M-NCPPC Files Civil Suit Against County Council Staffer Carolyn Chen – Alleged To Have Charged $11,490 To Council For Benefit Of Spouse

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In: County Council, District Court, Lawsuits, Local Government, Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Parks and Planning, Planning Board

March 13, 2024

In September 2023, the Montgomery County Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found misconduct of one of the County Council employees.

The letter from the OIG stated that $11,490 of reservation fees were obtained and never paid for:

“The investigation revealed that in 2022 and 2023, the subject employee intentionally misled staff from CUPF and Parks to believe they were requesting reservations for athletic fields on the Council’s behalf when in fact they were doing so for the benefit of their spouse.  In total, field use permits in the amount of $19,190 ($11,490 of which was reserved under the council’s ActiveMONTGOMERY account) were obtained by the employee and never paid for.  Attempts by Park staff to obtain outstanding payments were ignored, and at times the employee made reference to their position at the County Council.  During the investigation, the employee also intentionally made false statements to OIG investigators in an effort to conceal their misconduct.”

At the time, the individual was not identified. However, last week on 3/8/24, the individual appears to have been identified in a civil lawsuit by the plaintiff “The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission”. Multiple sources have confirmed that this is the individual from the OIG investigation.

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The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission opened a case against former County Council Grants Manager & Legislative Analyst Carolyn Chen in the Montgomery County District Court in Silver Spring for “Contract – Large Claims“. The County Council responded to inquiries and stated that the “individual is no longer an employee of the Montgomery County Council.”

According to the mdcourts.gov, small claims would be used for claims less than $5,000. Large Claims involve payment disputes greater than $5,000 according to Montgomery County MD District Courts website, they hear civil cases “in the amount of $30,000 or less”. Thus, $11,490 would be in between these and be heard by the district courts as a Large Claim as seen in the case information.

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According to OpenPayrolls, Carolyn Chen “had a reported pay of $123,520.57 according to public records” in 2021.

Sources familiar with the process indicated that the planning board would have had to go into a closed session prior to initiating litigation. On December 14, 2023, the board indeed went into a closed session to “consult with counsel” about “pending or potential litigation.” It is possible this litigation was discussed during this session.

After we broke the news about this suit, Adam Pagnucco at Montgomery Perspective followed up and obtained the civil complaint from Parks and Planning which contains more specific details of this case.

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