Capital Article

Loricchio, Lauren, School board candidate interviews held amid pending lawsuit, May 22, 2016.

Snider Comment

“Those who filed the lawsuit argue SBNC Chairman Jamie Falcon, a Gov. Larry Hogan appointee, abused his power by seeking applications for two seats … without a commission vote.”

From 2008 to 2015 the previous SBNC made countless important administrative decisions without a commission vote at a duly noticed public meeting. Bob Burdon or one of his designees sat on the commission during that period.

To confirm that the missing votes weren’t just at public meetings covered by Maryland’s Open Meetings Act, I filed a Public Information Act request seeking email correspondence among the commission members. The relevant commission votes could still not be found.

The violation of widely accepted due process norms under Mr. Burdon’s watch at the SBNC can be found at http://elighthouse.info/public-testimony-on-sbnc-procedure/. I have testified about these problems before the Maryland General Assembly, seeking reforms to both Maryland’s Open Meetings Act and Public Information Act. This testimony, scattered in different places, can also be found at eLighthouse.info.