Eighteen-year-olds can guard inmates at the county jail. The Board of Ethics is essentially defunct. The county’s Health Department lacks a strategic plan. These are some of the findings in a 185-page assessment of more than 30 Prince George’s County government agencies. County Executive Rushern Baker’s transition team compiled the report, detailing problems and recommendations on public safety, economic development and education. The review suggests ways for the county to save money and improve efficiency as it faces a $77 million budget shortfall in fiscal 2012.
The county spends more than $15 million a year on utility costs, according to the report. By going greener and creating an office of sustainability, the county could reduce its energy needs and free up funds.
The county could also spend less by conducting an assessment of all county-owned and -leased properties and consolidating employees into “transit-oriented, environmentally friendly space,” the report said.
Kenneth W. Johnson, the executive director of the transition team that prepared the report, said the county needs to work on providing “better access” for residents. “As much as we love Upper Marlboro, it can be difficult to get to Upper Marlboro,” he said of the county seat.
Troubling practices are also detailed at some county agencies. The review expressed concern that the county jail employs 18-year-olds “without the life experience or maturation to handle the jail population.”
The county’s Health Department, the transition team concluded, was “unable to articulate an overall description of programs, challenges and a strategic plan for the upcoming year.”
“Many agency materials were disjointed and outdated, leading to confusion regarding overall department structure and purpose,” the team reported.
And for a jurisdiction that will see former County Executive Jack Johnson appear in court this week on federal corruption charges, the county’s Ethics Board — who didn’t meet once last year — should be strengthened, the report states.
It recommends legislation allowing the Board of Ethics to issue subpoenas and take sworn testimony at hearings, something it has no power to do.
Baker told The Washington Examiner that some of the report’s recommendations have been incorporated into his budget, which he plans to release Monday. “I just want to see something done in these four years that haven’t been done before,” he said.
