Common Cause Applauds News Of Ethics Changes

Initial news of impending changes to Baltimore County ethics law is being met with approval from one good government watchdog group.

"Obviously we don't know what changes the county executive plans to announce, but we applaud anyone who seeks to strengthen public ethics laws," said Susan Wichmann, executive director of Common Cause Maryland.

County Executive Kevin Kamenetz is scheduled to announce changes to county ethics law and sign an executive order that institutes a code of conduct for all employees of the executive department—essentially all agencies except the County Council, according to Don Mohler, a spokesman and chief of staff to Kamenetz.

"This will set a really clear standard," Mohler said of the bill and executive order. "That's what people are going to see. This isn't smoke and mirrors. There's going to be real changes."

The exact nature of those changes was not available late Tuesday.

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Public ethics has been in the forefront in the county in the last few weeks as Patch reported that Councilman Ken Oliver violated the County Charter by .

Oliver was hired as a financial specialist in February by the state Department of Business and Economic Development at an annual salary of nearly $63,000.

The issue was further exacerbated when some county officials suggested that the County Charter provided .

Late Tuesday, Patch reported that when he cast a vote in March on an issue that would be decided by the state agency that employed him. The councilman did not disclose his employment prior to the vote nor did he abstain from the vote.

Wichmann, in an interview Tuesday afternoon, had a wish list for changes that she hoped would be part of Kamenetz's announcement.

First on Wichmann's list was electronic access to annual financial disclosure forms filed by the county executive, County Council and a number of other county officials. Currently those forms are only available by asking for them in person at the county Office of Law and filling out a form that requires the requester to disclose who they are and where they live. Those forms are then provided to the officials whose ethics forms were released.

Wichmann said filling out those forms has "a chilling effect" on the disclosure of information.

"People should not have to disclose their personal information to see those public records," Wichmann said.

Also on her list was closing the period of time that county officials have to file their report. Currently, reports that are required to be filed in May cover the previous calendar year. Wichmann said "five months seems like an excessive period of time."

Wichmann added that the county should also require officials to disclose "material changes" like new employment immediately. Such a requirement would have meant that ethics officials would have known Oliver worked for a state agency earlier this year—something that would not have to be disclosed until next May under current law.

Wichmann said the county should also seek to draw a clear line on the rules regarding outside employment for elected officials and other government employees.

"There's not a clear line and we believe a clear, bright line needs to be drawn," said Wichmann.

Finally, Wichmann said she hoped the county addressed the issue of how to enforce its current laws and the County Charter.

"Strengthening enforcement of public ethics laws with real penalties is necessary," she said.