County Council must take control of spending

Can you believe this past Monday that our County Council did not vote to take back the power of “the purse” from the county executive? Controlling the purse is an age-old battle between the executive (county executive) and legislative (County Council) branches of government. While some topics are debatable, the county charter is crystal clear: the County Council is the final fiscal authority. Every dollar spent should be subject to a vote by the council, especially if it’s above $300,000.

Kudos to Councilwoman Amanda Fiedler for introducing legislation to rectify the overreach by the county executive and reinforce the need for the legislative branch to approve how money is spent. Unfortunately, the bill failed because three of the four Democrats did not vote in favor of checks and balances.

This legislation would require council approval for spending grant money in excess of $300,000. These grant monies are taxpayer dollars. This checks and balances policy benefits the taxpayer regardless of the party that is in the executive branch.

The federal COVID relief funding is one example where the county will receive a total of $112 million in two installments. A few examples of current expenditures that County Executive Steuart Pittman funded without council approval include: $4.6 million for the Vaccination Incentive Program; tractors and yard machines for the recreation and park services; and the purchase of an apartment building in Glen Burnie. This is not a value judgement on how we spend funds, instead it is a question about how we decide to spend taxpayer dollars. Large expenditures like these must include approval by our elected legislative branch, the County Council.

We must never forget that this is not monopoly money. It is your taxpayer money. We must have checks and balances on spending priorities and when and how money is being spent.

C. Dawn Pulliam, Crofton