County government to restore an open and transparent public process. Our citizens expect high standards by those who are elected to public office and I am confident that the changes recommended by the task force will be in the best interest of the public good. I am very pleased that 38 residents applied to volunteer on our Ethics Task Force to help us revise the Ethics Ordinance for Frederick County. Creation of this independent task force and review of the ordinance is one of my top priorities.”

Topics of discussion for the task force will include consideration of a code of professional conduct for elected officials, which could be a policy separate from the ethics regulation; strengthening conflict-of-interest provisions to make it clear that county elected officials cannot profit from their positions or do business with the county; the addition of civil and criminal penalties for serious ethics violations, and other related issues such as improving campaign finance provisions.

Those Executive Gardner appointed to the task force include: Karl Bickel, Jo Ann Brown, Donald Foster, Thomas Gill, Jesse Goode, Kevin Grubb, Diana Halleman, Dr. Syed Haque, John Helms, Craig Hicks, Anne Leffler, Rev. Conrad Link, Linda Norris-Waldt (who serves as Chairman), Nancy Pluhowski and John Shatto. In addition, County Council President Bud Otis will serve as the representative from the council and Ethics Commission Chairman Gwen Romack as the representative from the commission.

Council President Otis added, “I also wish to thank all those who applied to serve on the task force and encourage our citizens to follow our discussions and recommendations closely. Our desire is to carefully review the past, present and proposed ethics provisions with the goal of strengthening our Ethic Ordinance.”