Howard County wants a watchdog, and it possibly has the pick of the litter.
The timing is convenient for the Maryland jurisdiction where residents overwhelmingly voted last November to create an inspector general’s office to root out waste, fraud and abuse in local government.
On Wednesday, Howard’s inspector general advisory board will start interviewing 10 candidates, two per day. Interviews will begin at 6:30 p.m. and are expected to run for about an hour. The last two interviews are scheduled for Sept. 10.
A commutable distance away in Washington, D.C., 19 federal inspectors general were recently dismissed by President Donald Trump from U.S. departments, including Defense, Education, Health and Human Services, Labor, State and Veterans Affairs, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Just over the county line in Baltimore County, council members this month passed over County Executive Kathy Klausmeier’s pick for a new inspector general, Khadija Walker, effectively retaining the county’s first, Kelly Madigan. According to the county, Walker previously worked in inspector general offices at USAID and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for two decades.
Howard’s seven-person search committee isn’t saying whether any of these seasoned professionals are among the county’s 58 applicants — but they’ve hinted that the pool is strong.
“We are cognizant of the idea that a number of inspectors general were fired in the course of us getting started, so we have a robust list of candidates,” said David Salem, chair of Howard’s inspector general advisory board.
Prior experience is important, he said, but the panel will also consider candidates without it.
A job listing for the position states that candidates must have a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university and a decade of experience in several fields such as auditing and financial analysis. They must have or obtain within one year a certification from the Association of Inspectors General. Candidates cannot have held an elected office in Howard or directed one of the county’s departments, offices or agencies within the past five years.
The application period closed July 11. Since then, board members have worked closely with Howard County’s human resources team and recruitment firm Robert Half to vet the applicants and collect documentation of their qualifications.
About half were deemed unqualified and roughly 20 were interesting enough to be considered for first-round interviews.
The advisory board met Thursday to finalize the interview process, which Salem estimated would take about six weeks.
Howard County tasked the advisory panel with conducting its search independently to avoid the risk of interference from elected leaders. Each of the five County Council members and County Executive Calvin Ball appointed a member to the board. Council members also collectively appointed an at-large member through a public solicitation process.
County law states that the board must consist of at least one member from the Democratic and the Republican parties as well as one member who is unaffiliated with a political party.
In addition to Salem, the elected leaders named Kathleen Downs, Vernon Curry, Steven Quisenberry, Dennis Raschka, Katy Sedney and Mitchell Stahm to sit on the panel. They collectively bring to the search experience in finance, law and investigations.
Howard County is the fourth Maryland jurisdiction to create an oversight office, joining Baltimore City and Baltimore and Montgomery counties.
Baltimore Banner reporter Jess Nocera contributed to this article.
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