Abuse, fraud and dumping among 277 complaints to Baltimore County’s watchdog
Rona Kobell
the Baltimore Banner
August 13, 2024
Baltimore County’s Inspector General received 277 complaints in the most recently completed budget year, on matters ranging from misusing county computer systems to submitting fraudulent timesheets to trash haulers commingling commercial and residential waste so they could avoid paying dump fees.
Of those, 22 turned into new investigations for the six-person team, established five years ago to increase transparency and accountability in government.
Inspector General, Kelly Madigan referred 173 of the complaints to other departments that had jurisdiction over them — either the state, another county, or the Baltimore County Public Schools, which has its own IG office. Her office investigated the remainder of the complaints and determined whether to close them, refer them to an administration official to address, or investigate and issue reports about them for the public.
Inspector General offices are becoming a popular means of demanding accountability in local government.
In Baltimore, Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming made a surprise visit to the Baltimore Department of Public Works office to document complaints of heat and a lack of adequate facilities. A few weeks later, a DPW employee collapsed on the job and died of heatstroke. The Howard County Council just approved hiring an inspector general.
Madigan, in Baltimore County, has been in place since County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. hired her five years ago.
County officials have occasionally tussled with Madigan and tried to limit her power. Last year, she went to the council to fight for unfettered access to county records. Councilman Julian Jones, a Woodstock Democrat, unsuccessfully tried to rein in her power by proposing an advisory board to oversee her work. Madigan had called out Jones in two investigations.
Madigan said the county had largely responded to the reports with action, however slowly.
“For the most part, the administration does take our reports and the recommendations seriously. I think there’s a tremendous effort to try to comply with them,” she said. “Of course, there are reports where we have to agree to disagree.”
Olszewski’s spokesperson, Sean Naron, said the administration takes the reports seriously and has updated policies to address “potential misconduct,” particularly in her findings regarding electronic communication.
“The administration is proud to have created — and expanded — the first-ever Office of the Inspector General,” Naron said, noting they also support a November ballot initiative that would add the Office of Inspector General to the county charter. “This year’s annual report is a reminder of the vital work the OIG does to promote efficiency, accountability and integrity in County government.”
Many of the complaints that ultimately lead to investigations come from county employees. Of the 22 complaints that became investigations in FY 2024, nine dealt with accountability, seven were focused on abuse/misconduct, four concerned fraud, and two pertained to government waste.
While Madigan said county employees still fear retaliation when they file a complaint, “they are normally on the money” when they submit one.
Last August, Madigan found inconsistent work practices and lax supervision within a Department of Public Works division; she found one employee misused a dump truck 47 times and another committed attendance fraud at least 27 times. She also found the county administration failed, as required by the county purchasing manual, to notify the County Council of major changes in purchasing radios and other communications equipment for the 911 system. And Madigan found a trash hauler who had been mingling commercial and residential trash for at least five years to avoid paying fees on commercial loads.
Madigan has submitted reports to the county on all of those, and she shared results of a previous investigation into county recreation councils. In 2021, the councils owed the county $420,353.13 for leadership training that the county provided and was never reimbursed. After Madigan’s report, the county reduced the deficit and eventually collected all of it. The county has since disbanded the leadership program.
Councilman David Marks said he hoped Madigan would open an investigation into a payment Olszewski’s administration made a few years ago to Philip Tirabassi, brother of a high school friend of Olszewski’s.
Philip had been a county firefighter who wanted his 2.8 years of city service added to his county career to increase his pension benefit. County officials, however, said he would have needed to make that request 27 years earlier to qualify. Philip Tirabassi continued to press his case, and eventually a county attorney entered into an agreement to add the service time.
Other county attorneys, though, said that deal would compromise the entire retirement system, so the Olszewski administration instead paid Philip Tirabassi $83,675. County officials concealed this payment, reporting it to the County Council as “Philip Dough.”
Olszewski’s administration also purchased 16 Peterbilt trucks from John Tirabassi, Olszewski’s friend and the sales representative for Peterbilt, for more than $4 million. Each truck cost between $273,000 and $279,000, according to The Sun.
Marks said constituents had expressed concerns about Olszewski’s leadership as reports of the Tirabassi dealings have come to light.
Madigan is aware of the Tirabassi matter, but she would not confirm or deny she has investigated the case in the past or would in the future.
“For the most part, the administration does take our reports and the recommendations seriously. I think there’s a tremendous effort to try to comply with them. Of course, there are reports where we have to agree to disagree.”
-Kelly Madigan, Baltimore County inspector general