Legislators from Harford County yesterday sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown and Gov. Martin O’Malley appealing for more access to meetings to plan for military base expansion that will bring thousands of jobs to the state.
Mr. Brown, a Democrat, has denied lawmakers entry to the private sessions of his sub-Cabinet after its public meetings across the state on the military’s Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan, which will bring more than 12,000 jobs to Harford County.
“We believe that the BRAC sub-Cabinet should conduct business in an open and transparent manner instead of the current decision-making process behind closed doors,” said the letter, which was signed by state Sens. Nancy Jacobs, Andrew P. Harris and J. Robert Hooper, Republicans who represent parts of Harford County.
Mr. Brown said the private meetings deal with administrative details, not decision-making, and the sub-Cabinet is committed to open and transparent policy.
“We are coordinating the schedules of up to 10 Cabinet members and the lieutenant governor, and since we are convening in the various counties, we use that opportunity while we’re together to review the administrative matters of the sub-Cabinet,” he said. “The notion of closed meetings to discuss local issues in private is not accurate.”
The sub-Cabinet might discuss its timeline to submit a final report to the governor or which member will make a presentation at the next meeting, he said.
Mr. Harris said he took the lieutenant governor at his word, but the sub-Cabinet eventually would have to discuss Harford County issues.
“At some point I would think they would have to discuss things at a regional level,” he said. “I hope he chooses to include us at that time.”
BRAC is expected to bring as many as 60,000 jobs to the state by 2011. Counties that will be affected by the influx are scrambling to prepare roads, schools and other infrastructure. The General Assembly created the sub-Cabinet to make BRAC recommendations to the governor.
Open-meeting guidelines do not apply to the group just as they do not apply to the governor’s Cabinet, Mr. Brown said.
The first portion of every meeting is public, and local officials typically present their BRAC challenges to the group. Afterward, the sub-Cabinet goes into private session.
At the last sub-Cabinet meeting last week in Harford County, the public portion was a well-planned “dog and pony show,” Mrs. Jacobs said. Local officials were not given enough time for their presentations, and the sub-Cabinet did not deliberate or provide feedback before going into private session, she said.
“The public doesn’t appreciate closed-door meetings and things being conducted in secret,” she said. “They especially don’t like it when it affects their future in their county, and none of the people making these decisions are from their county.”
Mr. Brown said hearing local concerns is the primary purpose for the meeting.
“Our goal is to interact with the county and municipal leaders so we can better understand the challenges they face with this round of BRAC,” he said.
Mrs. Jacobs had asked to be included in the group’s deliberations after the public meeting, she said. Asuntha Chiang-Smith, director of the sub-Cabinet, called a day before the meeting to tell Mrs. Jacobs that she could not attend the private session, she said.
The sub-Cabinet will deliver its final report to the governor in December, making recommendations for policy and budget priorities in BRAC preparations.
Legislators and the public will have a chance to comment on the plan in November before it is submitted to the governor, Mr. Brown said.
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