The assistant secretary for real estate in the Maryland General Services Department who approved a controversial land appraisal for a Kent Island Open Space acquisition was fired last week, the day after his published comments suggesting his office might have tried to negotiate a lower price.
Assistant secretary Nelson Reichart, who had been in the post four years and is 13 months shy of a more generous 30-year pension from state government, was fired from his post by General Services Secretary Alvin Collins on June 29.
“No reason was given on my termination,” Reichart told the Examiner.
The day before his firing, Reichart was first quoted in the Baltimore Sun defending a $4.6 million appraisal for the 271-acre parcel, saying it “presented a more thorough analysis of sales” than an appraisal for $1 million less. But he was also paraphrased in the paper saying that with appraisals this far apart “the department will often try to agree on a price in the middle.”
Queen Anne?s County eventually agreed to chip in another $400,000 for the Open Space, raising the purchase price to $5 million, or about $18,500 an acre. The land is part of the 1,483-acre Kudner Property the Land Alliance bought last fall for about $12,000 per acre.
Dave Humphrey, spokesman for General Services, told the Examiner that Reichart?s public comments had nothing to do with his departure. As Secretary (Alvin) Collins told Mr. Reichart, he — the secretary — wants ?to take the DGS Office of Real Estate in a different direction.?”
Reichart, an Ehrlich appointee, previsously worked for 20 years at the Maryland Department of Transportation. His 28 years of state service include credit for time served in the National Guard.
Now unemployed, he?s hoping to land a job in another state agency but it he said that might be difficult
Appointed by the Ehrlich administration, Reichart said he researched his pension benefits because “all of us knew that we were going to be targeted” for removal.
Reichart?s division handles land acquisition for numerous state agencies and programs, and had approved another controversial assessment for Open Space acquisition last year. The state paid $10,000 an acre for 572 acres on Assawoman Bay north of Ocean City. Two-thirds of the property was wetlands, according to published accounts.
