Politics & Government
The Revenue Authority's Not-So-Open Policy
Board declines to release documents as it prepares to hold closed-door discussion pertaining to public records.
The Baltimore County Revenue Authority and its chief executive, William "Lynnie" Cook, Wednesday denied access to documents related to a meeting of its five-member board.
The denial comes just as the board is scheduled to discuss the issue of when its documents become public record and subject to the state's Public Information Act.
An aide to Cook told a reporter Wednesday that the Feb. 24 meeting had been postponed because Donald Hutchinson, the board's chairman and a former county executive, was ill.
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Because of the postponement, the packet of documents for the meeting would not be available to the public. The board members, however, have received the documents.
The packet—including an agenda and financial reports—has traditionally been released on the Monday before the meeting, per an agreement with Cook and his predecessor. Releasing the packet allows the public to know what is on the agenda while letting the authority's members receive their copies first.
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The aide said Cook was not available for comment.
In the end, all she was authorized to release was a one-page agenda with general descriptions of topics containing a list of documents to be part of the discussion.
The authority is an independent quasi-public county agency created by state law. The agency oversees the county's five golf courses, four Towson parking garages and a number of parking lots and on-street parking locations around the county.
The authority also partnered with the county to build an indoor soccer and ice rink facility in Reisterstown and is planning to build a fifth parking garage in Towson that will enable a private developer to build the Towson Circle III retail-office-entertainment complex.
Ironically, Cook's decision to withhold the detailed financial documents comes just as the authority plans to discuss when documents should become publicly available.
That discussion, planned for the authority's next meeting, is scheduled to be held in a closed session that will shut out the public and the press.
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