The Baltimore County Council is set to decide Monday whether to confirm County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s pick of Khadija Walker to be inspector general.

The council approves dozens of administration appointees every year — some for big jobs like police or fire chief, others for voluntary advisory boards. Normally, the process is quick, with the nominee’s family applauding after a unanimous confirmation.

Walker’s confirmation process has been anything but typical. Klausmeier, who became Baltimore County’s first female county executive in January when she was tapped to serve the remaining two years of Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s term, surprised the current inspector general in May by telling her she did not plan to automatically reappoint her.

Keeping Kelly Madigan in her job has become a rallying cry for some. Activists have staged three protests, each larger than the last. Four of the seven council members — all three Republicans and one Democrat — have pledged to support Madigan for the job.

“You do have a mess on your hands,” Del. N. Scott Phillips testified to the seven-member council last week. “And you’ve got to figure out how to get through it.”

Olszewski appointed Madigan as inspector general to bolster his claim of having “the most transparent office in Baltimore County history.”

It was, in fact, Olszewski’s Republican opponent in 2018, Al Redmer Jr., who first proposed establishing an inspector general’s office. Olszewski backed the idea after surviving a tough Democratic primary focused on concerns about the county’s alleged “pay-for-play” culture.

Olszewski appointed Madigan in 2020 but quickly bristled at her investigations of some of his allies. In 2021, Olszewski tried to create an oversight board to rein in Madigan’s investigative powers. Introduced at Olszewski’s request by County Councilman Julian Jones, the bill would have limited subpoena power and restricted her to public documents. Jones was also the target of two Madigan investigations.

Some residents expressed outrage. Olszewski named a blue-ribbon panel that recommended ways to strengthen the office. Later, voters passed a charter amendment to enshrine the position so that no future county executive could eliminate it. The episode mirrored similar moves in the city when the mayor tried to curtail investigations.

Here are things to know about Baltimore County’s inspector general controversy.

Olszewski said he would have reappointed Madigan. Why didn’t he?

Olszewski, a Democrat, has said he would have made a different decision than Klausmeier did. But he could have reappointed Madigan before he went to Congress.

Last month, Madigan released a report calling out a former Baltimore County employee — Olszewski’s uncle — for using a county vehicle for personal purposes and to do work for Olszewski’s campaign from 2022 to 2024. County officials have said that is unrelated to Klausmeier’s decision; Olszewski has said he did not tell Klausmeier to dump Madigan.

All seven council members told The Banner that Olszewski never tried to influence their pick for a new county executive and did not engineer a trade over removing Madigan.

Klausmeier’s explanations for not keeping Madigan have evolved.

Klausmeier, a former state senator who pledged not to run for county executive in 2026, has kept nearly all of Olszewski’s appointees and promoted several. Madigan, recently honored as “fraud fighter of the year” by her peers, is the exception.

Klausmeier first said the charter required an open search. It does not.

She then said Madigan did not ask to stay. Madigan tried multiple times to meet with Klausmeier to communicate her successes and desire to stay, but she said the county executive did not respond.

Klausmeier has declined several requests to be interviewed since then.

Klausmeier’s announced process for selecting her nominee changed.

In June, Klausmeier announced that she was appointing a five-person panel to choose finalists. The panel would forward her the names, and she would make the selection. Then one of the panel members, Arthur Elkins Jr., could not make the panel meetings. Klausmeier changed the process so that a four-person panel would make the recommendations and a three-person committee — Klausmeier, Elkins and a member of the county’s ethics commission — would make the pick.

The panel selected Walker, who had worked as a program manager for nearly two decades in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General. Elkins was the EPA’s inspector general during much of that time. Elkins also worked with Klausmeier’s chief of staff, Amanda Conn, when both were at the Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission.

Klausmeier insisted in a two-page sheet “addressing misinformation” that the two barely interacted during their overlapping time at the 300-employee department. EPA records for fiscal year 2019 show 218.4 full-time-equivalent employees in that office. Walker’s and Elkins’ names jointly appear on several memos and reports that the office issued.

Several activists who’ve rallied in support of Madigan said they were troubled by the appearance of a connection between Walker and Elkins, despite assurances they were not close. Klausmeier’s office also said Conn and Elkins are not close.

Even those who support Walker’s nomination, including Phillips, acknowledge that the “mess” is clouding judgment about what is important — hiring a person who can root out government waste, fraud and abuse. Some say Walker, who would be the first Black woman to hold the post, is being subjected to heightened scrutiny because of her race.

Council members — and the public — have concerns about credentials

Klausmeier’s press release says Walker “has more than 22 years of high-level inspector general experience.” Walker’s experience is largely in audits. The Association of Inspectors General and Common Cause both criticized how Klausmeier ran the search. Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Cumming maintained Walker could not be as qualified as Madigan, because she already had been in the job for years.

Klausmeier’s office said in a statement, “Auditors are well trained in identifying waste, fraud and abuse. Moreover, Ms. Walker has demonstrated experience leading both audits and investigations.”

Walker herself told the council that the types of audits she does are different from the financial ones they’re accustomed to seeing. For example, when she looked at water contamination in Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi, she was examining whole programs. The work of an inspector general, Walker told the council, is not just to prosecute fraud; it’s to examine systems and determine how to make them more efficient.

In an open Letter, Klausmeier said she was disappointed that Walker’s “impressive credentials have come under attack for political reasons.”

Some council members expressed concern that Walker lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia, some 100 miles away. She assured them the commute would not be a problem; it was unclear, though, if she planned to move closer if confirmed.

Baltimore County’s inspector general position is more than an office — it’s become a litmus test.

Accusations of misconduct have dogged past county executives. Spiro Agnew resigned as vice president in 1973 because of bribes he took when he was county executive. His successor as county executive, Dale Anderson, landed in prison the following year for a county contract kickback scheme. Jim Smith’s campaign treasurer was convicted of embezzlement. Kevin Kamenetz let one supporter buy a fire station at a $2 million discount. C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger let a different one tear down the historic Samuel Owings house just hours before a hearing to save it.

County residents have made clear they want the county to break from the old ways.

The county isn’t fighting over whether to have an inspector general and how powerful they should be. The only question is who should sit in the chair.