Blog: Using the Public Information Act to Monitor County Leadership

Having worked for Carroll County Government for many years I am aware of its astute interest in keeping employee expenses to a minimum and of holding each employee accountable for any charges they incur or for reimbursements for allowable expenses which they incur, such as for the use of their personal vehicle for county business when no county pool vehicle is available or reasonably convenient.

Knowing that senior county management usually required employees to keep accurate accountings of their requests for mileage reimbursements and other expenses, I decided to place a formal Public Information Act (PIA) request for copies of expense and mileage vouchers for top county managers and the Commissioners to see if what had been expected in the past was holding true under the 59^th Board of Commissioners. The documents I received as a result of that PIA has unearthed a huge disappointment as they reveal that this system now fails miserably.

It became a real eye opener to see how one Commissioner in particular has abused the system that previously was so closely guarded by county finance managers. I believe the managers still have the citizen’s best fiduciary interest at heart but what has changed is that they are now approving expense vouchers without questioning them because of a fear of retaliation involving their continued employment and career success.

The County maintains an excellent fleet of pool vehicles for use by staff and the Commissioners on County business; many are recent model hybrid cars which attain excellent mileage. The cars are kept at a parking lot directly across from the County Office Building on Center Street and can be reserved in advance for trips through the Department of Public Works. It takes but a minute to pick up the keys and walk across the street to retrieve a vehicle for trips to Baltimore City, out of County conferences and even jaunts to points anywhere within the County on official business.

Yet four of the Commissioners have not used these pool vehicles for long drives to conferences in Cambridge and Ocean City, MD, opting instead to use their personal vehicles and charging the County coffers for a total in excess of $1,000 for mileage fees since taking office.

In one instance the funds are far greater and abuse of the system a very real concern.

Since taking office in November of 2010, Commissioner Robin Frazier has managed to bilk the County coffers for more than $1800 in charges for use of her personal vehicle on frequent trips that questionably have anything whatsoever to do with her official role as a County Commissioner. Avoiding the formalities normally required in reporting the actual mileage on her vehicle from destination to destination, Frazier has had the gall to demand payment for trips to Boy Scout functions, a Civil War Ball, high school graduation ceremonies, ribbon cutting
ceremonies; fire house dinners; and even a county employee appreciation function.

Putting such petty payment demands aside, what is more troubling is her use of county coffers to demand payment for attending political functions such as Republican Club and We The People meetings; youth ministry functions (Campus Life Club); Bible appreciation meetings’ and a Maryland Municipal league dinner for town, not county, officials. Her reports are full of vague statements about use of her vehicle from home to Westminster and other county locations on unspecified business and lack the actual vehicle miles placed on her car. This is not just some salesman trying to fatten his expense account; this is an elected official abusing a county reimbursement system.

Will Commissioner Frazier be held accountable for these excessive reimbursement demands? That is entirely up to County managers to call her to question because there no longer is an internal auditor function in the County offices since the new Commissioners took office. However, the new Commissioners were quick to establish Ten Governing Principles for their terms in office; however, it appears that there is no one among them to hold each other accountable in upholding those principles, including number 8:

Capital Expenditures: This Board will require industrial strength
financial reviews on all future capital expenditures, including close scrutiny
of all assumptions; rigorous life cycle cost projections; and early evaluation
of feasible alternatives.

And number 10: Servant Leadership: This Board of County
Commissioners will lead by example, and discontinue the practice of accepting
per diem payments

Yes, they have admirably forsaken the assignment of County vehicles to them for their individual use. But that decision makes no sense whatsoever when it comes to using County pool vehicles that include several hybrid cars, Jeeps and vans for routine and planned long trips. Use of a County vehicle to each Commissioner on a daily basis for travel to and from the office and home is certainly subject to criticism but avoidance of perfectly fine county cars for these trips so that mileage fees can be charged against the public coffers is abhorrent and a probable violation of at least the County’s own Ethics Ordinance.

The PIA tool, for which these Commissioners have recently chosen to raise rates, is a tool still available for those who want to monitor how their local government operates and at what expense to whom. I am not going to be deterred by the increase in the cost of Open Government here in Carroll County and have recently filed a new PIA request for additional, more recent copies of mileage reimbursement demands and credit card charges by our Commissioners and key staff members, as well as information on the expenses and donations concerning the Commissioners Phony Forum for Halloween.