County Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, Chair calls the order of legislative session day 26-020. I would ask you to please join us in standing for the pledge, followed by the opening prayer by Council Member Riley.

If you bow your heads, please. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of life and for the opportunity to serve the people of our county. We ask that you guide our council as they gather to discuss matters that affect our community. May our intentions and our actions be rooted in good of the public, not in our personal interest. Grant us the wisdom to address our county challenges and to craft sound policies that serve the common good. Help us to govern with competence and excellence, to listen with understanding and goodwill, to speak with clarity and restraint, and to serve with humility and grace. In your most blessed name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Thank you, Mr. Riley. Councilman, if I may, or council, if I may, I'd like to take a minute to welcome Councilman Aaron Penman back to the council. On Friday, June 12th, the council received the Hartford County Circuit Court's order reinstating Mr. Penman as the duly elected council member for District B, effective immediately. I also want to thank Ms. Imhoff for your service to Harford County for a little over a year. You did an outstanding job. I want to truly recognize you for all that you did, all the due diligence. Coming in just ahead of the budget last year, you did an outstanding job. So I want to thank you and we appreciate your service, not only for the citizens of District B, but for Harford County. Agenda number four. Mr. President, may I? We're going to come back to you. I just want to acknowledge.

Go ahead. It's good to be back. It's kind of surreal to be back. The good part is Bob fought. Bob lost. The sad part is that we all pay. But to more positive notes, I want to thank Allison. Allison, over the past year and a half, has stepped up an extraordinary difficult situation. She was placed into an almost impossible role amid the legal challenges surrounding my seat on the Hartford County Council. And she accepted that responsibility with class, dignity, and the unwavering commitment to the people of District B. Throughout her service, Allison showed genuine care for our community She's approached every issue with thoughtfulness, respect, and compassion, always working towards what was the best for the residents that she represented. She listened, she worked hard, and she carried out her duties with professionalism and grace under the circumstances few public servants would ever face. Unfortunately, Alice was often subject to unfair criticism and political posturing driven by self-interest rather than genuine concern for the community. She didn't deserve that treatment. Through it all, she stayed focused on serving others and never lost sight of why she stepped forward in the first place to make sure District B continued to have a voice. Harford County owes Allison Imhoff a debt of gratitude for her willingness to serve when called upon and for her dedication she showed throughout her time on the council. Her leadership, character, and commitment to public service deserve to be commended and remembered. I'm deeply grateful for everything Allison has done for our community. I'm proud to follow her service on the council and even prouder to call her my friend. Thank you, Allison, for your sacrifice, your leadership, and your unwavering dedication to the people of Hartford County. Thank you.

Agenda number four, presentation of proclamations. Hartford County Teen Court Program volunteers. Ms. Robert.

Whereas Hartford County Teen Court serves as a vital diversion program for the first-time offenders in Hartford County, emphasizing education, self-reflection, and restorative justice while offering an alternative to traditional juvenile justice proceedings that encourages accountability and growth without imposing lasting legal consequences, and whereas teen court volunteers dedicate their time and talents to serving as jurors, attorneys, bailiffs, and clerks, helping their peers take accountability for their actions while gaining a deeper understanding standing of the judicial process and promoting personal growth through peer-led engagement and whereas the success of the program is driven by extraordinary leadership empathy and commitment demonstrated by these volunteers whose service strengthens civic responsibility and contributes to a safer more informed and more compassionate Hartford county community now therefore we the county council of hartford county maryland on the 16th day of june 2026 to hereby salute team program volunteers and wish to express our appreciation for their dedication to the hartford county community come on down a little bit sir come on down a little bit

I just wanted to say I have worked with juveniles in the past as one of my

hats of life, and I worked for a first time offender program. And I wish this program was around when I was doing that, because that was a long time ago. But I find that peers to peers is a high benefit, because who are you going to listen to? Your friends at that age. And who are you going to respect more? Your friends at that age. And so for having the peers review the cases, I think is a phenomenal idea, and a concept. So I want to congratulate you all for what you do.

All right, I'm going to grab a photo of everybody.

If we can try and squeeze everybody in.

Move a couple down.

We can have you two girls move over on this side, please. Could you two gentlemen move to the house?

Let's just move on to the Ballard High School Boys Lacrosse Regional Championship. Mr. Jan Giordano.

Give me the shorter guy next to me.

So let's see, is it working?

Yeah.

About a month ago, I got a call to see if I wanted to come out and say a couple words to the Delaware High School lacrosse regional champions over at McGurk's. They were having their annual puppy, so I said absolutely. As a Bobcat graduate, I'm glad that I was able to come and say hi, and just get a couple minutes to celebrate. Unfortunately, we had to be here at 6 o'clock, so I didn't get to stay long. But I do have a proclamation for you guys and the rest of the team. Sorry the rest of them aren't here, but I know a lot of them are playing football, lacrosse, everything. So coach, thanks for coming. We appreciate it. And these are the two captains. So anyway, here is the Bellerin High School boys lacrosse team. demonstrated exceptional teamwork, determination, discipline, and sportsmanship through the 2026 season, proudly representing the community and off the field, and whereas the Bel Air Bobcats earned the 2026 MPSSAA Class 2A Regional Championship with impressive postseason victories over C. Milton Wright High School by a score of 7-4. and North Hartford High School by a score of 11-3, and whereas the achievement marks the third consecutive regional champion for the Bel Air Boys Lacrosse Program, continuing a proud tradition of excellence and success in athletics, whereas the players, coaches, staff, families, and supporters demonstrated unwavering dedication, leadership, and commitment throughout the season, bringing great pride and recognition to Bel Air High School and the entire community. Now, therefore, we... Council of Hartford County, Maryland on the 16th day of June 2026 to hereby salute Bellar High, Bellar High Boys Lacrosse 2026 NPSSAA Class 2A regional champions players and coaches for their outstanding achievement and continued excellence. kids wind up going to harford community college and they've won three championships in a row so i'm sure you've got a couple players that are heading over there handful so now i'm going to let you talk thank you uh thank you for this incredible honor everyone um it was an experience to be able to coach um the lacrosse team at bella high school this year we were led by an incredible group of seniors

that have intently plans after high school, whether they're going into the military to serve our country, first responders, to play college lacrosse, a number of different things. So we're just incredibly proud of this group. And as a humble volunteer, I just ask that we all continue to work together. Hartford County, a great place to be from and a great place to grow up. So thank you very much, and I'm honored to receive this. I'm also very pleased to announce publicly that our head coach, Sean Burke, who unfortunately couldn't be here this evening, was also named Coach of the Year by the Baltimore Sun this year. So thank you for that honor, Sean.

Three, two, one. Three, two, one.

Three, two, one.

And one more.

Three, two, one. Thank you, everybody.

Congratulations.

Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you.

Council will now be acting in the capacity of the Zoning Board of Appeals and will return to regular legislative session thereafter. Five, consideration of petitions, applications, appointments, and nominations. Zoning Board of Appeals case number 6002, Matthew Watson. May I have a motion to adopt the hearing examiner's recommended decision dated May 1st, 2026.

I make a motion to adopt the hearing notes from May, I forgot the date off the top of my head. What'd you say? May 1st, 2026 for case number 6002. Thank you.

May I have a second? Second. Mr. Penman, thank you. We move in a second to uphold the hearing examiner's decision on 6002. Is there any discussion?

Mr. President, I just wanted to have a discussion with this zoning appeals case. I'm familiar with this case when it was originally before the council. I have reviewed the files in the hearing as well, so I'm prepared to vote on it based off my knowledge and review of the case.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Mr. Bennett. Well, I was absent the first meeting of June, but I was able to watch online and review the case, and I feel familiar with the case and comfortable voting on this matter.

Anyone else? Ms. Dixon.

Mr. President.

Aye.

Mrs. Robert. Aye. Mr. Penman. Aye. Mr. Giangerdano.

No.

Mr. Riley.

Aye.

Mrs. Bolsados. Aye. Mr. Bennett.

Aye. There being six votes in the affirmative, one in the negative, the hearing examiner's recommended decision of case 6002 is hereby approved. Six special presentations. James V., Captain Jim McMahon, Commissioner on Veterans Affairs, 2026 Annual Report. Mr. Brown. It's good to see you, sir.

Good to see you, sir.

Yes.

