An Inconvenient Felony The Intersection of Politics and Personal Lives, and The Unbreakable Connection Between Young, Gardner and Otis The Frederick Chronicles...FrederickChronicles@gmail.com Prologue Former Frederick County Board of County Commissioners Presidents, Blaine Young and J an Gardner, faced off at the 2014 ballot box to see which would be Frederick Countys first Charter government County Executive. While the two of them have served, separate and together, in prior incarnations of county government, the run up to the 2014 County Executive race opened a can of worms which neither could have imagined.One is sitting on a potential embarrassment; the other is sitting on a potential felony. To set the characters, the current County Executive seems to have gotten stuck somewhere along the spectrum in the evolution of womens hair fashion and dress, while the former BoCC President appears to be a reincarnation of the bicycle stealing Francis Buxton from Pee Wees Big Adventure.The minor player in this tragedy is the current County Council President and former Young appointed Ethics Commission chairperson, Harold Bud Otis. The Back Story ( mid 2011 to mid 2013 ) During 2011 and 2012, a team of political corruption investigators exposed Maryland State Senate Majority Leader, Rob Garagiola, regarding his extra marital affair with a highly paid lobbyist in Annapolis.A lobbyist who had Garagiolas ear during pillow talk which affected the legislative pipeline into Marylands Senate chamber. Based on this, and perhaps other factors, Blaine Young, as a Trump-styled self-promoter and the host of WFMDs drive time afternoon radio show, invited one of the senior investigative team members to join him on the air. Critics made it clear, Hell eat you up like a buzz saw, but, from inside the team, we thought otherwise. A cordial relationship was developed over the ensuing months, centered on the Fun Fact Fridays joint radio show.. Off the air, Blaine Young would often make comments which raised red flags with his political ramblings regarding what he has done and what he was intending to do. On October 19, 2012, Blaine Young crossed the line that any political investigator / operative could hope for.Broadcasting from a remote location, he asked his new radio sidekick to join his inner circle to provide strategic and tactical political advice.At the time, Young was publicly promoting his intent to run for Governor of Maryland, but, in short order, it became clear his political target was no where near Annapolis, but closer to home Charter government County Executive. An agreement was struck to pay the inner circle adviser $1,000 per week, as well as gas, food and lodging, but when Mr. Young appeared reluctant during the following weeks, to keep the deal intact and stay in the inner circle, the agreement was modified to lower the weekly rate to $500, with food, gas and lodging requirements remaining intact. Mr. Youngs plan was to take $8,000 from his Blaine Young for Governor campaign funds and redirect those monies through a commercial business (Engage, LLC).The seed money would be used to make the weekly payments to the adviser to conduct political activities on Mr. Youngs behalf. The plan worked like clockwork.A thirty minute meeting with Blaine Young in his Yellow Cab office on Monday, listening to his political strategies and prideful boasting of corruption activities - taking copious notes, then on Tuesday, knock on a locked door at Engage, LLC, where a secretary would open the door and hand over an envelope containing the current weeks payment.No invoices, no task orders, no document trail. By 1Q2013, J anuary March, Mr. Young became so loose lipped the campaign paid adviser could hardly take notes fast enough during Yellow Cab meetings with February and March, 2013 being the most productive period for investigative research and note taking.Topics included, but were not limited to: 1.Using county funds to effect Mr. Youngs politically motivated county services privatization ruse project. 2.Ex parte meetings and a handshake deal to effect the sale of Montevue / Citizens six months in advance of the public hearing and vote. 3.Acquiring confidential courthouse records, allegedly belonging to a former BoCC President and potential County Executive opponent, with the intention to use the courthouse records against the opponent. 4.Quid Pro Quo with the development community and the quid pro quo appointment of Dwaine Robbins to the Frederick County Planning Commission.. Blaine Young was dictating felony after felony and to celebrate shots of Crown Royal in his Yellow Cab office flowed like a water faucet. Specifically regarding felony #3, Mr. Young was only several months into an extra marital affair with a county employee (Regina Williams-Howell) and most likely theorized his affair would remain hidden as he attempted to expose alleged likewise behavior by a political opponent. The tip from reliable sources, according Mr.Young, was that Gardner had a rendezvous with her paramour at the La Paz restaurant in Frederick, during happing hour, and who knows where it went from there. To be clear, Blaine Young has been associated with alleged dalliances, such as the Potter Black Book and his own admission of visiting the message parlor on Route 40, approximately one mile west of the Golden Mile.To Mr. Youngs credit, he has beaten the wrap time after time. The Mid Story ( mid 2013 to mid 2014 ) By April, 2013, the $8,000 initial payment to Engage, LLC had run out and Blaine Young needed to make a decision to stop the payments or continue.In his Yellow Cab office he said that he had decided to suspend his gubernatorial campaign, but would reevaluate his political prospects later in the summer and