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	<title>Cecil Times &#187; John Downs</title>
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		<title>Cecil County Council Strikes Out on Ethics Panel, Bond Bill and New $2.1 Million Reserve Funds Raid; Hornberger Throws Spitballs</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2021/06/5881/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2021/06/5881/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2021 19:46:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alan McCarthy]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=5881</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[NEWS ANALYSIS “And it’s one, two, three strikes you’re out, at the Old Ball Game.” The Cecil County Council stepped up to the legislative plate against the Hornberger administration this week but struck out, after some verbal swings at bat, on three major issues: the secret installation of a member of the Ethics Commission after the Council had turned down her nomination; a bond bill giving the county executive unilateral fiscal powers that the Council rejected last fall; and a sudden $2.1 million raid on reserve funds for schools spending just weeks after the county executive claimed she wouldn’t raid the reserves in her new budget. On the bonds and reserve funds measures, the administration of County Executive Danielle Hornberger (but not Hornberger herself, who personally stayed far away from the fray) had the Council over a fiscal barrel by claiming the county would suffer fiscal harm if her demands were not met immediately—a loss of possible revenues from re-financing bonds at potentially lower interest rates, and an unforeseen (at least by this administration) need to come up with more money to comply with state schools funding requirements. Unlike Hornberger’s administration, county officials in Wicomico and Howard counties revised their [&#8230;]]]></description>
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		<title>Councilor Jackie Gregory, Facing Ethics Order, Attacks Fellow Lawmakers; Council Attorney Paid by Taxpayers Aids her Cause</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2020/02/councilor-jackie-gregory-facing-ethics-order-launches-schorched-earth-attack-on-fellow-lawmakers-council-attorney-paid-by-taxpayers-aids-her-cause/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2020/02/councilor-jackie-gregory-facing-ethics-order-launches-schorched-earth-attack-on-fellow-lawmakers-council-attorney-paid-by-taxpayers-aids-her-cause/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Feb 2020 01:24:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=5626</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A CECIL TIMES Special Report NEWS ANALYSIS Cecil County Council member Jackie Gregory (R-5), faced with an ethics complaint and a directive from the county’s Ethics Commission to stop working as a substitute teacher in county schools while holding an elected Council seat, is pressing subpoenas against three fellow Councilors and County Executive Alan McCarthy, according to multiple sources. She wants them to testify at a hearing in early March before the ethics panel which is convening to review her own situation, according to subpoenas reviewed by Cecil Times. Gregory is seeking re-election in the April, 2020 Republican primary, running against Don Harmer, the longtime chair of the county’s Parks and Recreation board, a member of the county Planning Commission, and a youth sports coach. Gregory has frequently opposed funds to support parks and recreation programs and school sports fields. County Council President Bob Meffley (R-1), Councilor George Patchell (R-4) and Councilor Al Miller (R-3) were served with the subpoenas on Tuesday by Wendy Culberson, a private attorney now retained by Gregory. She also served a subpoena on McCarthy. The subpoenas were signed by the chairman of the Ethics Commission, Robert Boonstoppel, who also wrote that the subpoenas had been [&#8230;]]]></description>
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		<title>Cecil County Council Ignores Legal Rules; Taxpayers Pay $ for Jackie Gregory&#8217;s Dinner Events, Legal Questions on Dual Jobs</title>
		<link>https://ceciltimes.com/2020/01/cecil-county-council-ignores-legal-rules-taxpayers-pay-for-jackie-gregorys-dinner-events-legal-questions-on-dual-jobs/</link>
		<comments>https://ceciltimes.com/2020/01/cecil-county-council-ignores-legal-rules-taxpayers-pay-for-jackie-gregorys-dinner-events-legal-questions-on-dual-jobs/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jan 2020 20:53:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Nancy Schwerzler]]></dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://ceciltimes.com/?p=5600</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A CECIL TIMES Special Report (With legal footnotes) Cecil County Council member Jackie Gregory (R-5) has continued to collect a salary from county public schools in the current budget year, despite questions of county Charter and ethics rules barring Council members from paid employment with other county agencies. And she has also claimed reimbursement for tickets she bought to local civic dinners and banquets, despite county law prohibiting sending such bills to taxpayers, according to a CECIL TIMES investigation. In addition, the County Council has ignored its own rules for obtaining legal opinions from its outside legal counsel, including expenses incurred to review Gregory’s school employment status as well as private legal consultations between Gregory and the Council’s lawyer and private consultations with Councilor Bill Coutz (R-2), according to a review of invoices for legal services by John Downs, the Council’s lawyer, and Downs’ response to a Cecil Times public records request under state law. The county also paid an invoice for Coutz for a ticket to an Elkton dinner event. Furthermore, the issues have been the subject of recent closed-door meetings of the full Council, at which Council President Bob Meffley (R-2) said he “laid down the law” to [&#8230;]]]></description>
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