Former associate of McGrath, Hogan’s ex-chief of staff, to testify in investigation
A man who worked for years alongside Roy McGrath, Gov. Larry Hogan’s former chief of staff who resigned amid questions about a payout as he left the Maryland Environmental Service, is scheduled to testify Thursday before a legislative committee.
Matthew Sherring held the position of director of operations at the environmental service, where McGrath was the executive director before his brief and ill-fated tenure this summer as the Republican governor’s top staffer.
McGrath resigned as Hogan’s top aide after The Baltimore Sun revealed that McGrath negotiated a payout worth more than $238,000 in May when he voluntarily left MES to join the governor’s team. He and other executives also received tens of thousands of dollars in annual bonuses, and McGrath was reimbursed more than $55,000 for expenses as he departed.
The Maryland Environmental Service is an independent state agency that performs environmental and public works projects, mainly for local governments and state agencies. Local and state governments provide 95% of its revenue. As an independent agency, it sets its own personnel and compensation rules.
Sherring has not spoken publicly about his role at the environmental service, and lawmakers who are investigating McGrath voted to subpoena Sherring to testify after he turned down their requests to appear before them. He did not respond Monday to a request for comment from The Sun.
Documents show Sherring paid more than $14,000 for McGrath’s tuition at a Harvard University online training program this summer, then sought reimbursement for the payment.
Sherring also appeared frequently in McGrath’s expense reports, which were obtained by the lawmakers investigating McGrath. Sherring and McGrath regularly shared meals that were charged to the environmental service, and they traveled together. In 2017, for example, McGrath and Sherring traveled to Verona, Italy, to finalize
a deal for an Italian bioenergy company to build facilities in Howard County.
Sherring departed from the Maryland Environmental Service on Aug. 20, days after McGrath resigned as Hogan’s chief of staff. Sherring’s departure has not been explained; an MES official declined to comment at the time, calling it a personnel matter.
Sherring was brought into the environmental service by McGrath in early 2017, when McGrath became the agency’s director. Sherring initially worked in “strategic partnerships” before moving to the operations director role in late 2019, according to his online resume.
Sherring and McGrath had worked together before: From 2007 until 2014, Sherring was a manager of member programs at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores. McGrath was the association’s vice president of business development from 2013 through 2015.
State lawmakers investigating McGrath and the Maryland Environmental Service
issued subpoenas this fall for McGrath and Sherring to testify.
Lawyers for both men have negotiated with a lawyer hired by the General Assembly regarding the investigation.
McGrath’s testimony has not been scheduled, but Sherring will appear at 1 p.m. Thursday before the Joint Committee on Fair Practices and State Personnel Oversight. The meeting will be held via video and streamed on YouTube.
David B. Irwin, an attorney representing Sherring, confirmed his client would appear before the committee Thursday. He declined to comment further.
Lawmakers on the committee already have heard from Maryland Environmental Service board members, who said they felt McGrath misled them by implying that Hogan had agreed to the six-figure payout.
The environmental service’s former deputy director, who balked at the payout and expenses, also testified, saying that McGrath was not held accountable for changing the service’s priorities.