The Democrat running to unseat Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold criticized him Friday after a news report said that one of the three taxpayer-funded vehicles the executive uses was found parked at his girlfriend's home in Pasadena this week, when a spokesman for the executive had said it was in storage.
"There is no excuse for Mr. Leopold to have three different vehicles and to spend more than $125,000 a year on security personnel when our Police Department is underfunded and our county is in a financial crisis," said Joanna L. Conti, who is challenging Leopold for the county's top post.
"Our county executive should be serving as a model of frugality, not using multiple gas-guzzling vehicles and police officers to transport him around."
Leopold's spokesman did not respond to a message from The Baltimore Sun seeking comment Friday afternoon, but directed the county police chief, Col. James Teare Sr., to answer questions.
Teare said Leopold has been issued a vehicle from Central Services and another from the Police Department's executive protection unit and has a third vehicle set aside as a spare. He said the arrangement is customary and "very appropriate." The vehicles are to be used for official county business, Teare said. He said he could not answer questions about why one of the vehicles was parked outside of the home of Leopold's girlfriend.
Leopold, a Republican who is running for re-election, faces Conti, a Democrat from Annapolis, and Green Party candidate Michael Shay in Tuesday's election.
According to the report that aired on WBAL-TV 11, Leopold has three vehicles assigned to him — two sport utility vehicles and a black Chevrolet Impala. One SUV, on loan from the Police Department, serves as his primary vehicle, with the second SUV, on loan from the Fire Department, as a backup. The Impala is supposed to be in storage, according to the report.
Leopold's spokesman was quoted in the news report, which aired Wednesday, as saying Leopold uses the SUV because of back pain and the Impala was in storage in Millersville. The news station aired footage of Leopold's Impala, with county executive license plates, parked outside a Pasadena condominium Tuesday afternoon. Leopold's spokesman then confirmed the car was there, but he said Leopold uses it to run errands and does not allow his girlfriend to drive it, according to the report.
The Impala was the subject of scrutiny in January 2009 when a 911 caller reported suspected sexual activity in the back seat of the car, which was parked outside a Nordstrom's department store in Annapolis. Leopold admitted to being in the back seat of the car, but county police said they found no wrongdoing. Leopold dismissed the claim as a "political circus."