The head of the Prince George’s County Council defended the council’s efforts to transfer millions of dollars from the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission budget to use for other programs and services through nonprofits.
The controversy led the commission to file a lawsuit against the county over the spending.
Prince George’s County Council Chair Krystal Oriadha held a news conference Thursday with the heads of several nonprofits.
“We will vigorously defend the investment we made on behalf of our residents. We will fight for the young people that need jobs. We will fight for the seniors that need services,” Oriadha said.
The heads of nonprofits said the “project charges” help their organizations. They said losing the funds would hurt their missions, including helping immigrants, seniors and kids. A member of the Latin American Youth Center described the organization’s staff as “deeply disappointed” by the lawsuit.
Others said the current way of getting funds through reimbursements is creating hardships for their organizations.
Oriadha has not said if she wants to change the system from giving reimbursements to giving nonprofits a lump sum in advance.
Officials initially declined to answer questions. After reporters objected, Oriadha gave one-on-one interviews.
“To think that in any process that there’s not already accountability metrics that already exist, it’s really insulting to say that to the government,” she said.
The county is defending itself against the commission’s lawsuit, which says the county unlawfully transferred $39 million from the commission’s budget to fund pet projects.
The commission is a bi-county agency with five members from Prince George’s County and five from Montgomery County. Darryl Barnes, of Prince George’s County, resigned last month and has not yet been replaced. Artie Harris, of Montgomery County, is the current chair.
The vice chair of the county planning board, Billy Okoye, said in an email obtained by News4 that he was troubled by the participation of Montgomery County in matters that only concern the Prince George’s County budget. It said in part: “I respectfully demand that any further actions seeking to interfere with, challenge, delay, or undermine implementation of the Prince George’s County FY 2027 Budget cease immediately and that the lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County be withdrawn immediately.”
Oriadha also suggested the county should separate from Montgomery County on the commission.
“We cannot have people who are unelected and don’t even represent Prince George’s County dictating where their tax dollars go,” she said.
The county’s attorney said the county is preparing its response to the lawsuit. There could be a hearing in Largo as soon as next week.
The commission sent News4 a statement saying it has served both counties for almost 100 years and the vote to pursue litigation in the case was unanimous. It said Harris, the current chair, from Montgomery County, is obligated to look out for the best interests of the commission and the residents of both counties.
The statement noted the chair and vice-chair of the commission rotate annually but Harris took over earlier than expected after the resignation of the previous chair.
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