A Baltimore County employee improperly used a county vehicle for personal purposes and political campaign work from 2022 to 2024, Inspector General Kelly Madigan said in a report released Tuesday.

The unidentified employee was a crew chief with the county’s Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability and used a county vehicle to drive to a political campaign office 36 times, according to the report.

The report does not identify the employee or the political campaign. However, a former campaign aide to Johnny Olszewski Jr., a past county executive who was elected to Congress last year, confirmed that it was for his campaign.

And Olszewski, who ran for reelection as Baltimore County executive in 2022 and Congress in 2024, suggested in a statement that it was a relative of his.

“I proudly created the Office of the Inspector General to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse,” Olszewski said in an emailed statement. “All Baltimore County employees must be held to the same, high standards, including relatives that we love and care about.”

The inspector general’s report does not identify the crew chief. However, county records show that Robert Olszewski, the congressman’s uncle, worked for DEPS.

Robert Olszewski, whose role was first reported by The Baltimore Brew, did not return a call seeking comment on Tuesday.

Baltimore County employees are prohibited from using county vehicles for personal or political use. The crew chief is no longer employed by the county, Administrative Officer D’Andrea Walker said in a letter to the IG’s office in response to the report.

The former crew chief also drove the county vehicle in Baltimore City 10 times to “assemble political campaign signs,” according to the report. County employees are not supposed to drive government vehicles outside of Baltimore County.

And of the 601 days that the Office of Inspector General identified the vehicle was in use, the report identified 272 when it was parked overnight at the crew chief’s house — despite rules that say the vehicle should be have been parked at a county lot.

The report found 33 instances “of particular concern” when the employee drove the county vehicle to their home, and then used the vehicle later for personal reasons, “even though they presumably had access to their personal vehicle.”

Madigan said it was “Government 101″ that you maintain a line between government work and political or personal activities.

“You have to keep those worlds separate,” Madigan said in an interview.

Madigan and others cited personnel reasons for not identifying the former employee and the political campaign.

But the real issue, Madigan said, is “about the conduct, not the person.”

In an interview with the inspector general’s office, the crew chief said they were unaware of rules prohibiting the use of county vehicles for campaign-related work, according to the report.

At the same time, the crew chief said they never put campaign signs in the vehicle, drove the vehicle to campaign events or used their county email or phone to campaign.

This is the fourth report in 18 months related to improper use of Baltimore County vehicles, according to the report.

As such, one of Madigan’s recommendations was to audit use of the county’s GPS monitoring system in vehicles. Other recommendations include expanding access to that monitoring system, implementing formal policies about vehicle use within specific agencies, and updated training on county employees and prohibitions concerning political activity.

Madigan said the administration affirmatively responded to five of six of the report’s recommendations, and that she was overall happy with the response.

Getting to make recommendations to improve county government is “the best part of the job,” Madigan said.

In her written response, Walker said the administration was still reviewing a recommendation that all OIG reports get emailed to county employees when they are published.

In an emailed statement, County Executive Kathy Klausmeier said she was grateful for the inspector general’s work, and that her office “acted swiftly” after receiving the report.

“Our employees are expected to adhere to the highest ethical standards and conduct their work with integrity and accountability,” Klausmeier wrote. “Misuse of County resources is a violation of public trust and we will continue to take quick and decisive action to ensure that this unacceptable behavior has no place in Baltimore County.”

Erica Palmisano, a spokesperson for Baltimore County, said the administration became aware of the investigation in February this year, and “began an internal investigation soon after.” Madigan submitted the report to the county on May 9, and the administration responded June 6.

The report comes as the relationship between the county administration and Madigan’s office is under strain.

Klausmeier’s office has convened a panel to search for the county’s next inspector general, after notifying Madigan she would not be automatically reappointed to the job, but could reapply.

The County Council’s three Republicans, though, have publicly said they would only vote to confirm Madigan. So has Izzy Patoka, a Democrat and former council chairman.

An inspector general nominee would need four votes to be confirmed.

Patoka said he was “disappointed” by the conduct in the report, and said that it spoke to why the county needs a strong inspector general.

There’s an expectation, he said, “that employees are using county resources appropriately.”