The Credit Card Bill
It took a Washington Post story to bring to light potentially questionable charges on county issued credit cards by Prince George's Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and members of the county council. If a bill proposed by Del. Victor R. Ramirez (D-Prince George's) passes the Maryland General Assembly next year, from now on such actions might be caught by an independent audit.
Ramirez has filed a bill that would require the county to hire an independent certified accountant each year to conduct an audit of credit card charges by the elected officials. The audit would need to be completed within one month of the end of each fiscal year and the summaries published in two newspapers.
Ramirez insisted his bill is motivated only by the desire to give local elected officials better guidance in using their county-issued credit cards. He said he does not necessarily believe the current council or executive have done anything wrong. His constituents, who have flooded the council with emails about the allegations and posted angry notes to Internet listservs, may beg to differ. Which, of course, may well be why Ramirez has filed the bill. After all, it's always good politics to take action when constituents are angry at someone else.
"I still believe that our good friends on the county council, once their names are cleared, that they will not walk down this path again," Ramirez said. "But I do think we need to have a little more transparency for our constituents...This is hard earned money that taxpayers have paid in order to have a better government."
Ramirez's bill will have a public hearing Monday night. It must then receive the approval of other members of the Prince George's legislative delegation, before moving to a House of Delegates' committee for consideration.
In other Victor Ramirez news, in an interview fresh off his trip to Turkey, Ramirez said he will likely support Del. Barbara A. Frush (D) for delegation chairman. His has been considered the deciding vote in a tight contest for delegation chief between Frush and Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr. (D). He said he respected both delegates but Frush had "the edge" because of her experience. "I don't see my position changiing," he said.
By Rosalind Helderman |
December 14, 2006; 10:45 AM ET
| Category:
Prince George's
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Posted by: Count Bobulescu | December 15, 2006 03:10 AM
This from a Delegate who has fought to get drivers licenses for illegal aliens?? Situational ethics, I guess...
EA
Posted by: EAlmaren | December 15, 2006 03:01 PM
A check of who is sponsoring what in the upcoming session shows Victor Ramirez to be our busiest legislator, six bills to Joe Vallario's five.
One Ramirez bill that has me puzzled is 402-07. If passed, it would limit the number of Charter Amendment questions that could be placed on the ballot to four. That might be a good thing, but I haven't heard complaints that there have been too many Charter Amendment questions in the past. There may have been too many questions that were not Charter related. I don't see the problem this bill is trying to solve. I can see a potential downside and not a lot of upside to this proposal.
Here's the problem I see. We now have a Charter Review Commission that reports every four years. The business of a Charter Review Commission is to recommend to the County Council changes to the Charter.
If the Council accepts four recommendations from the Commission there will be no room for Charter related voter signature petitions, and that might be an end run around rights granted by the Maryland Constitution at Article XI-A 5.
I think 402-07 should only pass if language is inserted that makes it clear that County Council proposed Charter Amendment Questions are subordinate to voter verified signature proposals, or alternatively, that the County Council be limited to only taking two of the four available slots.
Posted by: Count Bobulescu | December 17, 2006 10:52 PM
I sure hope Victor is enjoying his 15 minutes. His bills will certainly expire due to disinterest in the coming session.
Posted by: Andy Warhol | December 19, 2006 09:35 AM
I want to see a bill filed calling for the prosecution of the PG County Executive and the County Council for fraudulent use of taxpayer dollars. Anything short of that is just lip service.
Posted by: PG County Resident | January 4, 2007 12:52 PM
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While I welcome Delegate Ramirez's bill as a step in the right direction, even if he is grandstanding, I'm worried about his opinion that he thinks we need to have "a LITTLE more transparency for our constituents".
Wrongo Dongo Victor me boyo, we need a LOT more transparency.