Bland top council spender

District 9 councilwoman leads in daily expenses with almost $300,000 since 2002; top three outspend the other six

Thursday, Aug. 31, 2006

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Since taking office in 2002, councilwoman Marilynn M. Bland (D-Dist. 9) of Clinton has spent $298,070, Councilwoman Camille A. Exum (D-Dist. 7) of Capitol Heights has spent $195,357 and Councilman David Harrington (D-Dist. 5) of Cheverly has spent $154,316.

The money went toward expenses ranging from office supplies to hotels to meals to newsletters.

‘‘All these things are reviewed and double-checked for verification and legitimacy,” Council Administrator Craig Price said.

All members operated within their budgets, he added. ‘‘Council members are not spending money except for legitimate public purposes.”

Council members are given an annual office budget that varies depending on the number of full-time staff they have. An office with three staff can spend $236,000, an office with two can spend $181,000 and an office with one can spend $126,000. Information was not immediately available on staffing numbers.

The expenses fell into four general categories: automobile, travel, meeting and office operating expenses.

While Council Chairman Thomas E. Dernoga (D-Dist. 1) of Laurel said members are limited to ‘‘legitimate business expenditures,” some officials logged far more than others.

Bland’s chief of staff, David Billings, said the councilwoman’s totals were high because Bland sends out monthly newsletters and has the largest geographic district, meaning she and her staff would have to spend more on travel. He said she also spent money on things like dinners for constituents to let them know about grant money.

‘‘I would think that the budgets would go up, depending on how much you’re communicating with the masses,” Billings said. ‘‘It’s very expensive meeting, going places.”

He said Bland began sending monthly newsletters to her constituents late last year.

While every council member spent more in the last year, which is an election year, than during any year previous, Bland spent the most. In fiscal 2006, she spent $115,930, more than three times what some council members spent.

Billings said the upcoming election had nothing to do with the expenses or the newsletters.

Bland also drew criticism in 2000 when she charged the county for a family trip to Disney World while she was serving on the school board.

During this four-year term, Exum spent the next highest sum of money, the bulk of which went toward office operating expenses. Exum could not be reached for comment.

Harrington reported a higher-than-average expense budget in part because of his position representing the Council on several local and national organizations. His office operating expenses were generally on par with those of his colleagues, but the travel expenses associated with attending conventions added up.

Harrington serves on the Maryland Association of Counties, the National Association of Counties, the National Organization of Black County Officials and the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments.

He said he traveled to Phoenix for a meeting last year, to Chicago the past two years and frequently to Ocean City. He said he typically charges the county for hotel costs, plane tickets, airport parking and some food.

Members of the County Council currently earn a salary of more than $75,000 annually. Any money left over from the Council’s expense budget at the end of the year goes back into the county’s General Fund.

Some council members have been conspicuously frugal since taking office. Councilman Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Dist. 4) of Bowie spent just $85,141 since 2002.

‘‘I’m very careful about spending the public’s money, and if I spend their money I want to use it for staffing resources and constituent service personnel,” Peters said. Peters is also independently wealthy.

Dernoga, who has spent $115,981 since 2002, said he has sent out just one newsletter this year. He said he has spent his budget on things such as bagels and cream cheese for teacher appreciation days, as well as hotels at conferences and car expenses.

‘‘I got the cheap [car]. I got the Impala,” he said.

Dernoga said he follows a simple policy:

‘‘I charge nothing that I don’t want to read about in The Gazette.”

E-mail Judson Berger jberger@gazette.net.