Thank you, County Council President Vincente and County Council members. It's an honor to be here with you today, an opportunity to present the annual report of the James V., Captain Jim McMahon Commission on Veterans Affairs. What I'll do tonight is I'm going to present the highlights. I'm gonna concentrate majorly on the events that happened and look at some of the new things The annual report that you have goes into a lot more depth, and if you want me to talk about any of those things, I'm prepared to do that, but in the interest of time, I'll go through and look at some of those there. I'm going to follow this general agenda here as I go through the different ones there. The mission and the vision, basically what our job is to provide resources, provide those connections and assistance to veterans, military, and their families. I'll talk about how we do that throughout the year. Our membership didn't really change through the year except for two. Councilman Jan Giordano was new, added there, and then Colonel Troy Johnson as the APG commander. He has one year left. Okay, to kick off with our Veterans Resource Fair. This year we had about, I say this year, I mean this year that I'm reporting on here, we had about 800 people show up, which is about the same as we've had in the last year. We had 38 vendors, which is a plus three from 2025. And that's really significant because if you remember during that time, what happened was was government shutdown. So a lot of organizations, you know, we had to work with them, see what we could do to get them to come. The only ones that we really had to fell a little bit down on was BBA with the claims people there, but we backfilled them with other people, with Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion, and Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families. So we backfilled them with them so there wasn't any degradation there to what we were doing. And the main thing is, as you all know, it's a one-stop shop. It's one-stop. People can come there and do a lot within the community, organizations, as well as state and federal. The other one at the bottom corner I have is the We All Serve hike. And it's our second year of doing this We All Serve hike. And the purpose of that, we had about 200 participants. The purpose of that is really to emphasize a family and caregiver role. When we say we all serve, in the fight against suicide, we all serve. We all serve in part of that role. And that's what we want to bring out. And what we found here was instead of having like a resource fair inside of a room where people come, people come there, we have some tables set up, but they walk. They walk all the way through. You'll see the horses there. Chesapeake Therapeutic Riding was there for the kids, and we had the families there. We have hot dogs. I don't know if I'm good of an idea to have hot dogs for breakfast, but we have hot dogs for breakfast. And, you know, we go through there and do that. We had about 200 people show up in county, state, and the local veteran service organizations as well. The new initiative this year is Mission Strong Summit. And I don't know how many of you are familiar with this, but this is the Department of Veterans and Military Families. And they added that military families part on there to really concentrate on, they say military families, but also veteran families within the community. Because as they went out and as they looked, they found in some cases, in some of the communities, there was not a link between the two. So what this did was brought in about 80 different people there from different organizations and looked at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the leadership there, different organizations there, as well as the county. And then with the federal in there and said, OK, how can we work better together? For example, morale, welfare, and recreation within a post. How can they work better with our recreation here? How can we do things together all the way across the board there? great and we're like the third county to have that in the past they've already had Fort Meade they've had a one down at Joint Base Andrews and then and I've come here so it was a huge success there they focused on three specific groups which were the military children spouses and caregivers and transitioning service members again how when someone comes into this community whether they're a veteran and we have veterans and military, how are they embraced, what do we do, how do we set them up for success in the schools, businesses, across the board there. Our Veterans Claim Clinic, every two years, counties have the opportunity to hold a claims clinic. The claims clinic, the unique thing about that is the veteran and family member can sit across the table from someone who's going to rate their claim, right there. That happens right there. Otherwise, they're going down to Baltimore, going somewhere else. It happens right there. So it's kind of a unique situation. Personally, it was great for me because I've been working with a veteran for three years, and he's been denied for three years. It's getting kind of old. But he sat down right across there, and the VA person said, we screwed up, and we screwed up there. And they, right there at that table, they resubmitted his claim. And today, I helped them, took them into the VA to go over some things. Again, people make mistakes sometimes. You get those big files. They go through them. So that's really a big thing. We got 120 veterans. 120 veterans saw somebody there. 50 veterans signed up for health care, which if I could, one thing I would tell people is for a veteran who just sign up to get in the VA, because when I normally hear about them, As you're 70, 80, 90 years old, and someone comes to me and says, I need to get my spouse into Perry Point. I need to get my spouse in there. And it takes a while. Sign in early, and then people can get you in a lot easier, a lot quicker that way. Another new initiative, a veteran service organization we call Open Mic. I mentioned last year when I was here about how we would go out, we went out to all the different, 16 different veteran service organizations, sat down with them and listened to what they had to say. And one of the things that came out of it was, you know, we may be the legions, we may be the VFWs, the MOA, the DAV, everything else, but a lot of times we don't get together and talk. We're siloed. So how about if you all, county, hold a session where you can come together and allow us to talk, and that's what we're doing. Quarterly, we're bringing them in. It's a hybrid session because some people said they don't want to do the computer. They want to come in, so we come in. And other ones say, no, I don't have time to go in. We do it that way. And an added bonus there is the last couple times, the secretary of the VA for Maryland was there as well as the county executive. So they're hearing this firsthand. These are the kind of things that are going on right then, so we can talk about those. We can discuss them there. I mentioned last year, as well as the Suicide Prevention Crisis Intercept Mapping Initiative. I mean, Hartford County is something to be proud of because our Crisis Intercept Mapping Initiative is recognized as the leader within the state, and within this past year, we also recognized within the country. We were called on Hartford County to go on the national SAMHSA, which is a suicide and mental health initiative. the prevention, to talk about what we're doing in Harford County and doing some things there. As you all know, Maryland has really one of the lowest, as far as states go, suicide rates, but still one is too many. We know nationally it's brought down from 22 to 17.3, but our goal is to keep bringing that down. The non-VSO partner outreach, another new initiative. After going out to the VSOs, we said, well, what about the businesses? What about the school? What about Hartford Community College? What about some of these other organizations? They do stuff for veterans. Let's bring them in. Let's talk about what they do. So we've added them, and we're going to put them within our within our resource guide that we published. We hope to tie the interviews up by the end of June and then get to all that because there's a lot of things that go on within the community outside of the veteran service organizations. I'll talk about outreach and support. What we found is we did the, of course, we had the, at Edgewood, the claims clinic, and Bellaire has our Veterans Resource Fair, but now we're also looking at Jarrettville. So we want to cover as much of the county as possible. We want to go to the people instead of saying, okay, you need to come to us. Now we still go out, we still do house calls, I call it boat calls. I have one guy who lives on a boat, go see him there. But wherever it may happen to be, we will go there. But this is kind of an opportunity to bring all these different organizations together. We're doing Jarrettsville this year. On July 30th is when we'll have a thing with Jarrettsville and McComas, help to sponsor it. So we do that up there. And the other one I want to bring up is the Freedom 250 Mobile Museum. Hopefully you had a chance, somebody had a chance to go in there and see that. I mean that was just outstanding. Over 3,000 people went through there. Hats off to Post 39, American Legion Post 39. When it was first announced that people could go and do these, they didn't wait. I know some organizations said, well, where are we going to hold it? How do we do it? They just, boom. They, in true military fashion, they went and they They went out and they got it and said, okay, now what do we do? So where are we going to put it? How are we going to make that work? So over 3,000 people went through this. It was a great learning experience. And when they left, when the group left that put the mobile museum together, when they were packing up and leaving, they said, we normally don't do this. We only go to one county. And then because there's only six of us in the entire nation, so we can't afford to keep coming back and back. They said, but Hartford County has been so hospitable. You guys bend over backwards for us. If the opportunity comes, we will put in our word to say we want to come back. And now you probably know they're coming back to Habit of Grace on July 8th and 9th. So if you haven't been out there, or even if you have, I think it's a good chance to go to the Star Center and see them there. Listening to the young people here earlier today, our Veterans Regional Treatment Court, some similarities in there, which is good to see. If you look it up in the regional, I mentioned it last year, but I think it's worth repeating some of this. It's the voluntary Court-supervised program. It helps justice-involved veterans facing misdemeanors with intensive treatment from the VA. And the key thing there is they need mentors. And we now have a mentor, Tom Knapp, here from the Veterans Commission, goes down there sometimes up to three times a week, talks with them. He has a group that he works with down there. And so we're helping within Hartford County, and there are Hartford County people there, to help them to go through this. Interestingly, this program has a 2% and 89% of the people in the program completed. So it works. It really works. Additional activities, I'll touch on just the first two. The first was kind of interesting, the Disabled Veterans Upland Bird Hunt by God's Outdoor Angels. I had a gentleman come to me, and he said, you know, we do this. This upland bird hunt, we also go out and we do fishing in the Chesapeake, and we have big game hunts in Texas. And his organization is in Harford County. He says the strange thing is nobody from Harford County applies. So he came. So working with the adaptive sports people at the VA and here, we were able to get a group to go out. And they're put on that orange vest right there on a warm winter day, which was a surprise, on a warm winter day, and go out and do that, all paid for by them, go through everything is done. And the only condition to it is that they have to have a 10% or greater compensation rating from the VA. And they only go once. So you can't go on one there and one on the fishing. But it's open. We put this out on the different websites for people to go. He's still looking for people. Everything is paid for. So it's really, really good from him. And the other one, you may remember last year when I came here, I talked about a veteran that we had in Bel Air who died suddenly. And we found out later on that the what had happened was his family said that they did not want the body. So they took the body of this veteran and they shipped them off down to down to the University of Maryland medical system, no further disposal. I talked with the director of the Baltimore VA National Cemetery. And I said, what can we do? What can we do? And she said, I got it. She put things into motion. We were able to get him from there. They paid for the complete cremation ceremony. And you see those two pictures there on your left. They had a full military committal service there. The riders were there. They had everyone from that VA, from that cemetery, came out. for last respects to this gentleman and now he is buried buried down there so my point there being is that it really does take a community to work together there's sometimes that that easy no you have to go for the hard yes how do you how do you get there how do you make make that that happen and you know again my hats off to uh my hats off to her for making uh you know sarah marlo director there for making this making this thing work Our assistance requests are up considerably from last year, 22% from where we were last year. you know why is this I think it's a couple things one is that you know people know that the Veterans Commission is out there that we can help people we have pretty good success rate not 100% success rate but and the other thing is that we're now finding that the Maryland Department of Veterans and Military Families they'll send people to us when they can't handle it or and also along with that we get sometimes the VA will will you know partner with us and say we have somebody they need they need something what does your county Because the county offers a lot, particularly within housing and homeless and other things. There really is a lot that is offered so we can kind of do the support there that goes through. So we're very proud of doing those types of things. Our social media communication is really the best way that we get out. People say, well, I'm not on Facebook. Nobody's on Facebook. Well, surprisingly enough, this past month, we had almost 5,500 views of our Facebook page. So people are out there. They're looking at things. That's how we communicate with people. and and get things out particularly with the different events and we also have the county section's newsletter we send things out there in direct messaging so we try to hit people from all different angles and we take around paper copies to different different veteran service organizations too to get get those things done and it's good i put a comment from somebody there you know it's always it's always good to get the good comments that okay you know you done good instead of why can't you help me more so but it's it was nice nice to get those our partnering and support The key thing here is we have three levels of support, federal, and the state, and the local, and that's what we really have to, we really depend on right there. Now, I don't know how many of you know about the My Army Post app, or MAPA as it's called. It is a fantastic resource. Aberdeen Proving Ground has the most users and hits of any post, which is amazing when you think about it, in the entire country. And what we've done now, we've partnered with them. So if you go on this My Army post, you can call it up, either Android or within iPhone, and you can put in Aberdeen Proving Ground, whatever post you want. And once you do that and go in there and you look, you can see when does the gate open, all the specifics on everything that's going on. And... with they just tied into Hello, Hartford, they tied in all of our events within the county. So here's one app that has everything on it. So again, Troy Johnson, Colonel Johnson made this happen was a priority for him and got this thing done. So we're very, very happy that that's that that's all the way through there. goals for the upcoming year, we want to finish our outreach, successful resource fair, and we want to improve our continue to improve our website. So those are things we just want to continue on what we've what we've been working on. And these are things that we think that we can finish within the next the next six months. So conclusion, where are we? It's really the interagency and the military community partnerships that brought us where we are right now. It's the outstanding support from the county leadership, from you all, from the county organizations, state, federal organizations that would help us and make us go. And over the past year, we have provided more services and helped more veterans, really, than we ever have in any past year. As I look through what's going on, again, it's a credit to everybody, and it's that team of teams. As General McChrystal used to say, you have to have that team of teams of people working together towards the same goal, towards the same focus. With that, that concludes my presentation, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

