From Harford County government:
After being named the subject of a Harford County ethics probe, County Councilmember Aaron Penman has once again made an untrue and outrageous claim attacking the character and integrity of Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly. Penman falsely alleges that the county executive signed a real estate plat submitted on behalf of a Cassilly family member.
County Executive Cassilly did not review and did not sign this plat.
Once a plat – which is a plan for land use – meets all applicable regulations and is approved by county departments, the county executive or his designee is legally obligated to sign it. This is required by the Harford County Code and is not subject to his discretion.
However, because this plat involved a family member, it was not reviewed by County Executive Cassilly. Instead, it was reviewed in due course without any favoritism and signed on his behalf by the director of administration. The plat document clearly shows the director’s same handwriting on two signature lines – once on the line for himself as director and again on the line below for the county executive, properly followed by the director’s initials.
This false attack is the latest in a year-long line of ridiculous allegations against the county executive by Councilmember Aaron Penman, who was recently notified that he is himself the subject of an ethics probe.
After receiving complaints from citizens, Harford County Attorney Jefferson Blomquist on Monday requested an advisory opinion from the Board of Ethics on potential conflicts of interest for Councilmember Penman, whose legislative duties include voting on the budget for his employer.
Penman works for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, which relies entirely on funding from the county government.
Mr. Blomquist originally sought opinions from the Maryland Office of the Attorney General on both the legal and ethical status of Penman’s employment by a county-funded agency while simultaneously voting to approve its budget as a member of the council.
Penman’s employer publicly claimed that the AG’s office had issued a legal opinion allowing the dual role. However, the AG’s office advised Mr. Blomquist in writing that they did not and do not issue opinions on matters of county law and they defer potential violations of the state ethics code to the Maryland State Ethics Commission.
Harford’s code of ethics mirrors that of the state.
The county attorney’s request for an advisory opinion from the local ethics board centers on the following questions:
Whether Councilmember Penman’s employment disqualifies him from serving on a legislative body that approves the budget for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, which is also his employer;
Whether Councilmember Penman should remain in office but be disqualified from voting on the county budget overall;
Whether Councilmember Penman should be disqualified from voting on the Sheriff’s Office budget only.
Members of the Harford County Board of Ethics are appointed by the county executive and approved by the County Council.
Harford County’s correspondence with the AG’s office and request to the Ethics Board are posted on the county website at https://www.harfordcountymd.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25629.
Seriously just how dumb is Penman? He wets himself, so excited to make an issue out of what is standard procedure – and turns out Cassilly recused himself from signing the plat because it involved a family member. You know these guys, we know who they are – they’ve owned the CE position for years, but Cassilly isn’t their guy. They want Penman – he’s Glassman’s stooge, among others but turns out Penman is a loser.
Seriously, get the %$&# out of Fallston already, you’re a stooge.
@Money Tree Since you are so much in the know, Did Bob authorize the Administrator to sign as Bob Cassilly, meaning Bob approved the plat or did the Administrator sign Bob Cassilly’s name without permission meaning forgery? Please, inquiring minds what to know which terrible and unethical path was taken.
I read the Aegis article and it looks like Penman made his ethics complaint on Feb. 14 and Cassilly made his complaint on Feb. 26. Unless there is some time travel involved, it looks like lying Bob is lying again and that he is retaliating against Penman for letting citizens see what Bob the developer is up to!
Ethics complaint stating Cassilly signed off on a plat for development that involves his family which has already been easily dismissed as false so these dates mean zilch. I’m sure you’re aware that every development of every property goes through multiple departments for approval and long before anybody at the executive level looks at them. They’re signed off at the executive as procedure once planning and zoning, water and sewer, dilp and the rest make sure the plan fits all legality for rules and regs and adheres to environment standards, etc. Cassilly requested someone else in his administration (the next in line) just because it involved this family. You all are dumb beyond measure and Penman looks once again like a petty small man trying to make something out of nothing. On the other hand Penman sitting on the councel and self-dealing is a legitimate concern and I’d hope the ethics commission will request he recuse himself from budgetary issues that might advantage him personally.
You must be Bob with the name money tree since it seems to be raining down money on you and yours! Maybe Bob should have recused himself from the business listed at his home address, but wait, his defense is, I didn’t sign it, someone forged my name and I am glad they did?? Doesn’t pass the smell test in the least Lying Bob!
Claiming the county executive forged a document could wind you up in civil court if you care to say that openly and not hide your “fake news” behind a computer screen. Especially, since it’s already disproved. You all are pretty desperate to get the CE position back under your control. I guess a couple of lost development deals has you losers wetting yourselves. High time we had a CE that wasn’t owned by the likes of you and yours. I’m loving every minute of it.
All that money must have you high. No one said executive forged a document. It is Bob claiming someone else signed his name which would be forgery meaning it is not Bob’s actual signature. Bob will have to take himself to civil court I guess.
Good lord man, go back and read the claim being made. You folks are all over the map. First it’s one thing and when that blows up it’s another thing, only in his case it’s all blowing up right in Penman’s face. I heard the police department pays him $145,000 a year…that’s $145,000 too much. Can’t imagine how he finds to the time to do anything to earn that salary spending all his time trying to play “gotcha” with the CE. I’m starting to wonder that he might need medication.
