Ethics Complaint re-Filed, With Additional Charges by Patrick Allen ... patrickwilliamallen@comcast.net

Ethics Commission Demonstrates Allegiance To Blaine Young On Monday, January 13, 2014, the Frederick County Ethics Commission took up a matter in closed session. The text of the original ethics complaint is provided on the last page of this document. The outcome of that closed door session is still bewildering to many, a week later. The Ethics Commission ruling DOES NOT exonerate Blaine Young or the senior county Budget Office staffer from the allegations which led to the submission of a request for investigation. This finding clearly demonstrates that the county does not have a mechanism for evaluating, investigating and resolving unethical conduct by county employees. The Frederick County Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose does place the jurisdiction privilege of this issue in front of the Ethics Commission for investigation. Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose : "Recognizing that our system of government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees, finds and declares that the people have a right to be assured that the impartiality and independent judgment of public officials and employees will be maintained." Key and critical words contained in the Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose are, "...our system of government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees..." Allegations of an untoward relationship between Blaine Young and the Budget Office staffer is a clear breach of that trust and within the jurisdiction privilege of the Ethics Commission warranting a full and complete investigation. The fact that the principals involved in the allegation are the President of the Frederick County BoCC and a senior staffer in the county's Budget Office clearly raises questions which need to be investigated rather than set aside. For the Chairperson of the Ethics Commission to disregard the obvious and publicly state, "I think the less I say, the better ... and I think that is all we should talk on it" is a seismic breach of trust between the citizens of Frederick County, the BoCC and the BoCC appointed Ethics Commission. It is clear that the Ethics Commission cannot and will not perform its responsibilities to the citizens of Frederick County and to that extent; the County Attorney's office should appoint a special prosecutor to fully investigate this matter or refer it to the Maryland State Attorney General's office for investigation.

Resubmission eMail to Ethics Commission c/o Frederick County Attorney’s Office -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Ethics Investigation Request; Resubmission of Date: Sat, 18 Jan 2014 17:32:28 -0500 From: Patrick Allen <patrickwilliamallen@comcast.net> To: Thall, Linda <LThall@FrederickCountyMD.gov>, KLong@FrederickCountyMD.gov TO : Linda Thall, Kim Long SUBJ : Resubmission of Ethics Investigation Request The Ethics Commission ruling DOES NOT exonerate Blaine Young or the senior county Budget Office staffer from the allegations which led to the submission of a request for investigation. This finding clearly demonstrates that the county does not have a mechanism for evaluating, investigating and resolving unethical conduct by county employees. The Frederick County Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose does place the jurisdiction privilege of this issue in front of the Ethics Commission for investigation. Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose : "Recognizing that our system of government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees, finds and declares that the people have a right to be assured that the impartiality and independent judgement of public officials and employees will be maintained." Key and critical words contained in the Ethics Ordinance Statement of Purpose are, "...our system of government is dependent in part upon the people maintaining the highest trust in their public officials and employees..." Allegations of an untoward relationship between Blaine Young and the Budget Office staffer is a clear breach of that trust and within the jurisdiction privilege of the Ethics Commission warranting a full and complete investigation. It is important to note that the confidential correspondence I received, which led to the original complaint submission to the Ethics Commission, came not only from professional persons in the county, but also from persons across the political spectrum and persons who work alongside or with Mr. Young. Relevant facts (i.e. “specifics”) were not included in the email to the Ethics Commission to ensure they would not be "leaked" to the public (or to Mr. Young) prior to disclosing that information in a confidential, investigative setting. For the Ethics Commission to make their ruling based on the fact that specifics were not included in the document, which could easily be leaked to the public is not a satisfactory or acceptable finding. Their action demonstrates that this BoCC appointed Ethics review panel has abrogated its sworn duties to the citizens of Frederick County. The term “confidential sources” clearly denotes the existence of information which should be presented to the Ethics panel, or in a more confidential setting with a County Attorney / State Attorney Office. As the former Chief of Staff for Roscoe Bartlett and years of experience in working with sensitive information, Mr. Otis is fully aware of what the term "confidential sources" means. It was incumbent on his leadership as the Chair of the Ethics Commission to seek the additional information available from these confidential sources. The fact that the principals involved in the allegation are the President of the Frederick County BoCC and a senior staffer in the county's Budget Office clearly raises questions which need to be investigated rather than set aside.

----- ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO BE ADDED TO THIS REQUEST ---------------------- Specific points of interest regarding this additional allegation of unethical conduct by Mr. Young are:

Zoning and Planning Public Ethics Law The Frederick County Zoning and Planning Public Ethics Law of the Annotated Code of Maryland is effective as of June 1, 2007. The law prohibits contributions to members of the Board of County Commissioners by applicants with interests in property that is the subject of certain zoning and planning applications pending before the Board and restricts the ability of the Board member to vote and participate in the application proceedings if such a contribution was received. The Public Ethics Law also requires Board members to disclose ex parte communications about pending applications.

Additionally, it has been publicly documented (Frederick News-Post, comments by Blaine Young) that he had dinner at a Frederick restaurant the night of the Monrovia Town Center public hearing. This raises the question of who paid for the dinner?

Did Rand Weinberg, or someone other than Blaine Young, pay for Blaine Young’s dinner and drinks?

(3) An official or employee may not knowingly accept a gift, directly or indirectly, from a person that the official or employee knows or has the reason to know:

(a) Is doing business with or seeking to do business with the County division, agency, or board or commission with which the official or employee is affiliated; (b) Has financial interests that may be substantially and materially affected, in a manner distinguishable from the public generally, by the performance or nonperformance of the official duties of the official or employee;

It is important to note that an initial allegation of unethical conduct is now under investigation and unraveling the truth in New Jersey ... not based on deposing the principals with yes / no questions, but based on digital forensic investigations of emails, text messages and phone records to get to the truth. Respectfully, Patrick Allen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This below unmodified email snippet is part of an email exchange I had with Blaine Young during the first week of March, 2013. Pertinent statements by Blaine Young have highlighted (bold face). The appearance, if not outright stipulation by Mr. Young, of a quid pro quo relationship with business and development community interests adds to the level of warrant for these matters to be fully investigated. -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: MORE INFO: Re: Emmitsburg News Sequestration Commentary Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2013 02:41:32 +0000 From: Blaine Young <BlaineYoung@clearchannel.com> To: Patrick Allen <patrickwilliamallen@comcast.net>, "blaine@blaineyoung.com" <blaine@blaineyoung.com> I will have between - 750,000 to a million regards of what I say, do or write - the regional business community will keep their promise based on what I have done for them already. ---------- End of eMail Message Text ---------------------------------------------------------------

Original Complaint to Ethics Commission c/o Frederick County Attorney’s Office modified for second filing. NOTE : The name of the female county employee has been redacted from this publicly accessible document, however, her name is on record with the Ethics Commission and the County Attorney’s Office. TO : Frederick County Ethics Commission FROM : Patrick Allen Jefferson, Maryland SUBJ : Alleged Ethics Violations by BoCC President, Blaine Young and County Budget Officer, Regina Williams Howell ______________________________________________________ For some months, polite and public conversation around Frederick (City and County) has been lively with the allegation(s) that BoCC President, Blaine Young and Frederick County Budget Officer, Regina Williams Howell, are involved in a personal / intimate relationship outside of their existing marriages to their current spouses. While I will concede that rumors often times fly around in small towns, the allegations of this relationship go far beyond rumor. Numerous confidential sources have raised the issue of misconduct, which has led me to send this request for an investigation to you. At interest is the fact that Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell are currently married to someone other than each other and Regina Williams Howell is a subordinate employee to Mr. Young insofar as she serves in a critical financial position for the county as Budget Officer. This brings up several important ethics issues which need to be investigated by this commission ... 1) Unethical fraternization between superior and subordinate county employees, and 2) adultery under Maryland statute. I strongly recommend the Ethics Commission evaluate all circumstantial evidence as well as information acquired from confidential sources, then act appropriately with a finding to refer this matter to the County Attorney with their recommendation for a complete and comprehensive digital forensic investigation to include, but not be limited to:

Email from all personal and professional email addresses, associated with or assigned to Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell.

Text Messages from all personal and professional devices, associated with or assigned to Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell.

Phone records from all personal and professional telephony devices (mobile or land line), associated with or assigned to Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell.

Otherwise, as a BoCC appointed entity, I strongly recommend the Ethics Commission recuse itself from this matter and refer it to the County Attorney’s Office for the assignment of a special prosecutor. To ensure the necessary level of citizen oversight of the Blaine Young appointed Ethics Commission … when the Ethics Commission takes up this matter in closed session, Patrick Allen, as the complainant, should be in the room during any and all discussions regarding this complaint. Also, Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell should not be allowed to witness any discussions regarding this matter, other than direct interview(s), nor should they be included in any investigative findings correspondence, during the course of the investigation, regarding this matter. This should be stipulated in writing, by certified letter to Mr. Young and Mrs. Howell from the appropriate investigative entity. I look forward to you giving this your attention and your response. Respectfully, Patrick Allen