When Baltimore County voters head to the polls next month, they’ll decide if local lawmakers should be allowed to work for state government — a controversial question one opponent termed the “double-dip amendment.”
In addition to presidential candidates and slot machines, voters in Baltimore County will tackle a charter amendment that would allow council members to take state jobs. The proposal is backed by Councilman Vince Gardina — a Perry Hall Democrat who said he inadvertently violated the statute when he held a state job in 2003. He said the change is important to allow the part-time lawmakers to make a living.
“The state legislature and every other jurisdiction allows elected officials to work for other government agencies without any restrictions, and this certainly would be the same thing,” Gardina said. “We allow police officers, firefighters and teachers to have their jobs and be elected to county office. This should be the same way.”
But opponents said state employment could be a conflict of interest for a county lawmaker who relies on state funding for education, transportation improvements and public safety. The county’s Republican club this month voted nearly unanimously against the proposed amendment, said president Chris Cavey, who noted members of Congress often abandon their careers for what could be a two-year term.
Opponents have criticized Gardina for suing and collecting a $100,000 wrongful-termination settlement from Maryland in 2005 after he was fired when then-Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s administration took over. Cavey called the charter amendment the “Vince Gardina double-dip amendment.”
“What happens when Mr. Governor calls up Mr. Councilman and says, ‘Hey, you’re the tied vote on this, and don’t forget you work at the will of the governor’?” Cavey said.
Not every member of Cavey’s organization voted to oppose the proposal. Norma Secoura said that many opposed it simply because they have personal conflicts with Gardina, and that fewer employment restrictions will encourage more candidates to run for the council.
“What if a candidate quits his job with the state to run?” Secoura said. “If he loses, then what? He’s out of a job? Or if he does win, but only wins one term, he’s out of a job?”
County Executive Jim Smith does not have a position on the ballot question, according to his spokesman, and it remains unclear if all seven sitting council members support it. They voted last August to send the issue to voters, but only after agreeing to delay its effects until 2010, when their terms expire.
Government watchdogs said they expect state employees to remain nonpartisan, which can be tricky if they are also candidates for office. Still, elected officials can recuse themselves from votes that present a conflict of interest, said Ryan O’Donnell, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a citizens’ advocacy group.
“Unless there’s a real universal conflict of interest or the appearance of one, it might be better for council members to seek advice from the ethics commission on a case-by-case basis,” O’Donnell said.
Gardina is not the only council member to violate the employment restriction. Republican Wayne Skinner served on the council from 1998 until 2002 while working as deputy director of the state’s Department of Assessments and Taxation. Skinner also has said he was unaware of the provision.
