Muhammad Ali refereed the first Wrestlemania, the Ford Taurus debuted and Michael J. Fox?s “Back to the Future” dazzled American science fiction fans.
The year was 1985 ? and it also marked the last time Baltimore County?s ethics commission last substantiated a complaint.
Given the time lapse, the commission has no protocols in place to announce when, if ever, someone is found in violation ? worrying groups that recently filed a grievance.
“I?m troubled by the lack of transparency in the process,” said Bart Fisher, an attorney monitoring a complaint filed against Gov. Robert Ehrlich?s personal lawyer, David Hamilton. “We don?t know if they?ve done anything or if they will do anything.”
Confidentiality is a top priority of the five-member commission, which meets in closed monthly sessions and refuses to even acknowledge complaints they determine invalid to protect the falsely accused, they said. Minutes spent discussing items other than complaints, such as advisory opinions, are available for the public to see in the county?s law office.
The commission?s executive director, attorney Elaine Katz, defended the group, saying they are simply following the letter of county law.
“We have a very strong and concerned commission and anything that comes before it, they review thoroughly,” Katz said. “We?re also careful that frivolous things are not [substantiated].”
The county?s ethics commission is modeled after the state?s, which dismissed allegations that Hamilton violated lobbying laws when he met with county employees to dissuade them from opposing a proposed liquid natural gas plant at the Sparrows Point shipyard. The state commission released the determination with his permission, but posts valid violations on its Web site and enters them in a “public order book.”
Aside from the 1985 violation, assistant county attorney Michael Field identified two others upheld by the county commission in 1984, as far back as county records date. He said the county would likely confer with the state commission if that happens again.
But in the meantime, Bobbie Walton, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, a nonprofit political watchdog group that filed a complaint against Hamilton at the county level, says she can only assume the group is still investigating her claim.
“They haven?t told me anything,” she said.
THE COMMISSION
The County Executive appoints the ethics commission members, two of whom must be attorneys and two of whom must be from the opposite political party as the executive. Current members are:
» *F. Vernon Boozer, attorney
» Melissa Gray, attorney
» Thomas Whiteford, attorney
» Alexander Wright Jr., attorney
» Ellen Yerman, director of career services at Villa Julie College
*Chairman
