In October 2012, I learned of a huge development planned for a parcel of land zoned Rural Conservation about a mile from my home. The project included a 2,000 person worship center, an 800 student school, a pre-school and a 6 unit town home building. I started a Facebook page to inform the community and eventually connected with a group of neighbors who formed a citizens group with the goal of limiting the scope of the development. Many residents declined to get involved, telling me it was already a “done deal”, politics as usual in Howard County. What? How could such an intensive development project that goes against the County’s own General Plan (PlanHoward2030), which calls for preserving the Rural West, promoting agriculture and land preservation be a done deal? I was told that the land use attorneys and developers give large amounts of money to the County Executive and certain members of County Council and those attorneys always get what they want. I was incredulous.
So I set out to understand these financial relationships and see if I could follow this so-called money trail. I am not an expert in zoning, land use or campaign finance but some simple research of public documents available on the Maryland Campaign Finance and State Department of Assessments and Taxation Websites (SDAT) revealed a staggering amount of money flowing from developers and their attorneys. Now I was wondering: have I really spent the last 2 years opposing a project that would be rubber stamped thru the approval process because of the influence of campaign contributions? Was it really a done deal 2 years ago?
It’s common knowledge that developers evade campaign finance limits by directing money thru the dozens of small entities that they control. This practice is so unsavory it will be illegal in 2015. Some of Howard County’s major developers have given staggering amounts of money to certain members of County Council, Ken Ulman, and other elected officials like O’Malley, Guzzone and Brown. The money flow increased dramatically during comprehensive rezoning and before each of the last two election cycles. Specific developer contributions spike when they have their own individual zoning requests before the Council and Conditional Uses needing the recommendation of DPZ. Big time money was donated in the fall of 2012/early 2013. Why? Comprehensive Zoning. Another peak during the summers of 2010 and 2014. Why? Elections. The amount of money goes up during a comprehensive rezoning year (late 2012-early 2013), election years and when a developer has a specific zoning amendment up before the council. You can almost correlate a developer’s contributions to their projects needing approval.
And is it really legal when many of the entities that funneled money to Ulman, Watson and other influential officials don’t even own anything or operate a business? Dozens of these LLCs seem to exist for the sole purpose of laundering money to elected officials. They were formed before an election and funded by unknown sources, contributed money to officials then were abandoned or forfeited. They owned nothing nor operated any legitimate business. How can this be legal? And even if it is, is it ethical? Is it ethical for the people who make zoning decisions to accept these donations? Are developers and real estate attorneys real allowed to so blatantly buy influence in Howard County?
For examples, I will use Land Design and Development, Triangle Development, Sanford Company and Security Development Corp: 4 of the most prolific development companies in Howard County. They have far exceeded limits but use numerous LLCs, various P.O. boxes, business and home addresses, family members names to interrupt the money trail.
Sanford Contributions
Triangle Development Contributions
LandDesignDevelopment
Security Development Corp
When I see over $110,000 in donations from Land Design and Development’s various LLCs since 2005, I perceive that the company has had rewards for their considerable donations. Why else would they continue to give so much?
On the attorney side of this sham, we have the esteemed Sang Oh. During 2013’s Comprehensive Zoning process, he lobbied for an astounding 65 out of the 95 applicants with registered lobbyists. These 65 people seeking valuable rezoning for their properties made a smart decision. Not only is Mr. Oh close personal friends with Ken Ulman, he has formed many LLCs through which he has funneled massive dollars to Ulman, Watson and other top officials. Sure, these entities may be perfectly legal, but more than likely they are shells formed for the sole purpose of funneling money and some are even forfeited entities that continue to write checks to campaigns.
SangOhLLCs
- In July 2010, a few months before the election, Mr. Oh formed 5 LLCs: Points Abroad, LLC; Great Party, LLC; Homeward Onward, LLC; Second Norvis, LLC and Johnson Tayman LLC. All of the filings and actions for each LLC is exactly the same; below is Great Party’s articles of organization– they are the same for the other 4.
- On 3/20/2013: Articles of Reinstatement were filed in person by Sang and J. Chris Pippen, one of Oh’s clients. The principal address for the LLCs was also changed to Pippen’s Triangle Development Corp address. Pippen’s 5 properties were up for rezoning at the time through Comprehensive Zoning. Did Oh try to revive these shell LLCs so Pippen could use them to evade contribution caps?
- On 8/8/2013: Articles of Reinstatement were voided due to non-payment (did all 5 checks bounce?) and all entities were forfeited by the State, but each has continued to funnel contributions to several high profile candidates through September 2014.
Why would Oh abandon these LLCs if they were legitimate business entities? Why not just file the personal property returns? Why did Oh and Pippen continue to write checks for contributions from LLCs after they were forfeited? Why did he change the address to a developer he was representing for Comprehensive Zoning?
Why don’t the developers and their attorneys give to every council member evenly? Why doesn’t Greg Fox receive donations from developers and attorneys? Do they not need his vote, does he not have influence over DPZ decisions or does he not demand the money? Almost without exception, this is the same story for every major developer in Howard County. Do County Council and Ken Ulman reasonably expect citizens to believe all is transparent and fair when this kind of money is being exchanged?
Frankly, I don’t blame the developers. They do what our elected officials allow or require of them. Why not do all that you can to increase your chances of a favorable ruling? Need an approval? Host a fundraiser for Ken Ulman. Have properties in Comprehensive Zoning? Write some checks to Council members. Operate a big development company with lots of projects? Bankroll the campaign for the probable next County Executive. And when your ridiculous projects come up, residents can once again form opposition groups, scrape together money and take time away from their families to sit in hearings while the developers and their attorneys snicker knowing they’ve got the approval in the bag because they control the whole system. Why do we stand for this in Howard County?
Now I understand why residents decline involvement because its a “done deal”. I now believe that the playing field is not level in Howard County. Citizens groups who scrape together legal funds in order to have a voice in the approval process are no match for the unlimited checkbooks of developers and their lawyers who can form an LLC and write a $4,000 check on a whim. Indeed, there is good reason why so many Howard County residents are disenfranchised with how politics as usual affects the transparency and legitimacy of both our zoning process as well as elections in general.
