Need for an Independent Inspector General for WSSC & M-NCPPC...What You Can Do

The County Council received their weekly briefing on State Bills yesterday from the County's lobbyists.

Here is the memo listing all the bills they are tracking

http://montgomerycountymd.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=136&event_id=5009&meta_id=130653

Among the bills they discussed is MC/PG 110-17 or HB321, sponsored by Delegate Ben Kramer, which would establish a very much needed Office of Inspector General for our Bi-County agencies, WSSC and the Maryland National Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC).  Due to their unique structure as bi-County agencies, they are not under the jurisdiction of the Montgomery County Ethics Commission .  In addition, the Montgomery County Office of Inspector General does not have the same oversight of these 2 Bi-County agencies as it does for other County agencies.. They are also not subject to performance audits by the State's Office of Legislative Audits as other State agencies are.

The members of the Montgomery County Delegation Metro Area Committee will be the first to discuss in a worksession next week.

Metro Washington Area Committee:
This committee works on all WSSC bills as well as M-NCPPC bills which do not deal with land use or transportation issues.  Al Carr, Chair Pam Queen, Vice-Chair, Kumar Barve, Kathleen Dumais, Ben Kramer, Shane Robinson

In addition to contacting the Metro Washington Area Committee members, please contact your State Delegates to request support for this very important bill that will resolve the inconsistencies and lack of clarity, and help promote the public's trust. 

http://montgomerycountydelegation.com/contact.html

Here is a link to the Bill Information:
http://montgomerycountydelegation.com/MCPG110-17.html

It is hard to imagine why anyone would vote against having these agencies under the jurisdiction of an IG just as all other County and State agencies are (except MCPS).  Delegates Barve, Kaiser and Barclay voted against scheduling this bill for hearing but fortunately, 18 other delegates voted to have a hearing which was held on Friday.

So far, the Montgomery County Civic Federation, UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, and Montgomery County  Taxpayers League testified in support of the bill.  WSSC and the Montgomery County Planning Board are trying to kill the bill. They claim it's duplicative because they have an internal auditor. An internal auditor with an annual contract is not comparable to an independent Office of Inspector General who can investigate a variety of matters while remaining independent and not subject to annual contract cancellation by the Commission that approves their contract.

During the briefing yesterday, the County's intergovernmental relations representatives stated that County Executive Leggett supports the concept of an Inspector General for both of these agencies.  Several Councilmembers commented that they get more complaints from constituents about these 2 agencies than any others.  Having an IG in place is a very important step toward improving the public confidence in these agencies.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to contact your Maryland State Delegates and Senators to support this Bill.