So, sir, you've heard me say this before, and I stand by my comments tonight. Clearly, your role has helped this organization be much more successful than it's ever been in the past. I know when I call you with issues, you're always on it. You always help the people in need. You just talked about it again with a veteran that passed and no one wanted to claim the body. You guys found someone to help get that taken care of. And the boat call, I don't understand that, a boat call. Someone living on a boat, is that what you said?

Yes, there are, in Habit of Grace, there are several live-ons, and a lot of them are veterans, and for one reason or another, they don't have a house, they live on a boat all year round.

And I may have talked to you about this before, but I'm going to need your help with locating my father's DD-214.

at some point i'd like to reach out to you again with that okay um mr mr ginger dennis thank you council president um so bob known you for a couple years and i came to you with some uh needs for somebody that a fraternity brother called and said his brother was a you know, was a veteran and had some issues. And I called you, and you were amazing getting him moved into a place and everything. So I'm glad that I'm on the Veterans Commission. And I know we worked to try to make sure that we got people to show up when we did the farmer's market. I don't think we did it early enough. So I know this year coming up, I'd like to get out two months ahead of time and just be there. Because a lot of people came up and didn't know that there was a fair, and they were real appreciative of it. And I saw a lot of them that showed up that day, as well as the guy that you helped. He made sure he came to that fair just to say hi and say thank you. So I see what you do for everybody. for the community and how much you guys put into this work and go into the meetings and listening to everybody and all the work and effort everybody puts into it. Hartford County certainly appreciates it, so thank you. Thank you. Mr. Penman?

Thank you, Mr. President. I also want to thank you. I've worked with you for a number of years now helping veterans. And you talk about a team, and you have a great team, but you're a great leader. And I've seen firsthand these Veterans Affairs and the programs that you bring in. It's a disappointment that the VA couldn't participate last year, but hopefully this year they will. But it's a tremendous resource for them. And having served four years in the United States Marine Corps, what it takes and what we need in our community. And then for the next generation, my son-in-law, Steven, is here. He's an Air Force veteran. The younger generation, the older generation like us, and even my son. My son served four years in the Marine Corps. He was in his sophomore year of college just now, and he just got called back. He was in IRR, and he's being deployed now. to Cuba on Thursday. So when he comes back, he's going to need these resources. So thank you for your service for the veterans. I really appreciate it for everything you've done. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Bennett.

Hello. Good evening. And again, thank you. These presentations each year and the work that you've done between each presentation is a true highlight for me of these past four years on the council. I think it's a tremendous success, each thing that you've accomplished. I wanted to highlight an organization locally that might be worth connecting with, which is called Uprooted Chesapeake. They came and presented to us as a council, I think in the past year, and they focus on supporting military kids and helping them, both the ones who are still in the active every two-year move and those who have settled down into Hartford County. and helping them have community and support. And like you said, it takes a village and it impacts the whole family service. So I thought I'd love to set up a meeting for you to meet with the people who run Uprooted Chesapeake and see if there's any way you guys can overlap in what you do. Yes, sir. Actually, I met Mel Frasqueri in there.

She was a key person, and we want to do more with her and her husband in the summit that we talked about. So thank you for reminding me of that. We'll definitely have to contact her again.

Yeah, she's a really amazing person. They're a great example of what I call boomerang families. There's a lot of active military families who come through Hartford County because of APG, and then when they retire, they choose to come back. And that's exactly what they did. I taught their son when he was in kindergarten and come middle school, they were back here And they chose to come back here because they saw this as a community worth being in. But yeah, I think finding ways to support those military kids is really important because they go through so much. But again, I appreciate all that you do. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, Mr. Bennett. Anyone else? Sir, thank you for your presentation. Thank you. Seven, approval of minutes. Public hearing June 9th, 2026. Legislative day 26019, June 9th, 2026. Are there any corrections to the minutes? There being no corrections, the minutes stand approved. Eight, introduction and consideration of resolutions. Mr. Janet Fadner, please read. Resolution 01226 into the record.

Resolution 012-26, performance and operational audits fiscal year 2027, introduced by Council President Vincenti, a resolution authorizing the county auditor to conduct operational and performance auditing procedures, including the fiscal year 2027 annual audit plan.

Thank you. Resolution 01226, which is the auditor update. Ms. Brooks, would you like to come forward? Good evening, sir. How are you?

Good evening, sir, council. I'll just be loud enough in case this is a, hello. All right, so annually, so resolution 1226, annually we bring our audit plan to the council for approval. This process starts earlier in the spring when we do a reevaluation of our risk assessment. We will look at all the county business processes. We look to see what they are. What can go wrong? How bad can it go wrong? When was the last time we looked at these processes? And then from there, we'll reach out to the council and the administration also to get input. The resulting product is what you see before you, Resolution 1226, the audit plan for FY27. And I can walk through really quickly. So I'll go over every item. So fiscal statement, financial statement, audits for FY26, so that's the external audit of ZLA that's already started. That'll be completed sometime later in the fall at the end of calendar year 26. We have some time allocated for audit advisory board for creating the agenda, meeting minutes, holding the meetings, some training for all the members of the office. um other tasks on there time allotted for council member requests peer review service unintended or unanticipated projects we have the purchase card controls audit on there when we go over the uh update for the audit plan for 2026 we'll talk about the purchase card controls but um so that will that's an ongoing project we do every year section 214 reviews those are exit audits those occur as, uh, county officials or directors will separate from the county. Um, this being an election year, um, spoiler alert, there may be increased turnover. So we allocated more time for those, um, status of prior audit findings. Um, we do those at the beginning of every fiscal year, whatever's open and open finding, we'll reach out to the management, um, see what the status of that is. We may perform some testing. We're also going to include the accounts payable audit. There we're looking just to ensure that only valid vendors and debts are paid by the county. So we haven't had issues with that audit in the past. I think recently we performed 21 in 2024, but it is higher up on the risk assessment. So we do like to look at that every three or so years. Income tax revenue, we're including that in the audit plan. They're just looking to confirm that the county's income tax revenue is correct. That's administered by the state of Maryland. So we'll meet with the revenue administration division and perform some data analysis. And as I said, just to ensure the income tax received was correct. We're also going to include the fleet maintenance management process. So there, the fleet maintenance contract, we're making sure it's properly monitored, that costs are billed in accordance with the contract. We're also going to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the vehicle replacement and utilization. And as a part of our... reassessment of the risk assessment I'm speaking to management there there well you may know there was a new fleet maintenance contract Also, since we last performed that audit, I think it was in FY23, there was a change in leadership, so we wanted to include that in the audit plan. EMS billing controls there, just to make sure that emergency medical services revenue is collected completely and accurately. Speaking to management, they have had a new third-party biller, so this is something we wanted to include in this audit plan. We'll also look at fiscal notes. WE'LL NOT LOOK AT FISCAL NOTES. WE'LL PREPARE FISCAL NOTES FOR EVERY PIECE OF LEGISLATION THAT'S INTRODUCED BY THE COUNCIL. THAT INCLUDES THE COUNTIES AND THE SCHOOLS BUDGET. WE'LL PERFORM AN ANALYSIS OF THOSE AS WE DO ANNUALLY. LICENSE, ISSUANCE, BILLING, AND COLLECTION CONTROLS. SO WE HAVEN'T LOOKED AT THAT IN A FEW YEARS. WE WANTED TO, AGAIN, CHANGE IN LEADERSHIP, AND I THINK THERE'S BEEN A CHANGE IN FEES SINCE THE LAST TIME WE LOOKED AT THAT. SO WE WANTED TO INCLUDE IT ON THIS AUDIT PLAN. We also have time allocated for our QAIP, Quality Assurance and Improvement Program. So that's basically just an evaluation of our own office just to make sure that we're compliant with what we need to be. We have some time for our annual planning and risk assessment, which brought us here. And lastly, the hotel occupancy tax. That's something we do every year. We look at three to five hotels and make sure they're properly reporting the occupancy tax to the county. So that's the audit plan. Are there any questions about what's on it?