@money tree
OMG! Penman is paid the same sergeant’s salary that every one else earns and a rate that is behind that of surrounding agencies. Look at that and not at developer Bob’s actions. Fake News meant to distract from the actions of this administration
He had plats expedited and also some things allowed to get more lots. His Planning Advisory Board appointee Amy O’Neil is the realtor. No wonder she covers for him. Most corrupt administration in Harford history.
I will repeat – you are aware that any approvals for development go through various county agencies to ensure whatever is proposed meets rules and regs and all other prescribed criteria. Because Cassilly is the CE does not mean nobody in his family can submit plans for approval. He would normally sign off any plans – just as all CE’s do but only after independent review takes place as I stated here…that Cassilly chose to not sign the plans for ethical reasons makes it more the absurd that Penman makes this claim about it being unethical. You folks are really over your skiis here. Penman can’t win because he’s already ruined his own reputation with all the attempts to undermine the CE. He appears to be a petty child…and we know he’s not doing all this on his own.
Cassilly makes way over 145k and in fact took a cola double of what he gave county employees. You are probably one of his six figure campaign workers like Hanley and Sliwka.
$145,000 for a part-time job and then demand more money? Pretty cushy spot he’s in…maybe he needs to spend his time actually doing his job rather than chasing the CE around trying to catch him failing to use his turn signal.
The amount of disinformation here is staggering. The land that is owned by Bobs family was actually platted for 14 lots 30 years ago. The land was reduced to two lots because it lacked water and sewer. The land has to be sold to settle estates of family members. No so-called shenanigans were pulled. They went through the same procedure that any other county resident would go through with planning and zoning. I will certainly take Bobs ethics over Penman and his stooges anytime.
Yeah, that’s the whole point. He is not any other county resident, he is the county executive and he and his family are benefiting from these shenanigans. The mountain continues to grow…
Shenanigans? You’re hilarious.
I don’t have a dog in the fight regarding the Cassilly v. Penman conflict. I hope it is resolved in the best interests of county constituents. I realize that the county has distinct demographics and geography. The southern portion is getting to be very populated or urban while the northern portion is very rural. I just watched MSNBC and some Leftist guest speaker was weaponizing race and division for political reasons by stating that “Rural White Rage” is an existentixal threat to the country as a whole. I think it is political fear mongering but I would be interested if this is a concern to either the County Executive or, for that matter, any elected officials of our county. In light of prior posts, it is apparent that ethical issues are of great concern to many on this site. Certainly an allegation of the type made by the MSNBC guest should be investigated by any conscientious county government leader to be verified or debunked.
Quite a display of clownsmanship from Penman at last nights council meeting. Is he off his meds? You’re not in court Barney – it’s a council meeting. Aaron “Barney Fife” Penman has a nice ring to it.
Right you are. Pretty comical that Bob Cassilly has a business registered at his home address that is not his and it got express treatment through the development process while standing in the path of anyone else’s development and the approval authority was not his even though he signed it or told someone to sign it. Clown is the right term, just a bit taller and bald, you know, Bob the Builder!
The supposed development that everyone is referring to goes back generations. When 95 was built there were lots created by Cassilly brothers and sisters that have all died. The “Cassilly company” as it was called back in the day had the address of Bobs father, a house that Bob now lives in. After all of the original members died it left the property to heirs in California,Ohio,Washington,and even overseas. The property was perc tested, well tested and was approved to be sold. The process began long before Bob was elected. There are only 3 lots in rural residential zoning. The amount of money that will come from this sale will be minimal given the large number of heirs involved!
Nothing at all suspicious about a property that has sat around for generations and then gets approved in record pace by a suspect signature as soon as Bob’s in office. A call BS!
A plat revision reducing the number of lots is hardly worth you weeing your shorts over.
You do know there is a system in the county called “Fast Track”. Ask your buddy Euler, he’s already used it several times to help push a task through the various departments. Acting like it’s even unusual is absurd…just as absurd as making an issue of signatures on a plat – it’s standard procedure you fool.
This Cassilly/Penman spat I believe was initiated, at least in part, by the possibility of public housing projects being built in our county, possibly in the more affluent areas. Some of the expressed concerns dealt with the possibility of increased crime. This could very well be the case. I can only hope that crime statistics are reported accurately by our current FBI and DOJ and not altered for political reasons. My point is, in some jurisdictions a shooting incident where there were multiple victims might be submitted as single incident. A neighborhood experiences a rash of burglaries to open garages where the perpetrators clearly broke the plane of entry, a criteria for burglary, and the incident is subsequently recorded as a trespass or a theft to downplay the incidents. This is the case with the nationwide epidemic of flash mobs sometimes being classified as a single event or crime. This is happening and I believe the Biden administration could in fact be purposely doing this to SKU actual numbers. if these housing units do come to fruition in this county, I believe the most accurate way to get the true facts and numbers regarding Harford County crime is to speak to Sheriff Gahler directly and not rely on the possible altering of crime data after it has been reported to the UCR on the federal level. I believe that the current Sheriff is a man of integrity, who cares about the safety of our citizens, and would not get caught up in the political games currently being played by the Left with the very possible intent of deceiving the public.
I like Gahler as well but don’t forget he is backing his Sgt.Pennman who sits on the County Council. Pennman has demonstrated he is backing his financial supporters (developers, builders, realitors, lawyers) by introducing bills that favor development. Pennman being on a council that decides the Sheriff budget and financial contributions to it to me is unethical. I’d vote for a raise for myself too! The question is, how far will the Sheriffs department go to help Pennman prove his point(s)?