Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker III came into office this month pledging to fight corruption and put an end to the "pay-to-play" culture that federal authorities say lined the pockets of local officials with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from developers eager to do business in the county. It may be difficult to keep the focus on ethics reform at a time when Mr. Baker is confronted with a string of killings — 13 homicides in the first 11 days of this year — but his success in improving the county's tarnished image will ultimately depend on whether he and his team can follow through on efforts to eliminate corruption.
Mr. Baker has already shown some of the decisiveness he will need to restore residents' trust in the integrity of their government through the wholesale housecleaning he conducted within hours of being sworn in. By the end of the day, he had dismissed, among others, the county's police chief, fire chief, environmental resources department chief and the head of its troubled housing department, which is currently the subject of a federal and state corruption probe. He filled those jobs with solid interim appointments and then launched a national search for permanent replacements. At the same time he initiated a review of lower level employees, aimed at getting rid of those whose actions are ethically questionable.
Mr. Baker will need the advice of the Accountability, Compliance and Integrity Task Force he created, which is chaired by former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke and retired Prince George's County Judge William Missouri. The panel, which met for the first time last week, is charged with reviewing county ethics rules and oversight mechanisms, procurement and accounting procedures and best practices from other jurisdictions. It will also issue specific recommendations on matters of ethics to the county executive and council.
At the same time, Mr. Baker has proposed a package of reform legislation for this year's General Assembly session in Annapolis aimed at tightening state conflict-of-interest laws. One bill would limit council members ability to collect contributions from developers whose cases they are considering; a second would prevent council members from singlehandedly holding up projects in their districts after they've been approved by the county planning commission. Both measures are aimed at closing loopholes in state campaign finance laws that allow local lawmakers to solicit campaign contributions from developers and other powerful interests.
A major test awaits Mr. Baker when an independent audit of the housing department is completed in May. The audit, which was requested by the County Council last year and is being conducted by the Virginia Tech Center for Housing Research, will examine persistent allegations of "pay-to-play" schemes, cronyism and financial irregularities at an agency that affects the lives of thousands of Prince George's County families and children. In order to maintain his credibility as a reformer, Mr. Baker will need to act quickly to get the department back on track.
In the longer term, Mr. Baker must proceed carefully with his plan to focus future development efforts around Metro rail stations. Transparency and accountability are vital if those projects are to remain untainted by the "pay-to-play" culture his administration has vowed to uproot. Establishing a level playing field by keeping the rules for zoning approvals, contract awards and other county business clean and above-board will be key if Mr. Baker is to succeed in restoring to Prince George's County residents the good governance they deserve.