Well, Ms. Brooks, how do you think he did?

That was pretty good. I think he told you all what's in the resolution. So it's up to you all to decide to approve the plan.

Anyone have any questions? All right. So we're going to, because of timing, we're going to move this resolution will be considered this evening. So may I have a motion, please?

Council President, I move to approve Resolution 12, 12-26 Performance and Operational Audits Fiscal Year 2027. Second.

Thank you, Mr. Riley. It's been moved and seconded to approve Resolution 01226. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, Ms. Dixon.

Mr. President.

Aye.

Mrs. Robert. Aye. Mr. Penman. Aye. Mr. Giangerdano. Yes. Mr. Riley. Yes. Mrs. Bullsaddles. Aye. Mr. Bennett.

Aye. Being seven votes in the affirmative, zero in the negative resolutions, 0-12-26 is hereby approved. Ms. Brooks, if you'll stay right there. Mr. DeLauder, if you'll stay there as well. Nine, introduction of bills. We have none. 10, introduction and consideration of amendments. None. 11, call for final reading of bills. We have none. 12, enrollment of bills. None. 13, unfinished business. None. 14. New business auditor update.

All right. So you all know what's happening next year. I'll let you know what's been going on for fiscal year 2026. You all should have the update in front of you, so I will go through the things that have changed since the last time I presented to you all back in December. Maybe it was January. um so water and sewer benefit assessments we looked at that process to see all the things that are billed by water and sewer that are not just your regular use fees that come on your regular bill we look to see that those amounts were being billed correctly that there were some basis for the ones that are created you know when new developments are being um built We didn't find any issues with the amounts that were being billed for any of the user benefit assessments and also people who should be being billed were being billed so there were no issues there. We did find though that the county code requires public works to send over a summary to you all at the council every year explaining their review of the assessment amounts and making sure that they remain correct. Those reports haven't been coming over to the council but management indicated that we'll do that in the future. We audited payroll controls. That's a process we cycle back to fairly frequently. But in the last year, the county moved its HR and payroll processes into Workday, which is the county's financial management system. So we wanted to focus on the controls that are in place since that system was implemented. Time entry data was moving from the timekeeping system to the payroll system, making sure the pay rates appeared correct, that all the calculations that the system was doing worked the way they were supposed to, and there were no issues with that audit. Everybody's getting paid when they're supposed to. The financial statement audits were completed the last time I spoke to you all, but we had not yet finished the review of affiliated agencies. We did get that done. Um, there were no nothing reported in any of the financial statements for the county's affiliated agencies that indicated there was any misuse of county funds. So that report covered the fire companies, the humane society. Um, when I'm forgetting ARC and the ARC. Yeah. And then also since then, the county single audit was completed. That's the county's audit of federal grants to make sure that we are complying with the requirements for those programs. And there were no findings related to that project. We completed an exit audit related to Rich Truitt, who was the director of inspections, licensing and permits. That project was completed in May and we found no indebtedness to the county. We recently completed an audit of insurance coverage and self-insurance programs. We did it since I sent you all this update. That project is done. We found that the county does have processes in place to figure out what its insurance needs are and reassess when things need to change and also figure out what are the things that the county can do to help reduce its risk and inherently reduce its insurance rates. There were no issues with that, but we did find that The county charter requires the county council's approval on performance bonds for some county officials. So the treasurer and deputy treasurer, the director of procurement and deputy director of procurement and director of administration, they are bonded professional bonds for the work that they do. Um, the county does purchase those bonds, but they haven't told you all the council what those amounts are. And so, um, the law department indicated that they will start to send you all those updates annually. Um, we talked about school system travel already, so I'll skip over that. Um, we completed an audit of environmental services, billing and collection controls. This is making sure that, uh, When folks come and drop off trash at the landfill, that it's being billed correctly to the correct customers, that all the revenue is being collected correctly, and that the amounts that we're paying to Maryland Environmental Services agrees to the actual expenses that they incurred and what the contract terms are. Um, we found that there were no issues related to that. All the revenue and expenses lined up the way we expected them to. Uh, we also reviewed procurement practices in the last few months. We just finished that report on June 9th. This is just a review to see that the contracts that the county has in place, follow the guidelines that are in the county's procurement code. Um, there were two findings that we reported in that, um, audit report. One was that there were a few contracts that we didn't have a final signed document for and there was one I think that was a non-competitive bid contract that just didn't have the support we were expecting to see related to that. Management responded that the the couple exceptions we found were minor compared to the volume of contracts that they execute in a given year but they will continue to work to make sure that they're checking all the boxes they need to check on that the second issue in that project was related to spending that exceeded the 25 000 limit that the county code has for a more expansive procurement process um This is an issue we found in prior audits too, but essentially because of all the departments that are buying things, it's very possible that say Public Works buys $10,000 worth of whatever service and ICT's got to buy $15,000 of a similar service. Those purchases might not necessarily be associated with one another and so it's possible to go over. those procurement limits unintentionally we recommended that management put in more procedures to periodically review those smaller transactions to see that they're not accumulating to the point where they should have gone through a more expansive procurement process management's response is that they believe they're doing a pretty good job on that but they will continue to work on it Otherwise, we are currently working on a project related to economic development loan and grant programs. That project is in progress and hopefully it'll be wrapped up in July. And we've started the planning for the hotel occupancy tax audits that probably will be reported in August. Otherwise, purchase card audits are still ongoing. That's a year-round thing. And our last Audit Advisory Board meeting was May 26th. The next one will be September 1st. And that's all I've got for you. I can answer any questions if you have them.

Council, anyone have any questions? I just am so appreciative of the checks and balances that you provide all of us every day. Your office, your team does a great job. And Crystal, I know you've been a major part of it for 14 years. And so as everyone has heard in the past, your last day is June 30th. Actually, July 3rd. Is that correct? July 3rd.

My last day in the office will be June 30th.

Yes. You know, we're so appreciative of what you've done, and we wish you all the best in the future. You've heard us all say that. You're going to be turning the reins over to Brad, and we have all the confidence in the world in what Brad's capabilities are. And I'm sure that in a timely matter, he'll be looking to backfill the position that will be open in the office. But for tonight, I would like you to join me up front. Counsel, all of us, please. Hello? So I'm just going to echo the same comments that I made earlier. But all of us appreciate the job that you do each and every day for the past 14 years. I've had the privilege of working with you 12 of those 14 years. And I know that, without hesitation, your office has been there to answer any questions that any of us may have across the county, not just in our office. So we're very appreciative. I want to present you with this proclamation from my colleagues and I, and I want to present you with this challenge coin. This challenge coin is one of very few that have been handed out by the council. I think this is number 39, is that correct? So we appreciate you very much. Thank you. I appreciate it.

I don't really know that I have anything in particular to say. I mean, I've enjoyed my time working here and working with all of you all, and Brad, I'm sure, is going to do a great job, and Sarah, and don't find somebody to backfill. It'll be great. I'm just excited to be retiring. Okay.

Council request for outside counsel, Ms. Elegie.

