Guest Post: Update on Lawsuit Focused on the Ball Administration’s Denial of Public Access to Hundreds of Emails Exchanged with Developer Lobbyist

Columbia Association, County Government, Developers, Elections, Guest Posts, Housing, Howard County, Must-Reads, Special Interest Groups

“The Office of County Executive admits every claim of violating the Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act, except one…they argue that County Executive Ball’s sister in law and campaign manager did not understand the law she used to withhold from public access almost 500 emails in the files of the Office of County Executive involving a politically active County lobbyist/ developers’ lawyer.”

Guest Commentary Letter: “Something Strange Going on in the Democratic Race for the District 4 Howard County Council Seat”

Columbia Association, County Government, Developers, Elections, Guest Posts, Housing, Howard County, Must-Reads, Special Interest Groups

“In my opinion, we have something strange going on in the Democratic race for the District 4 Howard County Council seat. A “Trump type“ candidate is staining our local politics with the most dirty campaign that I can remember…”

HoCo Watchdogs Newsletter – Issue #7

County Government, Developers, Elections, Ethics, HCPSS, Housing, Howard County, Legal Issues, Must-Reads, Newsletter, Special Interest Groups, Violations

Issue #7 of the HoCo Watchdogs newsletter. This newsletter provides a concise list of articles, videos & social media posts for readers to stay well informed about important Howard County, Maryland issues such as public school policies, land use & development, and county governance.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: The Concerning Usage of the Howard County Seal in Three Pro-Janssen Evelyn Election Campaign Ads

County Government, Elections, Howard County, Must-Reads, Special Interest Groups

Details on the laws pertaining to usage of the official Howard County seal and how three pro-Janssen Evelyn election ads, published by the Howard Progressive Project PAC and shared by the Evelyn election campaign team, concerningly include a replica image of the Howard County seal next to a picture of Evelyn.

The Fast and the Fictitious: When Drag Racing and Political “Hit Jobs” Collide in Howard County

County Government, Elections, Howard County, Must-Reads, Special Interest Groups

A detailed account of a recent political smear campaign that has been waged against Howard County Councilwoman Deb Jung for having dared to politely confront a group of local “modified car enthusiasts” who had allegedly been noisily engine revving and drag racing near Clarksville Commons.

For the 300th time, “I don’t recall!” – The Concerningly Consistent Deposition of County Executive Calvin Ball’s Executive Liaison, Election Campaign Manager & Public Information “Gatekeeper”

Budget, County Government, Developers, Elections, Ethics, HCPSS, Howard County, Legal Issues, MPIA, Must-Reads, Special Education, Special Interest Groups

An initial examination of the legal deposition of Howard County Executive Calvin Ball’s Executive Liaison & election campaign manager, given as part of a lawsuit that resulted from her wrongly denying the public release of hundreds of emails related to correspondence between the members of the Ball Administration and a private land use attorney & developer lobbyist.

Howard County Executive Calvin Ball Hired and Generously Paid Family Member Who Wrongly Denied the Public Release of Hundreds of Emails Exchanged with Developer Lobbyist

Budget, County Government, Developers, Elections, Ethics, HCPSS, Howard County, Legal Issues, MPIA, Must-Reads, Special Education, Special Interest Groups

An investigation of how Howard County Executive Calvin Ball hired and gave unusually generous pay increases over three years to his family member who was simultaneously being paid as Ball’s election campaign manager, and how this family member proceeded to repeatedly and wrongly deny the public release of hundreds of emails related to correspondence between the County Executive and private developer attorneys & lobbyists.