by September would either restart the payment plan or pay the adviser $5,000 in walk away money. Knowing the Mellow Yellow Project, as it was named, was over, payments to resume as an adviser or a $5,000 payout from Mr. Youngs campaign funds were now off the table.The focus for the investigative team was now concentrated on assembling the notebook full of revelations from meetings with Mr. Young and convert those notes into clear and convincing evidence of felony activities by Mr. Young and his associates. While misappropriation of county funds for the purpose of Frederick County services privatization, the sale of Montevue / Citizens and developer quid pro quo seemed clear and convincing evidence of felony activities, the one activity which stood out among the rest was the pursuit of confidential courthouse records to effect a political objective against a possible / probable political opponent J an Gardner. In May, 2013, the volume of data was discussed with a secure source to develop a strategy to bring the information into the public domain.When confronted with information regarding the J an Gardner confidential courthouse records, the source said, God damn it, I gave him [Blaine Young] that tip. That was a seminal moment. The possibility of taking the information to the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun was discussed, but those news outlets were so short on reporting resources the story would most likely get buried under the pile of stories they were working on.The Frederick News-Post, for good or bad, presented the best opportunity to get the information into the public domain. With that agreed upon, Bethany Rogers was contacted and as a trusted staff reporter she showed an interest in the story and the bulk of supporting documentation.During the meeting Bethany was a good sport taking copious notes and making copies of check stubs and additional evidential artifacts. Unfortunately for the citizens of Frederick County, the Frederick News-Post management put a squash on the story and Bethanys notes, along with the evidence, was put into a box labeled, Do Not Open. It is important to note that at the same time a meeting was taking place with the Frederick News-Post, a whitepaper containing a narrative describing the evolution of evidence collection was sent to J an Gardner, as a courtesy.The investigative team agreed that Gardner should be made aware of Mr. Youngs intentions and the fact that information embarrassing to Gardner may soon come to light. Ms. Gardner never responded, but, did send Val Dale to run interference to discuss the matter.From the investigative teams perspective, Ms. Dales correspondence appeared to be an attempt to see if she could find out how much information the team actually had (published and non-published) and to deliver that information back to Gardner.Dale did write on social media regarding the unauthorized acquisition of confidential courthouse records and the impact it could have on any private citizen without referring directly to Gardner in her postings. The investigative team did not see an indication that Gardner had taken this matter to authorities. The Front Story ( early 2014 to Present ) Almost a year passed before a comprehensive ethics complaint was filed with the BoCC appointed Ethics Commission . at the time, chaired by current County Council President Bud Otis and replete with direct evidence of felony activities by Mr. Young and his associates. Mr. Otis resigned from the Ethics Commission and the remaining BoCC appointed ethics panelists summarily dismissed complaints filed by several citizens. By February-April, 2014, Blaine Youngs tryst with a county employee was leaching into the public discourse and Mr. Youngs plan to use the content of a private citizens confidential courthouse records became a no-win situation for Mr. Young as he fought to win the Frederick County Charter government County Executive race. The alleged Gardner dalliance with a senior county employee had been nullified by Mr. Youngs confirmed dalliance with a senior county employee. But the reality of a felony conspiracy to acquire confidential courthouse records did not go away.. A second complaint was filed with the same ethics panel, citing non-compliance with Standard Operating Procedures regarding the felony attempt to acquire courthouse records and other documented felonies, which the Gwen Romack chaired panel once again summarily dismissed. Epilogue The fact that Mr. Young chose not to use the content of confidential courthouse records belonging to a private citizen and potential political opponent which he had been pursuing and may have acquired, the felony has already been committed.Attempting to acquire confidential courthouse records is both a conspiracy as well as a felony on several levels county, state and federal. The real story here is Mr, Youngs felonious activities regarding the acquisition of confidential courthouse records which may or may not exist.Gardner and Otis are secondary and collateral.However, several questions need to be answered: 1.Why did the BoCC ethics panel, chaired by Otis and later by Romack, completely disregard direct evidence of a felony? and 2.Why is Gardner silent? Politics is not for the faint of heart.In this particular case, the two most senior members of Frederick County Charter government, the County Executive and County Council President, appear to be wishing this matter awaybut, its not going anywhere until they address the issue(s) head on. Gardner and Otis ran on Charter government campaign platforms of ethics reform and they should remind themselves that ethics apply to them as well. Could Gardner be giving Young a felony free pass to save herself from personal embarrassment?