Public Integrity
Prince George’s County and the State of Maryland have been plagued for years by ethical lapses by some elected and appointed officials. Disclosure of these lapses has led to decreasing levels of trust and confidence in many of our government institutions. At this moment in our history the establishment and maintenance of trust is essential to both short-term success and long-term efficacy of our government institutions.
In order to restore citizen trust in our government, there are a number of actions that elected and appointed officials should take to reform internal administrative practices and financial disclosure policies. These measures include:
At the county level
Ban county taxpayer issued personal automobiles to elected and politically appointed officials. Since 2005 over $272,000 has been budgeted and/or spent to replace County Council Member cars ONLY. Unless such benefits-of-office can be justified, they are an anachronism and should be stopped.
Review pay and benefit practices for our elected and politically appointed officials. Both the quadrennial pay setting practices combined with the automatic Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) payments during the term of both the Council Member and the County Executive need to be reviewed so that during times of economic distress these officials are not shielded from the adverse effects that the citizens, including county and state government employees, are suffering. Most retired citizens and many working ones will not receive a COLA increase for the next few years. County elected officials should not be adjusting their salaries to increase them when their constituents are suffering declining or static salaries and income.
At all government levels
All official expense accounts for all elected and appointed government officials should be either (1) subject to publically available audits or (2) be regularly publish on-line. The General Assembly should consider legislation on this matter that has the same scope and effect as the current Open Meetings Act so that all government bodies and their elected and/or appointed officials are affected by its provisions.
Financial disclosure reports of all officials currently required to file one should be publically available without restriction and preferably published on-line.
The best antidote to potential abuse of office is FULL PUBLIC DISCLOSURE of both an official’s official expense account(s) and financial disclosure report(s). Furthermore, all official expense accounts need to be clearly defined and uses enumerated.
