County principal planner cited for ethics violations

Friday, Oct. 16, 2009

The ethics report, delivered to The Calvert Recorder, says Brownlee committed violations by participating, directly or via his staff members, in the review of an application for a subdivision in which he had business interests and for failing to disclose a business relationship with Marrick Properties in 2003 and 2004. That relationship also created the appearance of a conflict of interest, constituting a third violation, according to the report.

The Calvert County Department of Planning and Zoning, Brownlee's employer, oversees development within the county.

Commission Chairman Sheryl Jones Alu did not return calls seeking comment.

Ethics commission reports are confidential. A total of 12 accusations against various county employees were made by an unnamed "complainant" in the report. With most of the accusations, the commission found no violations.

The report states that Brownlee claimed to be unaware his actions were in violation of the ethics code. Brownlee, citing that the matter is ongoing, declined to comment when reached by telephone.

In August 2002, Brownlee contracted to purchase property in Dares Beach, but before settling entered into an agreement with Marrick to develop and subdivide the land, according to the report. Under the agreement, reached in October 2002, Marrick would pay Brownlee $146,000 to $175,000, depending on whether it received subdivision approval for five or six building lots.

The agreement also specified that settlement on the property would occur once Marrick received preliminary subdivision approval. Until that time, Marrick would pay Brownlee $1,375 each month to cover interest, property taxes and additional consideration, according to the report.

An application for the subdivision was submitted to Planning and Zoning in April 2003, but rejected because Brownlee was not listed as an owner.

Although Brownlee was not technically the owner since he had not settled on the property, it is common practice for contract purchasers to sign applications, according to the report.

The property was settled on April 28, 2003, and the next day a second application was submitted. Part of the subdivision was recorded on county plats in October 2003 and the remaining segment was recorded in March 2004, according to the report. Brownlee was listed as the owner both times.

In April 2004, Brownlee sold the entire property except for one house to Calvert LLC, according to the report. Calvert LLC is a development company owned by Marrick Properties, Marrick Vice President Rick Bailey said.

Bailey, unaware of the report or its contents, declined further comment.

While Brownlee may not have directly participated in the application's review, "members of his staff over whom he has control did," the report states. The commission decided that Brownlee's involvement in addition to actions taken on other Marrick projects formed a conflict of interest and an ethics violation. A second violation occurred when Brownlee failed to disclose as required his relationship with Marrick on both his 2003 and 2004 financial disclosure forms.

Since Brownlee's employer regulates Marrick projects, he had created "at minimum, the appearance of impropriety" by accepting monthly payments and selling property to Marrick, the report says.

The commission also determined that Brownlee's previous ethics training and failure to sign the first subdivision application indicated "efforts to hide rather than misread such conflicts."

The commission also found that Brownlee committed a violation in a separate matter when he included himself among those recommended to the county to receive state grants for a nitrogen-removing septic system, according to the report. The Calvert County Board of County Commissioners approved the bid recommendations.

In addition to suggesting the suspension of Brownlee's salary, the commission recommended that Brownlee disclose financial interests related to his county work, cease any actions appearing to raise a conflict of interest and amend his 2003 and 2004 disclosure forms to show his business relationship with Marrick.

In order to prevent similar scenarios in the future, the commission also recommended that new procedures be established requiring advance disclosure of applications submitted by county employees to county regulatory agencies and recusal of employees from such matters absent a commission exemption.

jnewman@somdnews.com