Harford County Council’s first meeting a closed session

Jacob Bennett’s council position remains in dispute

At its first legislative session Tuesday night with a newly elected body, the Harford County Council held a closed session to consult with lawyers to determine whether council member Jacob Bennett can serve on the council while employed by Harford County Public Schools.

Bennett, a newly elected Democrat from District F, was seated in the council chamber and abstained when the vote was taken to hold the closed session.

He took the oath of office late Monday afternoon in a small ceremony at the Harford County courthouse after he was excluded from the council’s public inauguration Monday by Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly, who maintains that Bennett is unable to hold both roles.

“Our only motivation here on this side of the street is to do the right thing, according to the charter,” Cassilly said Tuesday.

The section of the charter in question states that a “council member shall not hold any other office of profit or employment in the government of the State of Maryland, Harford County, or any municipality within Harford County.”

Council President Pat Vincenti opened the council meeting by reading a statement regarding the issue, saying that “it’s clear nothing will be decided upon tonight.”

Several community members spoke in support of Bennett, a middle school science teacher for Harford County Public Schools, during public comments.

Gillian Miller of Abingdon cited the “fair treatment” new council members Dion Guthrie, Aaron Penman, James Reilly and Jessica Boyle-Tsottles received attending Monday’s public inauguration. She then apologized to Bennett for not receiving the same.

“It was a clear indicator that the ‘good old boy’ government in Harford County is still hard at work,” Miller said. “To this, I want to say to the members of the community that are watching, there is no reason to trust Harford County government.”

A few residents who spoke about the Bennett situation said Cassilly’s actions were divisive and called on the County Council to operate in unity.

“Don’t waste our money on this nonsense,” said Ryan Burbey of Aberdeen. “Don’t waste your reputation on someone else’s foolishness. Great things could be ahead for us.”

After public comments were heard, Vincenti gave Bennett the opportunity to open up the council remarks portion of the session.

“I look forward to serving the people of District F and all the people of Harford County,” Bennett said. “All things in my life go back to my passion for wanting to take care of others because I was taken care of. And so I hope I’m able to do that in the next four years.”

The Harford County Democratic Central Committee said Tuesday it “stands by Councilman Bennett as the certified winner of the race in District F.

“Whatever concerns County Executive Cassilly proffers regarding Councilman Bennett’s eligibility to serve, the HCDCC submits that the decision is not his to make, and that the proper venue for to adjudicate conflicts over interpretation of laws is where it always has been — the courts. If he believes that he has a case, he should issue a formal legal challenge rather than attempting to publicly and unilaterally delegitimize the winner of an election.”

Cassilly said Tuesday that in his opinion Bennett is an employee of the government — although he would not clarify whether Bennett was a state or county employee.

“As an attorney, my opinion is, this is absolutely clear. You can’t do it,” Cassilly said.

Cassilly continued: “It’s time for him to pick which master he’s going to serve. Serve the board, serve the county — it’s his call.”

Bennett maintains that he is not a state or county employee because HCPS is a separate legal entity.

“We feel confident that the law is on our side, that the charter is on our side,” Bennett said.

Bennett said he received legal advice two years ago on the matter and was assured he was not in violation of the charter. His attorney Joe Sandler of Washington, D.C., said that Bennett is not an employee of Harford County or the State of Maryland.

“He doesn’t get a paycheck from either one of them,” Sandler said, clarifying that HCPS is a separate legal entity.

In a Nov. 17 letter written to two Maryland State Education Association staff members, MSEA’s general counsel Kristy Anderson said that there was no conflict of interest preventing a county teacher from serving on the County Council.

Anderson wrote: “In the case of teachers employed by the board of education, which is neither a state nor county employer, a County Council and its decision on the budget of the local school system does not result in a direct financial impact on a teacher.”

However, Sam Kahl, a spokesperson for Cassilly, said in a statement: “Mr. Bennett cannot be relied upon by our citizens to provide effective oversight of the County’s budget when his employer is the recipient of the major portion of that budget.”

Kimberly Neal, the school system’s general counsel, agreed with Anderson’s opinion in a letter sent Nov. 29 to Kearney, Vincenti and Chrystie Crawford-Smick, the Harford County Education Association president.

“There is no direct conflict between a BOE teacher’s role and his service on the county council,” Neal wrote.

Crawford-Smick agreed that HCPS employees are neither employees of the state nor county, and that the issue is “based on a complete misunderstanding of the county charter.”

“I see that an educator was elected to serve people in District F,” Crawford-Smick said, “and has been bullied and denied the opportunity to take the position that he was elected to do.”

Cassilly said he excluded Bennett from the public inauguration because he didn’t realize until recently that Bennett did not intend to resign from his teaching position.

“He was asking for us to give him a stage to celebrate his violation of the charter,” Cassilly said.

Cassilly said that he would’ve done the same thing with Republican council member Aaron Penman, of District B, if Penman hadn’t resigned from his position with the Harford County Sheriff ’s Office earlier this year.

According to Harford County Sheriff ’s Office spokespeople, their paychecks are issued by Harford County. Sheriff Jeff Gahler also said employees of the sheriff ’s office are government employees.

“As someone who is charged with upholding the county charter, I have to take action,” Cassilly said. “It’s not directed at Jacob Bennett personally. I have no personal animus for him on any matters whatsoever.

“We’ll just let the courts deal with this now.”