Greetings!

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Marc Nelson Jr. I have a keen interest in local government affairs, especially in regards to transparency and open government. Some of you may have seen me videotaping public meetings.

I have been closely following the matter of liquor board chairman Jerry Delaney and his accusations against DelFest. We've seen how county liquor board chair Jerry Delaney and his cronies like to throw around statutes, claiming that DelFest was in violation of laws that don't even apply to the situation.

So let's take a look at a law that actually applies to Delaney's actions: the county ethics law, specifically section 40-4, Conflicts of Interest. Section 40-4 lists a variety of behaviors that are prohibited to county officials. such as:

40-4F:

Soliciting any gift, or accepting gifts from any person that has, or is negotiating, a contract with the County, or is regulated by their agency...

Now, I wonder who was paying for Jerry Delaney to play golf for Western Maryland Distributing? And since the owner of WMD has been bragging in the paper and on the radio about what great friends he and Delaney are, what are the odds that Mr. Gornall ever gave his pal on the liquor board a set of golf clubs or a case of scotch?

Here's another no-no for county officials:

40-4H:

Intentionally using the prestige of their office, or confidential information acquired in their official County position, for their own private gain, or that of another.

When Delaney called Barb Buehl and threatened to go to the paper if DelFest didn't open more taps for WMD, was he enforcing a law (and if so, then what law?) or was he using the power of his office to do a favor for a former employer and close personal friend?

These are questions that need to be thoroughly investigated by the county Ethics Commission and the local media. Jerry Delaney has had nearly a month to either back up his claims with the full force of the liquor board or retract them, apologize, and resign. Instead he has been allowed to continue his extortion attempt. The county commissioners cannot continue to bury their heads in the sand and ignore the abuse of power and disregard for the law that is going on in their own building.

I hope that you all can use this information. Government officials need to be held accountable and the public must be told the whole story. The entire county ethics law can be viewed and downloaded here. Please contact me if you have any questions or if I can be of any assistance.

Marc Nelson Jr.
Cumberland, MD

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[Note on links:

“play golf for Western Maryland Distributing” should link to:

http://times-news.com/localsports/x383275837/Sports-Roundup-June-19-2010

“county Ethics Commission” should link to:

http://gov.allconet.org/admin/ethics_with_form.htm

and “here” should link to:

https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B6KbnRmpGp74Y2RiYWYxZmUtYjRlYi00YmY1LTgwMTYtZjI4ZGFmZDAwY2Rm&hl=en&pli=1

Thanks!]