Posted on 11/21/2010 10:33:24 AM PST by jazusamo
The arrests of a Prince George's County liquor store magnate and his wife by federal authorities last week as part of a broad corruption probe involving County Executive Jack B. Johnson has pulled back the curtain on the complex and often incestuous world of liquor and politics in the county.
The county's chief liquor inspector is also the head of the local Democratic Party. One of the five members on the Board of Liquor License Commissioners - responsible for granting and revoking liquor licenses - is also on the party's central committee, which helps choose the board members.
The liquor board's chairman was first appointed while his wife led the county Democrats in the mid-1990s. And a third board member is married to a senior state delegate.
The relationships open the licensing and inspection process to the perception of political influence and might lead some liquor store owners to think that they can curry favorable treatment by cozying up to elected leaders.
"Sometimes those things are fine. And sometimes they're not. Does it create more questions in people's minds? It does," said Micah Watson, a Cheverly Town Council member who watched the commissioner appointment process while serving on the county's Democratic Central Committee for four years. "It lets elected officials control liquor policy in the county, writ large. They're controlling who has a liquor license, who's selling what and when and how. And there's a lot of power in that."
Franklin Jackson, chairman of the liquor board since 2000, acknowledged the close ties between politicians and those who monitor liquor establishments. But he said that's because both emerge from a core of county activists involved in public life.
"The board is independent of everyone," said Jackson, who said that the inspectors are diligent and that the board applies the law...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Fascinating. PGC certainly has lots of liquor stores.
I would imagine (after living in the DC area for nine months) that PGC is probably one of the most corrupted counties in the US. You could hire an hundred folks for investigation work and they’d be each dropping five guys a week easily.
Unbelievable! The politicians have a real cash cow there. :)
And the corruption ‘scandal’ continues to grow:
“The arrests of a Prince George’s County liquor store magnate and his wife by federal authorities last week as part of a broad corruption probe involving County Executive Jack B. Johnson has pulled back the curtain on the complex and often incestuous world of liquor and politics in the county.
The county’s chief liquor inspector is also the head of the local Democratic Party.”
I wonder where the county’s congressional representative sits in this scandal?
I am shocked to hear reports that a county run by Black Democrats might be engaged in corruption. How long must we endure such blatant racism?
I need a drink!
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
Wall to wall corruption.
Shocking! And here in Maryland!
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