Thank you, Mr. President. Can you hear me? Yep. It's always an issue. So I sent you guys some information on this. An ethics complaint was filed. Due to the nature of the ethics complaint, the complainant, the subject, the parties involved, typically the Hartford County Law Department under the ethics code represents the ethics board. by law because of the subject matter of the complaint the law department has a conflict and they are not permitted by law to represent the ethics board so then it would shift to the county council's office law office so and again due to the nature of the complaint which has to remain confidential at this point the council attorney's office has a conflict So because of that, the request for outside counsel is to get an outside law firm to represent the Board of Ethics. They're not representing the county council, but the Board of Ethics is one of the boards under the county code that is required to have legal representation. So I've provided the bios and the statement of qualifications to you guys. Gallagher LLP is the law firm. Anatoly Smolkin and Megan Casey are the two partners that would be representing the board, along with any associates that they might utilize. Both of them have past government experience. Ms. Casey used to be an assistant attorney general. In fact, she worked with the county in a lawsuit not that long ago representing some clients of hers as an assistant AG. Mr. Smolkin used to be an assistant U.S. attorney. They both have vast government experience. Their firm also has investigative experience. They've been appointed as attorneys for state commissions and committees. They're highly qualified to handle this matter. They're willing to do it. And that's what the request is before you this evening.

Thank you. Council questions, Mr. Penman.

Um, I just want to say it's refreshing to see that the code is followed and the request is made to the council for outside council. Um, and just to let everyone know, um, because of the nature of this request, I will be abstaining from the vote.

Thank you. Anyone else? May I have a motion, please?

Council President, I move to approve the appointment of Gallagher LLP as outside counsel.

Thank you. May I have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly. It's been moved and seconded to approve outside counsel. Is there any other discussion? Ms. Dixon?

Mr. President? Aye. Mrs. Robert? Aye. Mr. Penman? Abstain. Mr. Giangerdano? Aye. Mr. O'Reilly? Aye. Mrs. Bulsadles? Aye. Mr. Bennett? Aye.

There being six votes in the affirmative, one abstention, the request for outside counsel is hereby approved. Executive requests for outside counsel, Mr. Blomquist. Good evening, sir.

Good evening, Council President Sente, members of the council. I'm here to request outside council to assist the Department of Law and at the county executive's request with handling community solar energy generating systems. The firm that I propose is a firm that's what in our profession we call a boutique firm. They specialize in environmental law and land use law. Those are the two areas of law that really target the issues that we would raise with community solar energy generating systems, particularly as those systems go on prime agricultural land, which has a whole set of problems associated with it. We need to look how we're handling them in our land use code. The law the last several years has changed repeatedly after each session of the General Assembly. This firm has experience practicing before the Public Service Commission. experience practicing administratively before the Department of Natural Resources. The Department of Natural Resources, as you may or may not be aware, recently promulgated recommendations with respect to community solar energy generating systems for the Public Service Commission, which will guide the Public Service Commission as they review these. There are also recommendations that we're looking at now in terms of our law and how we have in the past addressed these types of solar arrays and how we may want to modify our law moving forward. It's a specialty scenario. I've practiced before the Public Service Commission, but it's much more effective when you have a firm that has a reputation and a more regular practice before the Public Service Commission, this firm and these attorneys do, that gives you an aura of credibility that can make your advocacy more effective when you're before those agencies getting administrative rulings. It's the same with respect to the Department of Natural Resources. For that reason, we think that this would be of great assistance to the community as well as to the Department of Law in addressing the issues that arise because of these solar arrays.

Thank you, Mr. Blomquist. Mr. Overbay, you want to add anything?

I'm just here to assist in answering any questions the council may have.

Okay. Did I read in your letter that there's a second law firm?

We looked at two other law firms, one on the Eastern Shore and one out of Bethesda. The law firm out of Bethesda was much more expensive, had a little bit more of a federal bent before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. than a state in practice and we thought the value was with this firm. So we looked at three other firms and we thought this firm offered the best value and we thought as a boutique firm we should be able to work efficiently with them to accomplish our objectives.

So I'm really grateful that you're here tonight looking for this. My colleagues and I have been out visiting families that have concerns about different solar projects across the county. And I've said right along that I didn't think this was something that should be handled just in-house, that we should bring experts in. So I really appreciate you being here tonight. Council, Mr. Janitor-Denham?

i want to also thank you i know council president myself was on the council in 19 when we overturned when we said that you couldn't have a solar farm and the psc commission came in and overturned our uh our determination of that and then we've seen what's happened since with that and then i know a couple more have popped up and we've got a bunch more it looks like coming until you know maybe in july before the federal tax breaks expire and they're just gearing them up so When will they start doing work?

If the council approves, as soon as I get an agreement. I mean, I've already spoken to them. OK.

So within the next week or so?

Yes.

OK. Thank you. Mr. Penman?

Thank you, Mr. President. I'm also appreciative of hiring competent outside legal advice to represent Harford County. I wonder though that if we had a law department that was focused on the best interests of the County, would we actually need that? Um, And if I remember correctly, just a few short years ago, the county executive sat probably where you are or maybe where Mr. Overbay is and said that we're going to have a state of the art law office and we will not need to hire outside counsel. And here we are three years into it with over a million dollars in outside counsel. Again, I'm appreciative that we're going to hire competent outside counsel for leadership in this matter. but it just it boggles my mind the amount of tax dollars that are going in to subsidize the law department that we have in harford county thank you mr president anyone else mr bennett hello good evening thank you for being with us um i hope you're doing well it's been a while since we've seen you

I just wanted to ask, I know the letter says $300 per hour for the work performed. How many billable hours are you expecting monthly or are you anticipating? And the scope of the work, how intensive is the?

And I'm not really prepared to give you an answer that I have a lot of confidence in. Again, I'm familiar with a lot of the problems and things with these. There's a big PSC docket. We don't want to just be a commoner. We want to be a party. Part of it depends how things ebb and flow. In other words, again, as I said, the Department of Natural Resources just promulgated the regulations. We're in the process of going over those. They make some changes. When you're engaged in administrative proceeding, it's very hard to predict. When you're engaged in law that's constantly changing as well as regulations that are constantly changing, it's hard to predict. I know council members, and I know council member Riley most recently, but I know council members have expressed interest in looking at the law as a result of changes in the law. We certainly want to do that. I certainly want to have a sounding board of people that really specialize in this area, both from the environmental standpoint as well as from the land use standpoint. And so there's so many moving pieces and so much constant change that that's why we think there's value in doing this. I mean, you know, we're going to monitor it. We're going to try to do as much as we can. But I really, at this juncture, I'm not prepared to give you a solid answer on that.

But you imagine them to be more of a sounding board for the work that you all as a law office are doing? Or do you imagine them being front-facing in that work?

With respect, if proceedings progress before the Public Service Commission, I would like them to be out front because it's important to have someone that is well regarded by the Public Service Commission. You get a better ear, you get better results. With respect to changes to our law, interaction with you, certainly they'll be available to the extent that we make recommendations and you have questions about the basis for that recommendation that they're more suited to answer. That's something we regularly do and would imagine continuing to regularly do.

And then do you imagine having a cap on how much out of your office you'll spend on this work? Or just trying to imagine if it gets to be 500 billable hours, to what extent are we prepared to pay for that?

Yes, we will go in increments as we have done before. And I believe even though we get approval, I can't remember if we went to the Board of Estimates last time or not, but we will do it in increments as we have with other outside counsel. In other words, $50,000, let's see where we are, let's evaluate, come back.

Thank you very much. I appreciate you answering my questions.

Anyone else? I think it is more than fair that at some point we get a report back. I mean, I know you cannot put an estimate out there on what it's going to cost. it's overwhelming and continuing to grow. And Councilman Jan Giordano forgot to mention that we even tried to put setbacks and buffers in place in the Planning, the Service Commission, Public Service Commission threatened to sue us.

Is that? They threatened, and the General Assembly keeps making changes. Right. And keeps taking local land use power away from us. Yes. So we have to deal with those moving targets.

And I know that it is moving all across the county, but heavy in Councilman Riley's district right now. So any other questions? Ms. Dixon?

I'm sorry, we need a motion. Council President, I move to approve the appointment of the law office of G. Macy Nelson, LLC as outside counsel.

Thank you for that. Second. Thank you, Mr. Riley. It's been moved and seconded to approve outside counsel, Again for the executive branch, is there any further discussion? Miss Dixon.

Mr. President. Aye. Mrs. Robert. Aye. Mr. Penman. Aye. Mr. Giangidane. Aye. Mr. Riley. Aye. Mrs. Bullis-Sottles. Aye. Mr. Bennett.

Aye. There being seven votes in affirmative, zero in a negative, the request for outside counsel is hereby approved. Thank you. Fiscal year 27 contracts, zoning hearing examiner for Mr. Cahoe. May I have a motion?

Council President, I move to approve the contract renewal for Robert Cahoe Jr. May I have a second? Second.

Thank you, Mr. Riley. I move and second to approve Mr. Cahoe's zoning hearing examiner's contract. Is there any further discussion? Ms. Dixon?

Mr. President?

Aye.

Mrs. Robert? Aye. Mr. Penman? Aye. Mr. Giangerdano? Aye. Mr. Riley? Aye. Mrs. Willis-Ottles? Abstain. Mr. Bennett?

Aye.

