Council Will Appoint Its Own Ethics Judges

Maryland's requirement for municipalities to establish ethics commissions came up for debate at Greenbelt City Council's last regular meeting.

Council deliberated over new state ethics requirements, drafted largely in response to county corruption. Greenbelt and other state municipalities were charged with enacting ordinances that either met with or exceeded state minimums.

Greenbelt resident Molly Lester said she thought it was a conflict of interest for City Council to appoint the people who would make judgments on ethics violations.

Later in the deliberations, council member Konrad Herling asked if during the interviews for the prospective ethics commission members, the Q&A would be public.

After hearing Mayor Judith "J" Davis' clarification that they would be held in a similar manner to advisory board interviews, Herling responded, “So that would be a Q&A that would be held without the input of the public?”

Davis said, “Well then you might as well open up every interview.”

"I'm just trying to be as transparent as possible,” Herling answered.

"People elect us to be representatives for them to be able to do some of these functions. If you want to open it up entirely to the public, then go to a pure democracy, which is what's held in New England in a town hall meeting.” Davis told Herling.

“But at some point we have to run the city. Otherwise we're going to be spending an awful lot of time," she said.

Once the ethics commission is formed and approved, Davis said it could hold public hearings and give the public the opportunity to come in.

Patch published a story that includes multiple issues raised during the ethics debate as well as insight into the dynamics of Greenbelt City Council.