From Citizens for Bob Cassilly:
Dear Friend,
I’ve been working hard to fill critical gaps in our emergency management system, successfully open the school year with our new and improved school board leadership, recruit new businesses that offer well-paying jobs, expand our parks and open spaces, and oppose the powerful developers and their cronies who are accustomed to using insider influence to manipulate the development process in county government.
I’m doing all this and more in county government while consistently facing vitriolic attacks from County Council member Aaron Penman, a strong ally to certain developers and their cronies who are outraged by my refusal to grant them the insider influence they previously enjoyed.
Mr. Penman’s latest tactic is trying to distract you from his own conflict-of-interest behavior. In his new dual status, his self-proclaimed entitlement to serve as both a council member and sheriff’s deputy, Mr. Penman operates in flagrant violation of basic principles of good governance, fundamentals of transparency, and the County Charter, which clearly precludes council members from holding county or state employment while serving as a council member.
Some will ask, “Didn’t the Court recently rule that public school kindergarten teacher Jacob Bennett, employed by the Board of Education, could hold a Council seat?” Yes, but the Court clearly indicated that ruling was based on the very “unique” (unusual) status the county Board of Education holds under the law as a locally elected and locally appointed independent body, making its operations distinct from other State and County offices, like the sheriff’s office.
The sheriff holds one of the oldest state offices and he and his deputies take an oath to uphold state and county laws. There is a major difference between kindergarten teachers and police officers in their relationship with and service to the county government.
More than just violating the County Charter, Councilman Penman’s position working for both the Sheriff and the County Council is a massive conflict of interest, a clear affront to integrity, transparency, and his obligation to the taxpayers. The sheriff’s very substantial operating and capital budgets are approved by the County Council, along with other benefits and matters of direct benefit to the sheriff.
As an employee and now essentially an inside lobbyist on behalf of the sheriff in all council deliberations, Councilman Penman cannot properly discharge his duties as a councilman to fairly and without prejudice evaluate and recommend funding for the sheriff’s budget, and impartially review other legislative requests. The sheriff determines Deputy Penman’s promotion, duty assignments, and other benefits of employment, making it impossible for Mr. Penman to serve as an unbiased councilman representing the taxpayers of his district while also being beholden to the sheriff for his employment, salary, duties, position, and work schedule.
Councilman Penman is attacking me with full force to distract you from the fact that in his dual role as a deputy and councilman, his salary and benefits are estimated at around $300,000 annually. (Those benefits offer a substantial inducement for compliance.) Please contact the council president and council members (contact information here) and urge them to take action to correct this situation.
Also, Mr. Penman has not yet filed his MANDATORY public ethics disclosure of his income sources that was due last May.
Thank you,
Bob
This was my letter to the county council this morning.
Good Morning Council Members,
I am writing you today because I am very concerned and angry about a desperate email that went out by our County Executive, Bob Cassilly.
These constant retaliation attacks against our elected officials needs to stop. The fact that our CE is echoing words by the local We the People group is pathetic. This group is known to spew false information and attacks every election official and some citizens.
Just the thought that any professional leader would participate in this behavior is disgusting. It’s obvious to me, with the development being an issue in our county, he is trying to tie anyone who does not agree with him, to the developers. According to the campaign finance reports, Mr Cassilly has taken way more money from developers, commercial real estate, real estate lawyers, lobbyist, etc, than any one of you! He has taken $8500. from Mr Snee, the real estate lawyer who he tries to tie to Penman. He has taken monies from Peak Management who is part of some recent projects in our county. Oh and don’t forget Wayne Goddard (commercial realty) who is building apartments in Bel Air and is now on our Economic Development Board and the Liquor Board under the Cassilly administration. He talks about lobbyists, well he has taken money from several Annapolis lobbyist such as Bereano, Jones, Evans, etc,. The list goes on and on!! I know that he had Annapolis and DC advisors running his campaign, but I didn’t think he would try to bring their dirty politics to Harford County.
Beware, you could be next!
As for Mr Penman working at the Sheriffs Office, I believe the courts ruled on this already in the Bennett case which cost our county a ton of money. Does Mr Cassilly really have to be told again by the courts that there is no conflict? Does he really want to waste more tax payers dollars? He claims that Mr Penman will be partial when voting on things related to the Sheriffs Office. Well when spending many years serving our community in law enforcement, I would have assumed he would have a favorable opinion whether he works there or not. Same goes for Mr Bennett. I would assume if the court ruled different and made him step down, he would still favor public education. This was just another desperate lie put out there just to retaliate against Mr Penman.
In closing, please do not give any consideration to Mr Cassilly request to remove Mr Penman. Let’s not give in to these political games. Just because Mr Cassilly is being questioned on his behavior, I don’t think it is beneficial to support his attacks on not just Mr Penman, but also Sheriff Gahler and States Attorney Healey.
Read the letter itself dummy
Mr. Stu, you are 100% correct and being kind…..
Oh look a bootlicker for Penman and his developer buddies. Cassilly stands between him and this pack of thieves and everyone in Fallston knows it. I mean they aren’t even very good at deception. So sad. I smell a recall coming for Penman.
Money Tree since you are unable to read a lengthy post I will post the high lights you either can’t read or don’t understand that Cassilly is paying back his contributors.
“”””Mr Cassilly has taken way more money from developers, commercial real estate, real estate lawyers, lobbyist, etc, than any one of you! He has taken $8500. from Mr Snee, the real estate lawyer who he tries to tie to Penman. He has taken monies from Peak Management who is part of some recent projects in our county. Oh and don’t forget Wayne Goddard (commercial realty) who is building apartments in Bel Air and is now on our Economic Development Board and the Liquor Board under the Cassilly administration.””””
Everything you post gives me the giggles and you work so hard putting winded paragraphs of pure comedy together. It’s a 10 from me! ~giggles~
Crooked Terry is that you?
Town drunk Terry Hanley grasping yet again for the money tree. Cassilly was once to be respected. Now driving a clown car full crooks. Welcome to Bob’s Big Top.
Thanks for the lengthy letter. It is letters like this that try to wake the people up to dirty politics by the highest authority in Harford County.
This has got to stop and the county council needs to exercise their authority and file charges against CE Cassilly for misuse of government funds in his personal revenge against elected officials.
This whole incident is, sadly, reflective of the chaos now running the entire Republican Party starting in Congress and dripping down to the local level. It is a civil war between Republicans and we, the people, must suffer through this infantile behavior that negatively effects their ability to govern.
Thanks for the post.
C E Cassilly needs to be charged for miss use of government funds.
The county council needs to do their job and examine the waste of taxpayers money by frivolous law suits that Cassilly should be paying for.
How long are taxpayers going to put up with this infighting orchestrated by the CE.
The council needs to look into these contributions by outside agencies doing business in Harford County.
The Peak management is an interesting one. Not only do they condemn a building and claim it’s not suited for the training facility, but then they get the job of planning the new facility.
Sure this happens in politics, but being right out in the open and dangling in the publics view. The previous administration had much more class.
Signed, Barry Glassman. LOL.
Money tree if your signed Glassman is meant for me, I don’t like him either. His administration did exactly what Cassilly is doing with developers.
Only difference is Glassman has more intelligence
Taking endorsements, backing developers, lieing to the working class. This is what politicians do. According to Crooked Terry… “it’s common practice, although I’ve never done it”.
It Cassilly isn’t charged, we may never see the the funds returned to Ramsey Ford. Please give us our money back Terry.
-Ramsey Ford Employees
Clearly Cassilly has tweaked those that thought they had a lock on the development process to manipulate as they wanted. How dare he as county executive act in the best interest of the citizens of the district affected, and the county at large. They brought out the long knives as soon as he was sworn in. I fully support CE Cassilly. Shame on Glassman, and all the rest of them.
The current County Executive Administration are nothing but racist Prejudice pieces of trash who don’t care about the poor and disabled out here in Harford County trust me I should know they’ve been discriminating against me since I’ve been calling them asking them for help!!!! they made a point blank clear they do not want no homeless or poor in Harford County they want to chase us all away!!! but I’m not going anywhere and will continue to call them out until they finally help or until they get kicked out of office!!!
Don’t forget, they also don’t care about lesbian Nazi hookers abducted by UFOs and forced into weight loss programs – all next week on Town Talk.
You’re homeless and yet you have a smartphone and can log in here, and/or recharge your phone I guess magically plugged into a forest mushroom – either that or a desktop and that would be weird in the woods. Nobody believes you because you’re story doesn’t jive w you even being in this space.
Money tree you know what assuming does. With all the places someone can go to communicate online, you have just shown low itell or understanding the world today.
~giggles~ There you go again. Comedy gold!!
The voters of Harford County SUPPORT County Executive Cassilly. We will continue to SUPPORT County Executive Cassilly. Do the voters SUPPORT the incumbent Harford County Council members? A resounding NO. Our elected folks can show up at a remodeled deli and make a few sandwiches in front of the cameras. It will be a meaningless gesture, in the minds of the citizenry, come the next election. Mark my words…..
Sorry K says. When Cassilly went against the voters and tried to bully Councilman Bennett he totally lost any respect I could have of him.
He is a bully using his power to beat up on others.
Cassilly is what I call white trash.
– tee hee giggles –
Cassilly is in way in over his head. Cassilly seems to be a petty thinker with petty vendettas. Get to work for the County.
Wow, Cassilly is really wasting County resources. Word on the street is that he has surrounded himself with incompetence. Incompetence can’t help incompetence. The next election can’t come soon enough!
Wow, seems like Bennett and Giordano let the cat out of the bag last night as to just how corrupt the council is and has been. The CE is standing strong against a handful of greedy, and spoiled wanna-be Biden’s and it includes Glassman. Everybody gets a piece of the profits right? Penman is making an arse of himself and it’s so bad he’ll never recover. I suggest he move to another district – nobody wants him in Fallston anymore.