There being six votes in the affirmative, one abstention, the fiscal year 27 contract for the zoning hearing examiners hereby approved. People's Council, Mr. Brian Young may have a motion.

Council President, I move to approve the contract renewal for Brian Young.

Thank you. May I have a second? Second. Mr. Riley? It's been moved and seconded to approve People's Council. Again, any discussion? Ms. Dixon?

Mr. President? Aye. Mrs. Robert? Aye. Mr. Penman? Aye. Mr. Giangerdano? Aye. Mr. Riley? Aye. Mrs. Bull-Sottles? Aye. Mr. Bennett?

Aye. There being seven votes in the affirmative, zero in the negative, the fiscal year 27 contract for the People's Council is hereby approved. And I have to say that we're very, very... blessed to have both these gentlemen in these positions. The amount of institutional knowledge that they both have is very beneficial to the county. 15 comments and input from attending citizens. Ms. Dixon, do we have anyone signed up?

We do, Mr. President. We have five this evening. Gary Johnson, followed by Monica McHale and Linda Stein Flint.

Good evening, sir. Name and zip. Gary Johnson, 21087. Thomas Jefferson once wrote that laws are made for men of ordinary understanding and should therefore be construed by the ordinary rules of common sense. Their meaning, he said, is not to be sought for in metaphysical subtleties, which may make anything mean everything or nothing at pleasure. Jefferson knew that the rule of law would be short-lived in our land if our laws were not understandable to everyone and if they were not rigorously interpreted by our courts, seeking their meaning from the words of the law themselves. Harford County's charter is our law. It says that no individual can sit on the county council while also working for the state of Maryland, Harford County, or any municipality within Harford County. Common sense says this was intended to minimize any conflict of interest which might hinder good government. This is important as many public sector employees are members of a union. A teacher or deputy will always be swayed to vote in the way that best benefits their union, the taxpayer be damned. Regardless, in November 2022, a local school teacher, Jacob Bennett, ran for and was elected to a seat on the Harford County Council. But upon winning, he refused to resign from his teaching position. The plain English of our common sense laws did not suit him. A deputy sheriff, Aaron Penman, was also elected to this council. The words of our charter were plain enough for him to understand, and so he resigned his position as a deputy before taking his seat. County Executive Cassley also understood the common sense of our laws. He stood in defense of them, denying Mr. Bennett access to his office. The case then went to court. The Circuit Court understood the common sense of our laws, that a conflict of interest existed if Mr. Bennett continued his employment as a teacher. Thus, the Circuit Court ruled that Mr. Bennett was in violation of our laws. Then Mr. Bennett appealed to the Maryland Supreme Court. That court, unfortunately, preferred metaphysical subtleties, where our laws could mean anything, everything, or nothing. Even though his pay voucher says Harford County Public Schools, Mr. Bennett might not know exactly who he worked for. It might be the county, it might be the state, maybe even some independent agency. It pleased the court to ignore the plain English and common sense of our laws. Mr. Bennett remained a teacher, and Mr. Penman resumed his duties as a deputy. Later, Mr. Penman was removed from the council for what was called an ethics violation. But once again, the courts came to his rescue. Two and a half years ago, I warned this council about the Jacob Bennett precedent. I said that you should appeal it all the way to the Supreme Court if you must. If not, I warned, it would come back to bite us. Welcome back, Mr. Penman.

Good evening. Name and zip, please.

Monica McHale, 21015. Greetings, county councilmen and women. Nice to see you all today. I wanted to start off by saying I want to thank an officer of the Aberdeen Police Department that was recently on social media for Facebook for helping on I-95 near mile marker 77.5. His name is Officer Brittner. helping a family of geese safely navigate the highway. Thanks to his quick thinking and teamwork, the family was safely guided away from danger instead of having to wait for the state police to respond, which may have resulted in a different outcome. I would like to see that we reward that kind of encouragement maybe with a proclamation for taking the time with the Good Samaritans to stop and help a family of geese. Something small, but something not meaningless, to those animals that were crossing the road. I'd like us to pause on that and think as well that there was recently a tragic accident with a different family of geese on Mountain Road and Route 40, where an entire family was, a family of geese and goslings were run over. That also was on social media, and if you saw the video, it's very not pleasant to see, but thankfully someone stopped and helped remove their carcasses and even injured bodies across the road. And I just wish that we would pause and take a moment to remember that it's not all people and finances and things like that, but it's communities and animals and things that live here that also need to live. And we just take that simple time to remember that. I also wanted to make a recommendation that I wasn't able to earlier due to the three-minute time constraint. possibly for the Harford County budget. Not sure if it'll go through or maybe for next year. But I would like to see Harford County Department of Public Works propose having a single microchip scanner that would allow employees to scan a domestic animal found on highways to see if it's microchipped and may have the owner made aware of its passing. This would not drastically increase the workload on employees and would be tremendously beneficial to our community for missing pets. The scanner is hovered around over the animal where it may be chipped between the shoulder blades, and gives you a number that you may write. Once the microchip is detected, DPW can then remove the animal carcass, take it to the Humane Society during their hours, and have it communally cremated after attempting to locate the owner. If the Humane Society is closed, or if it's after hours, the next location will be to take it to the Bel Air Animal ER, and Animal Control will be contacted to have it transported to the Humane Society the next day. Scanners cost between 35 and 100 dollars, and can be purchased easily on Amazon. This would ensure that pet parents would get closure to finding if they were missing or unaccounted for. Currently, DPW removes carcasses, and Animal Control has the scanners, but it would make sense for DPW to have scanners since they're the ones removing carcasses. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Name and zip.

Linda Stein Flint, 21015. I'm here speaking about no double dipping. Specifically, no one that is presently employed as a Harford County Public Schools teacher, staff member, and no one who is employed as a deputy in the Harford County Sheriff's Office should be serving on this council as you were being paid through Hartford County government and your job directly conflicts with council duties as the ability to vote on budgets and matters pertaining to both areas. Our charter has been respected for many years and I'm very disappointed in two current council members who have disrespected it. I guarantee you that I will work to stop that and ensure our charter is very clear about the conflict of interest. We have examples of proving the conflict of interest in reading many of the emails of Councilman Bennett to Superintendent Bolson. And Bolson said that Bennett was intermingling his roles as teacher and county councilman, and Bennett clearly stated that he wears both hats. You can't do that. We now have a deputy back on the council after he was properly removed who originally told people that when he ran that he would retire from the harford county sheriff's office and we know what happened he went back on his word and was re-employed by the harford county sheriff's office while serving and what has he done the whole time that he has been off the council he has repeatedly posted videos on his social media not telling the whole story and making false statements and has done everything to fight everyone who is trying to do good for harvard county citizens not surprising as his behavior is modeled after senior law enforcement leadership who have been doing that for the past three and a half years that behavior and poor unprofessional conduct we don't need that here from the councilman as well you think you may have won your case you actually lost your case and while i may have respected or understood your decision to fight Your conduct has been very unprofessional and not a reflection of what a councilman does to benefit Harford County citizens. Then again, sitting there, the two of you double dipping, being supported by a council president and members that hasn't been able to speak the truth, especially about the Harford Transit Link federal grant that will replace the existing Harford Transit service facility that has a leak in roof, mold, and can't timely service to blue buses that are used by Harford County citizens, seniors, and disabled that do not have access to a vehicle and need to get to their job, their grocery store, work, public facilities, and even voting. People say they want more affordable and senior housing, but for that, you also need infrastructure like Harford Transit Link to get people where they need to go. They have seven fixed routes and they also have a demand response buses. We must question the mental capacity of council leadership and members who can't seem to remember that they supported this for many years and then suddenly claim it's about getting people from Baltimore. When he knows full well it doesn't. The bus may get people to the train station, but it isn't serving Baltimore. It provides a much needed critical service to our Harford County citizens. Stop with the false mailers and texts. All that shows that you know best how to waste money instead of being fiscally responsible and truthful with Harford County citizens. Thank you.

Matthew Brown.

