Baker and Olson Committed to Accountability, Economic Development

Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and District 3 Council member Eric Olson (D-College Park) said Monday night they are committed to accountability and ethics reform in the county, despite what some see as a delay in acting on a report from an independent task force.

The comments from Baker and Olson came during the question-and-answer session at the District 3 Town Hall meeting at Parkdale High School Monday night, where roughly 225 county residents heard reports about current legislation, the county budget, plans for economic development and education.

“I like the recommendations they put forward,” said Baker, who has made ethics reform a central theme in his tenure as county executive. “The issue going forward is one, how do we do this within our budget constraints? And two, what’s the best model to be used in Prince George’s County?”

After seeing news reports that Council Chairwoman Ingrid Turner (D-Bowie) indicated the council would not take up the issue until late summer or early fall, College Heights Estates resident John Scott said he wanted to know why the council wanted to wait.

“A few months ago during the election this seemed to be a big issue,” Scott said during an interview. “Now it seems to have taken a back seat.”

In response to what Scott perceived as an unnecessary delay, Olson said the council would take up the issue as soon as possible. “I think part of her [Turner’s] answer is because we have a whole lot of legislation we’re working on right now lined up in the queue. We just got the report a few days ago.”

Among the key recommendations from the task force is the creation of an inspector general position, a strengthened Board of Ethics (the current one has no budget or staff and meets sporadically), and a whistleblower hotline.

During the meeting, Olson also gave an update on long-debated storm water legislation. In October, the council rejected new storm water rules that developers said would hinder economic redevelopment efforts. Those who supported that bill said it would improve the environment.

Olson, who voted in favor of the previous bill, said new storm water legislation has been moved out of committee and would now be considered by the full council.

Olson said he had hoped to have a stronger bill that would require the capture of more storm water in those redevelopment projects. “Sometimes there’s a limit to what can be done,” Olson said.