When the new year for Prince George’s County government begins, officials will have a cornucopia of thorny issues to tackle.
State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey is investigating the use of taxpayer-funded credit cards by County Executive Jack Johnson and county council members.
The inquiry centers on whether all items purchased, ranging from shirts to parking fees to airplane tickets, were proper expenses that the county should cover. Council Member Thomas Dernoga, who served as council’s chairman throughout 2006, wants his colleagues in January to adopt new guidelines governing the credit cards.
County officials and state legislators are also looking for ways to shore up Prince George’s hospital system, which is operated by a private company. One proposal, floated by Delegate Victor Ramirez, D-Cheverly, would make the county hospitals part of the University of Maryland’s nonprofit medical network.
“Coming up with money for the hospitals has been an issue for a long time,” said Thomas Hendershot, who retired this year after nine years as a council member.
“That is something the new council is going to have to make a decision on.”
In his inaugural address in December, Johnson vowed to develop proposals to lower the crime rate, improve schools, create affordable housing and protect the environment.
One of the first items on the County Council’s agenda is expected to be a measure held over from 2006 — a proposal that would keep some land free from commercial and residential development while channeling the growth to designated areas. Developers could build at higher densities than currently allowed in growth zones in exchange for not building in areas eyed for preservation.
The county’s newly elected Board of Education, the first chosen by Prince George’s voters since the state replaced the elected board in 2002 with appointees, comes into office at a crucial time for the school system.
The state Board of Education placed Prince George’s schools in the “corrective action” category in October, a designation that gives the board power to impose significant mandates unless student test scores improve.