Good evening, sir. Name and zip. Matthew Brown, 21015. I was going to end this time with a positive note, but I have to correct the record for the people. 1819, Moloch versus Maryland established a thing known as federal supremacy, meaning the federal government laws supersedes the state. The state version of this happened in 1868, Maryland versus Moody Executives, which deemed that the power of a county is expressly granted by the state, necessarily applied powers by said state. If there's any reasonable doubt whether a county law has any jurisdiction or power, you turn to the state. Also, municipalities as well in 1907, which the court said, municipality corporations are political subversions of the state, created as convenient agencies for expressing such government powers in the state that may be entrusted to them. The state may modify or withdraw all powers. The state is supreme, and its legislative body, conforming its actions to the state's constitution, may do so at will, unrestrained by any provisions of the Constitution of the United States. Meaning the Hartford County Charter is only as important if it doesn't conflict with the state legislator or state law. The state and the government is a process. Judicial, legislative, and executive. The judicial made their points. They held the case and they became an outcome. That's how government works. Government is a process and if you don't like the process, that is fine. But when things are on the up and up, you can't really argue of anything being malcontent or malicious. They literally did their jobs. Now for the positive notes. I want to give a shout out to the three O's, or our home, our Hartford, our land. I got that backwards. In terms of the ability they were able to show in the data center saga of really galvanizing the people and getting them into these seats and making their voices be heard. But I don't want to stop there. That should be a rallying cry to gather all of Hartford County together for a multitude of issues going in the community. As spoken just now, transportation, the water crisis, a few other infrastructure-based issues that plague everyone in the county. They can become a pack. They could be a next wave of political engagement for all of Hartford County and show the power of citizenship because the feelings of government and the feelings of being involved are at an all-time low. many people from either this council or previous council at a national level have caused that to be the case. But their efforts in just two months show you the citizens still have power. Citizens still have the ability to garner change. And even these council members, who you may or may not disagree with, me personally as well, they did their job, their voices were heard, and they did what they were supposed to do. That's government. Government is messy. Government is long. Government can be boring. But when we all do our due diligence, our civic duties, government can work. Government can be believed in again. Which is why I want to sign off before the end of the summer to remember to guys, do your civic duty. Early voting, actual voting next week. Do your civic duty. Let your voices be heard. Because when your voices are heard, laws can be changed and bans can happen. Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

There are no more speakers, Mr. President.

Thank you.

We'll go to business from council members. Ms. Robert.

Thank you, Council President. So I had a busy week. I started on June 10th with the Special Olympics Flame of Hope Run. And what a nice occasion that was to see our special needs children. And our schools come together and run the torch. They ran from Havre de Grace to Water's Edge, which is about nine miles. They asked if I was joining. I said no. Trained for next year. But that was to get them to the Special Olympics, which you heard over the weekend was occurring in Towson. So that was the goal. That same day, I attended the Family Recovery Court graduation in which four parents graduated. They were tearjerkers. In working with the Department of Social Services and the courts in my years, having your child removed is the most devastating thing, although those parents have to work for it to earn their children back. And these four parents worked hard in their recovery to get their children back. They were actually back in their care prior to the graduation and they still wanted to complete the program. So that is dedication to sobriety. On June 11th, I met with the Maryland Department of Agriculture about midges. not sure if you know much about them, but they are actually starting to infest our waterways in Harford County. Um, and so Joppa area right now to be in, to be more precise is where I'm getting the complaints from constituents. Um, so I had a meeting with them. We talked about how to get rid of them, how to stop them. There is a link on the department of agriculture's Maryland site because the governor wants to track it across The state and if you see one you can log it in they're trying to track them They're also trying to figure out the best way to get rid of them So we're going to be working together to look at that across the board Cecil County has one way Baltimore County does the spraying thing It could be not as environmentally friendly. So we're looking at what can be environmentally friendly On June 12th, they attended the Susquehanna Workforce Network board meeting. The speaker spoke about AI in the workforce and stated how they felt that AI couldn't take over the real person experience but could be a supplement to that, and kind of quoted about how ATMs originally came out and everyone thought they were losing their jobs, but in fact, actually more bankers were hired to be able to give personal experiences to the people and the public. Then I went over at the same location to education and scholarship breakfast for our youth who once again received money for their education and service in the community. I then went to Hope in a Saddle because I missed the grand opening to get a private tour and look at the work they are doing. They are doing such great work with horses and trauma. And they're doing all sorts of work with children, work with veterans, work with families. They want to assist more with our foster youth. And we discussed even working with first responders. That's one of the things I've heard is a great program for first responders. And they actually offer horse yoga. So horses are truly therapeutic. I felt therapeutic after I left there. And she explained exactly why that is. And then that evening, I went to Keep Kids Rolling Campaign Boys and Girls Club in Edgewood. They wanted 100 donated bikes, trikes, skateboards, and scooters, and they achieved their number. I watched boys and girls literally come into the gym, pick out their bike that they wanted, and roll or ride out of the gym. And as the CEO stated, a bike is just not a toy. It's a child's first time. being responsible yet free in the community and learning to navigate their neighborhood and environment." And I thought that that is a great quote that he had made. And on Saturday, I attended Flag Day at Hartford Square where Mr. Brown came and did a great presentation on the Pledge of Allegiance and how that panned out word by word. And that was just amazing for the public who attended to hear. And so with that being said, finally, I'd like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy, and safe summer. There are many activities that I can see that are going on in the county, and I'm sure I will see all of you there. Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Ms. Robert. Mr. Penman.

Thank you, Mr. President. The courts have spoken. The attempt by the executive branch to remove a duly elected member of the council was wrong. This was never just about one council member. It was about whether the executive branch could use government power, taxpayer-funded lawyers, the court system to override the will of the voters and interfere with the co-equal branch of government. We talked about government. Maryland's charter government separates the executive branch and the legislative power on purpose. The county executive is not the county council, and the council does not answer to the executive. The separation prevents the concentration of power and protects the voices of the people who vote. Yet under this administration, the Cassley administration, that line has been blurred again and again with this council, with the county auditor, with the sheriff's office, and even with the state's attorney's office. The voters of District B elected their representative. in a free and open election. Instead of letting voters decide, the administration tried to remove the representation through 16 months of litigation. The court said no and restored the voters' choice. But at what cost? The principle is simple. Elected officials don't get to remove other elected officials for disagreeing with them or refusing to fall in line. That power belongs to the people, not the politicians, not the bureaucrats, not the government attorneys. This ruling is a victory for every Harford County resident. It reaffirms that the executive branch does not control the legislative branch, and the political disagreement is not a license for legal warfare. The courts confirm what should have been obvious from day one, that I legally am qualified to serve both as a deputy sheriff and also a council member. More importantly, they confirmed who has the final say and who represents the people. the voters, not the government insiders. Now to the cost. The administration has used the law department and outside counsel to fight political battles, target elected officials, and push legal theories the courts keep rejecting. In FY2025 and FY2026 alone, the Harford County spent more than $856,000 on outside legal services, over a million if you add in the year before, despite promises that I mentioned earlier that the growing law department would reduce that need. The law department that is probably the largest law department in the entire county. Many residents believe the law department has been weaponized, and when government attorneys are used to challenge voters, target officials, and chase personal legal agendas, taxpayers foot the bill. The same administration that promised fiscal discipline keeps losing cases. It spends money on. The county lost Jacob Bennett. It lost, in my case, it lost three separate public records for MPIAs and was found in violation of violating the law. And the county attorney, Jefferson Blomquist, who we heard from tonight, lost his own pension case as he represented himself on behalf of the county in which he argued he should be exempt from the very retirement system that every other employee in the county is required to join, an argument that was rejected in the appellate court. At some point, this stops being legal strategy and becomes a failure of government. In my case alone, Bloomquist and a law department are estimated to have spent roughly 3,000 hours. And based on $160,000 salary, about a year and a half of full-time work. And that's before the benefits and the expenses and the court cost. And in Bennett's case, the pensions, the outside counsel, and the total grows even further. That is taxpayer money. government that should have gone to serving Hartford County, not fighting political opponents in court. The law department exists to protect the county and ensure government follows the law, not to serve a vehicle for political agendas or executive overreach. Jefferson Blomquist's conduct throughout these matters raises real concerns. His courtroom behavior has been described as tense and disruptive, and his repeated losses reflect poorly on this government, and it may be time for a serious conversation with the public about the confidence we have in him, which is none. When leadership keeps producing poor results, accountability requires hard answers. By contrast, I want to recognize the Snee, Looch, and Hemlinger firm, Justin DeMichael, Joe Snee, and Megan Chambers, who throughout my legal fight showed professionalism, integrity, respect for the courts, and real commitment to the rule of law. They represented me in this profession with distinction and came out victorious. Hartford County taxpayers deserve better than law for, law fair, excuse me. A law department that serves the people and respects the separation of powers and the government focus on results. rather than political vendettas. But now it's time to move forward, I understand that, to focus on public safety, stronger communities, accountable government, imagine that, and faithfully serving the people who put their trust in us. That's all I have, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. Pevin. Mr. Janitor Dannett.

