The director of the Montgomery County department charged with independently reviewing the public school system’s finances is the sister-in-law of the school district’s budget manager, according to inquiries by The Examiner.
Karen Orlansky, director of the county’s Office of Legislative Oversight, is related through marriage to Marshall Spatz, Montgomery County Public Schools’ director of Management, Budget and Planning, officials confirmed Monday.
It’s an ironic situation that County Council spokesman Neil Greenberger said is well-known to most members of local government.
But a number of community members and activists expressed outrage at what they say is a clear-cut conflict of interest. They said they had no idea the relationship existed. Their concerns come at a time when the OLO has released the start of what will be many financial audits of the school system.
“As director of OLO, providing oversight to the council on a $2 billion school budget, Ms. Orlansky had an ethical duty to state for the record that Marshall Spatz is her brother-in-law [but she hasn’t],” Neighbors for a Better Montgomery Executive Director Drew Powell said. “Who oversees ‘Oversight?’ ”
Greenberger, however, countered that the family ties between the two high-ranking county employees have been fully disclosed for years.
“It’s something that’s never been a secret,” he said, adding that it’s so accepted council members have joked about the link.
In a written statement to The Examiner, Orlansky said, “I have worked for the Office of Legislative Oversight since 1986 and been director for more than a decade. I have been married to Marshall Spatz’s brother for almost 25 years. Our family connection is well known to the council and to those I work with at MCPS; we both respect the professional roles and responsibilities that come with our jobs.”
How good of a job Orlansky has done in letting the public know about her personal connection to the head of an agency she’s supposed to scrutinize is much worse, according to special education advocates Bob and Lyda Astrove.
“We’ve been following the school budget for a decade and never knew about this,” Bob Astrove said. “Regardless of whether there’s an issue [with the county code] it takes nothing to make sure this is out there … Largely, the OLO reports take what the school system has to say and regurgitates [it.] That concerns me.”
