Council Member Camille Exum	State Senator Nathaniel Exum

Gazette, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2009

No excuse for Exum's bill

Senator's effort encourages misuse of campaign contributions
State Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist. 24) of Capitol Heights is seeking to streamline campaign contribution laws — but not in a good way.

Currently, the Prince George's County Council is not allowed to receive direct donations from developers or anyone involved with a development awaiting the council's approval. Council members who receive campaign contributions directly from developers also cannot vote on those developers' projects for three years. The law is in place to prevent council members from providing development favors to their donors.

There is a loophole to the law, however. Candidates can join slates — a group of politicians who team up to raise money — and make use of developers' contributions that were contributed to the slate.
Exum reportedly sees the loophole as an "impediment" to behavior that is occurring anyway, so he introduced legislation, Senate Bill 391, to simply eliminate the ethics law.

This isn't the first red flag in Exum's record. Last year, questions were raised when Exum helped craft legislation that sought to toughen rules on scrap metal reporting and attempted to exempt some scrap metal companies that recycle cars and scrap, such as the business for which he worked. The legislation died without a final vote.

Also last year, Exum allegedly delayed the confirmation of a new state police superintendent until an automotive inspection station in his district regained its license. Exum said he was simply concerned about diversity in the state police department.

Granted, it isn't unheard of for politicians to help out friends or contributors through legislation or to use legislation as a bargaining chip, but that doesn't make their actions right.

Prince George's residents already have far too many concerns about the ethics of county and state leaders. Booming development in the county has raised even more questions about how developers are getting projects approved in areas where public safety and education facilities are clearly overwhelmed.

Exum's legislation only adds to the public's doubts.
If Exum truly wants to help government work better, instead of removing the law that prevents bad behavior, he should close the loophole that allows it.

Senator seeks to repeal ethics law

http://www.gazette.net/stories/02052009/clinnew171658_32493.shtml
Gazette, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2009
Exum wants to lift ban on developers' direct donations to council members
by Daniel Valentine | Staff Writer

State Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist. 24) of Capitol Heights is seeking to repeal a 16-year-old ethics law that prohibits developers with projects in the pipeline from giving campaign contributions directly to County Council members.

Senate Bill 391, introduced Monday by Exum, has sparked questions from legislators and government watchdogs, who say repealing the rule designed to prevent developers from wielding influence through payments is already too weak.

"It's certainly a bold bill to introduce," said Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of the group Common Cause Maryland.

"We need to strengthen our pay-to-play laws, not weaken them."

Exum did not immediately return a call to his office for comment Wednesday.

Exum's daughter, Camille Exum, also of Capitol Heights, has served as the District 7 representative on the County Council since 2002. According to The Washington Post, Senator Exum denies the legislation is intended to help his daughter, who is not able to run again for her council seat in 2010 because of term limits.
Camille Exum said Tuesday afternoon that she had "heard about but has not seen" the legislation introduced by her father. Calls to Exum's council office were not answered Wednesday morning.

The proposed legislation has been referred to the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee for a hearing, though none had been scheduled as of Wednesday.

According to the first draft of the legislation, Nathaniel Exum is seeking to repeal the restrictions that prevent anyone involved in a development under review for approval by the County Council from contributing to council members, and would lift rules preventing council members who have taken a contribution from the applicants in the past three years from voting on the projects.

Prince George's County has seen a boom in subdivision development and other projects in the past 20 years. While the growth has positioned the county better financially, anti-sprawl activists say the county has compromised too often with wealthy businessmen championing the projects.

"This is an embarrassment to [Exum], his daughter, the County Council, the whole of Prince George's County," said Kelly Canavan of the Accokeek Mattawoman Piscataway Creeks Council, a south county environmental group that has filed several lawsuits challenging the council's land zoning decisions.
"It doesn't give citizens faith in good government," said Canavan, who added that freeing up developer donations creates "a very, very direct quid pro quo situation" with the council.

The link between elected officials and developers also appears to be the subject of at least one ongoing federal investigation in the county. This fall, FBI agents searched county offices seeking information about a Greenbelt Metro Station development, and the investigation is continuing.

County Council candidates have been able to bypass the restrictions on developer contributions for years by raising money through slates, or joint committees with state-level delegates and senate candidates, dividing the money for individual races.