Thank you, Council President. So on Friday, June 12th, myself, a couple other council people, we went to Krabby Axe, and they had a grand reopening. They now have a kitchen and bar. So if you want to throw an axe, go to Krabby Axe. So upcoming events, everybody knows 4th of July is coming. And then something I'm going to work on and see if it's a possibility, but look at some kind of a tax break for our volunteer fire department. Maybe we can look into seeing what a tax break would be like some of the other counties have for volunteer fire AMS. And then finally, Council President, as everybody knows, I've been saying that double dipping is a bad idea. Council members are supposed to represent the people, but when a council member also collects a paycheck, from a school system, they wear two hats when they should only be wearing one. and they're voting to represent the citizens or their employer. That's why two weeks ago I asked Councilman Bennett if he was planning to vote for the budget and the amendment cutting funds from the county services to get more money to the school system. He didn't answer me at the time. Now I have the answer in his own words. In an email that he wrote in 2024 to his boss, Superintendent Sean Bolson, and posted by a third party on social media today, Mr. Bennett wrote, I work hard, and I quote, I work hard to support the school system with both hats that I wear. Sometimes my support comes in a form of criticism. Sometimes it comes in union advocacy. and sometimes it comes in budgetary action. Let me say that again. Sometimes it comes in budgetary action. Now imagine a county council made up entirely of teachers. Who will they aim to please, their bosses or the people? Don't take my word for it. Read Mr. Bennett's word for yourself. I have Mr. Bennett's letter. I'm going to make public in response to the Freedom of Information Act, and I'm going to read it into the record. Hello, Dr. Bolson. I want to reach out to you about an incident involving your staff. My legislative aide was at an Education Foundation annual breakfast on behalf due to me being at my day job teaching kindergarten at Old Post. During your remarks, you commented on our improvement in the MCAP scores this past year, which I've seen on the Maryland report card and think it's worth celebrating. In the moment you shared, a member of your staff leaned over to my legislative aide and said, see, can you please tell your boss? That made Heather extremely uncomfortable, and she responded, reading instruction doesn't have to do with my work in the council office. I find this remark extremely disrespectful, unprofessional, demanding to me. It shows that this person only sees me as someone who complains for the sake, and they do not respect for the work that I do for the school system, nor my expertise in this subject. It could be easy for me to respond back saying my own data from classrooms showing all, but two of my students last year finished in the 98th percentile of higher nationally in reading. I could also point out that while scores overall in the teaching third grade and scores are down, I point to final interesting in our third graders, which taught Lucy Calkins, phonics in first and second. However, my larger point is this type of remark towards my staff is not acceptable. The person who made this should remember that they are not speaking to me as a councilman, but as an educator, as well as what they do. I work hard to support the school system with both hats that I wear, Sometimes my support comes in the form of criticism, sometimes it comes in union advocacy, and sometimes it comes in budgetary action. At all times, I'm working to do what is best for the children. I thought that we'd grown past this type of antagonism, and we are a much more positive place in regards to the reading. I was hoping still... Hope to email you soon to invite you out to my classroom to both observe my teaching and discuss instruction. The interaction from last week has me wondering, though, what conversations about me look like in a central office. I hope in your future your staff can be mindful of what their interaction with my staff and my proxy may look like. Jacob Bennett. And then there is... I think that's it. I'll pass this out to everybody. That's all I have, Council President. I hope everybody has a good summer.

Thank you. Mr. Riley?

I'm sure most of you and those watching and us up here in the dais can't wait until next Tuesday is over with. I appreciate the county executive getting together a battery, energy, and solar project work group. I worked with them last week, and we're going to be doing that through the summer. and I hope everybody has a safe and fun summer.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Riley. Ms. Sottles.

Thank you, Council President. I wanted to give an update on the Green Ridge water. My office does remain actively engaged with Maryland American Water regarding the water concerns, and I have a meeting scheduled with the company in early July. I encourage residents to send me any questions or concerns that they have, And I will address them at that time. Um, although we'll be on summer recess, I will be in my office and committed to working and serving my district. I wish everyone a very safe, healthy, and happy summer. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Siles. Mr. Bennett.

Hello. Good evening. Good to be with everyone. Um, real quick, I'll just address, uh, the fellow councilman's remarks towards me from that two year old email. in which I was having a disagreement with the former superintendent of the time about reading instruction. I think if anything that email shows that I'm not blindly loyal to the school system, that I'm willing to stand up for what's best for children, which is what I said I do in that email in all facets of my life, whether it's advocating for school funding or it's advocating for changes and reforms within the school system, I'm advocating for children. Um, and whether I was a school teacher or not, I have a daughter at home and I plan to advocate for her and the life that she deserves. And there's no conflict in interest in taking care of children. Um, and then I just want to share that I attended the law enforcement torch run for special Olympics. I want to especially think deputy chief Alton for all he does for special Olympics every year. He's been a super plunger in the past where he did a plunge every hour for 24 hours. to support Special Olympics. And even now as Deputy Chief, he continues to support Special Olympics, even with all the added duties and responsibilities he has now. And I think it really shows how deep his commitment is to Special Olympics. It's not just something he does because he has to because of work. It's something that he feels deeply passionate about. And I appreciate everything Deputy Chief Alton and all of Havre de Grace Police do for our community. I attended the Abingdon cab meeting this past week, and I always appreciate the conversations we have at cab meetings. One of the things that came up is these electric bikes that kids are riding, younger and younger. There's a lot of concerns around these bikes. Some of them have built-in speed limits, but you can hack your bike to break through those speed limits, and then 12-year-olds are going down the street 45 miles per hour on a bike with a bicycle helmet, which is not going to keep them safe if they fall. And the sheriff deputy who was with us that night did share about two children who were tandem riding an e-bike and fell and were majorly hurt and had to give emergency care. And so I just want to encourage any adults who are watching to be mindful of buying these bikes for your children. You know, children are not buying them. Adults are buying them and thinking it's a fun gift. But you're essentially putting your child on a motorcycle. And they're not wearing motorcycle helmets. They're not wearing motorcycle gear. And they're not trained or licensed to drive a motorcycle. And it's extremely dangerous. Just today, driving through downtown Bel Air, I drove past a child who could not have been past middle school yet and was doing a wheelie on an e-bike. And again, only had a bicycle helmet on. So this is something that we have to be cognizant of as a community and cannot be asleep at the wheel on. We have to make sure that we as neighbors take care of our neighbors and speak up and say when something's not safe. I attended the Liberty Tree dedication this past weekend in Havre de Grace. The Liberty Tree has a long history. You know, the original tool poplar in Annapolis that the community stood under 250 years ago and heard of our plans to separate ourselves from... separate ourselves from...

Oh my goodness, why am I having such a blank?

But to separate ourselves from Britain and say, you know, we're going to forge our own way. That tree fell down in 1999, but its genetic identical tree was then planted and saved. And then from that tree, seeds were gathered, and each county across Maryland, one of those seeds is being planted and will grow. And one of those trees was planted in Havre de Grace this past weekend and will be growing and nourished by our community and will be a new tree for our community to gather on for years to come. It was very fun to bring my daughter there, who's only one year old, and to think about, you know, when she can come and be back at that tree when she starts school or when she graduates or when she has kids one day and how it can be that landmark to see how our community has grown and changed in the next 250 years. So that was really cool. And I encourage you to stop by the Morehouse and have the grace and see that there's a lot to celebrate coming up. Juneteenth is this Friday, and I encourage everyone to take that as an opportunity to celebrate and to learn. as this is a holiday that is still new to many in the community while others have been celebrating it for a long time. Father's Day is coming up this weekend. I'm very excited for Father's Day. My dad was in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and he would joke about how the priest would celebrate Mother's Day and say how special Mother's Day was. And then the Father's Day sermon would roll around and the priest would say, you know, what's so special about fathers? Mothers. And he would give the Mother's Day sermon all over again. But I think it's important that we celebrate those who commit to raising our children and bringing them up right. And then lastly, I want to recognize the last day of school is coming up this week on Thursday. You know, I was very lucky in my day job to take my students on a field trip today, which was a lot of fun. We went to the Discovery Center and Water's Edge. And then we came back and celebrated our fifth graders who are moving on to middle school next year. But it was a very special day. And, you know, this is a special week, but I also want to recognize that this is going to be a really hard week for those in the Roy Williams community after everything that happened today. And I just hope the staff there and the children there know that they are in my thoughts and prayers as they navigate the events that took place today at their school. And I just hope they have the support of the community. And I hope we all take pause before we comment on social media with a quick joke or a quick jab or a quick political point to recognize we're talking about people. We're talking about children. We're talking about adults working in a building. And we shouldn't be so quick to joke about something like people getting hurt. And I know I said lastly, but I do want to recognize that election day is a week from today. I encourage everyone to vote. The seats we sit in do not belong to us. They're on loan from the community. And whoever comes into these seats next, I hope we've done the work to take care of them. And I hope that who comes next continues that work of taking care of them so that we can take care of each other. That's all I have. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bennett. 17, business from the president. I want to start by thanking Jeannie, my wife, for attending the Rotary Club of Aberdeen's annual installation of offers for me. I was busy at the retirement ceremony for both Rick Ayers and Mike Brenneke. And for those of you who may not know Rick Ayers, you know, I'm sure everybody does, He served Harford County for 42 years. He is the current director at the Emergency Operations Center. Outstanding gentleman, extremely well liked, very professional. One of his deputies, Mike Brenneke, is also retiring at the end of this month. Now, between the two of them, Mr. Ayers with 42 years of service, Mr. Brenneke with 31 and a half years of service, we're talking about a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge leaving the county. i understand that there might be some comments coming here in near future about a possible interim director waiting to hear that because it's very concerning that we haven't heard anything at this point but mr tibbs correct me if i'm wrong the harford county farm fair is coming up uh july 18th through the week of july 25th is that correct So looking forward to that, looking forward to support our 4-H youth and our ag community. And with that, I want to go ahead and wish everyone a safe and happy summer. We'll see you back here the first week of September. With that, we're adjourned.