Council member ‘appalled’ that auditor remains in position after investigation

Howard County Council member Opel Jones said the council decided last week during a closed session not to remove county auditor Craig Glendenning from office despite multiple calls for his termination.

Jones and Council Chair Christiana Rigby released a statement the previous week asking for Glendenning’s immediate removal following a report the auditor’s office issued Feb. 14 that they say exceeded the auditor’s authority and unfairly scrutinized a historically Black sorority.

At least three of the five council members must agree to terminate an employee, and since Rigby and Jones were the only ones who supported Glendenning’s removal at the Wednesday night meeting, no vote was taken, Jones said.

“As a council member, I’m disappointed and appalled that no one else would think that there was anything wrong with this report,” said Jones, a Democrat who represents District 2. “As a Black man, as a member of this particular demographic that has been so utterly offended — given the actions in this report and the doubling down on it — I am mortified.”

The County Council appoints and oversees the auditor, who serves as a “watch dog” over the executive branch and ensures county funds are spent appropriately, according to the county website.

Glendenning did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

“I think at this point in time, we all recognize the harm that that report caused to so many people,” said District 1 council member Liz Walsh, a Democrat. “The immediate solution I see is ensuring that there is no bias in existing processes and doing better in terms of defining and distinguishing the roles between council and auditor and what [[inlinenote](the] auditor can and cannot do going forward.”

Walsh said she’s prepared to allow Glendenning to continue in his role if he adheres to those steps.

The auditor’s office report in question was spurred by a complaint to that office in early October about a reception hosted at the Howard County Library System’s central branch by the local chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. The tip alleged library system CEO and President Tonya Aikens were using the event as “a personal gathering for her college sorority sisters” at the expense of library staff and taxpayer dollars.

A committee appointed by the library’s board of trustees found that the Oct. 7 event followed the library’s facilities use policy and that Aikens was not a member of any sorority. The library incurred no costs related to the event, and all costs, including food, beverages and security, were paid by the sorority, according to the committee’s report. The event was held to celebrate the opening of a library exhibit documenting the AKA chapter’s 50 years of community service.

Though the Howard library system in fiscal 2023 will receive $27 million in county funding, the committee report stated county libraries are only subject to independent outside audits and not auditing by a county government. But the county auditor’s office asserted its ability to investigate the event under Section 213 of the County Charter, which authorizes “special audits” of agencies that receive county funds.

According to the auditor’s report, following a fraud hotline tip about the event, County Auditor’s Office staff observed the Oct. 7 sorority event from outside the branch. The report states that “African American women wearing white dresses were entering the building” Oct. 7, and notes the presence of vehicles displaying AKA license plates.

“When I read the report, it felt like I was reading something out of a museum from the 1950s or 1960s,” Jones said.

At a Feb. 23 news conference, Black community leaders joined calls for Glendenning’s termination and urged the County Council to apologize to the sorority chapter and the library system.

“I don’t know what these women are wearing, their gender and all of that, has to do with misuse of [a] facility,” said the Rev. Larry Walker, a pastor at Celebration Church in Columbia who spoke at the news conference. “Tonya Aikens is not in this chapter and she’s not in the sorority. All the auditor had to do, in my mind, to invalidate this allegation was asked a few questions.”

County Executive Calvin Ball said in an email Wednesday that it was inappropriate for the auditor to release an unfinished investigation that contained “racially insensitive language.”

“It is evident that there were no systemic protocols that provided specific justification and direction for this investigation,” Ball said. “The actions of the County Auditor’s Office appear to be an overreach of authority.”

Jones and Rigby said council members were approached individually in November by Glendenning, who asked them to sign a letter authorizing an investigation into misuse of facilities by the library system. Rigby signed on, but Jones said he did not after Glendenning declined to share more details on the investigation’s purpose and scope.

“I wholeheartedly regret my participation in the initial authorization,” Rigby said. “I was told that the whole council had signed it. That is not true.”

Rigby said her concerns mounted after Auditor’s Office staff visited the central branch unannounced Jan. 13 and began questioning staff about the October sorority event. She said she was not made aware of the report’s contents before its publication.

Walker and other community members say the original whistleblower complaint was an attempt to discredit Aikens. Since assuming office in 2018 Aikens has launched a number of racial equity initiatives, including opening the central branch’s Equity Resource Center that hosted the AKA reception and exhibit.

“Whoever tipped off the auditor, it really was not about a ‘misuse of funds,’ “said C. Vernon Gray, Howard County’s first Black council member who served five terms as a Democrat. “This is caught up in the entire culture war that’s going on in this country and in Maryland, whereby anyone ... who has a focus on equity and diversity and inclusion [is attacked].”

The auditor’s report was edited to remove references to AKA and staff visits to the library and was republished Feb. 24. Jones and Rigby are now drafting legislation to reform how auditor investigations are initiated and how information in reports is shared with the County Council before publication.

“There’s a total lack of checks and balances,” Rigby said. “The judgment really rests with a single appointed position.”

Jones added that it wasn’t until the public release of the report that he learned the event had been surveilled and questioned why Glendenning waited more than a month after to seek council authorization.

“Something needs to happen,” he said. “If we don’t do anything now, things like this will continue. Which group is next? Which civic organization is having an event or some sort or commemoration of sorts without feeling like a body of the county [...] is going to be watching their move and writing down who’s going into what building and who’s not?”

Aikens did not reply to a request for comment on the matter, but Christie Lassen, the library system’s director of communications, gave the following statement: “On Feb. 22, the Howard County Library System Board of Trustees released their report, refuting claims made by the county auditor.”