After an Anne Arundel County Council member introduced a bill last week intended to reform a little-known but common type of special tax district in the county, board members from two such communities deny accusations of a lack of transparency and excessive legal fees.
The county is home to more than 90 Special Community Benefit Districts (SCBDs), Shore Erosion Control Districts (SECDs) and Waterway Improvement Districts (WIDs) — many of which include waterfront properties with assets like public pools and marinas that need regular maintenance. The communities are established by legislation to provide public benefits for those assets.
The districts and their governing bodies aren’t subject to the Maryland Open Meetings Act, which requires many state and local bodies to hold their meetings in public, give adequate notice of those meetings and provide access to minutes. This bill would change that.
“It’s requiring transparency, a little bit of due process and making sure that when people are giving their dollars to their SCBD, there’s some level of accountability to make sure things are spent in accordance with the rules,” councilmember Lisa Rodvien, an Annapolis Democrat, said in an interview last week.
Rodvien introduced Bill 32-25 to require the boards that administer a special community benefits district comply with certain provisions of the Maryland Open Meetings Act and the Maryland Homeowners Association Act, including training and transparency efforts.
The bill was introduced after Eric Epstein, the former president of the community association of Oyster Harbor, an Annapolis beachfront neighborhood, was sentenced to two years probation for using nearly $20,000 from the association’s bank accounts to pay some of his bills.
Some residents of Oyster Harbor and Hillsmere Shores — both special tax districts — have voiced concerns that go beyond embezzlement. Sharon Blugis, a Hillsmere Shores resident, accused board members of possible backroom deals and unauthorized communication.
She and other residents created a separate Facebook group they say is intended to hold the association officials accountable.
But Claire Corcoran, president of the Hillsmere Shores Improvement Association, disputesthe claims.
She called Blugis’ private Facebook channel “a small but vocal private group whose stated purpose is to overturn and replace our current board.”
Corcoran said the all-volunteer 11-member board prioritizes transparency throughout its 18 yearly meetings. Additionally, she said the board already follows the Maryland Open Meetings Act.
“Closed meetings are infrequent and only occur when needed to address matters such as legal counsel or discussions regarding personnel,” Corcoran said. “HSIA is a non-governmental body, so for legal and privacy reasons, our meetings are not recorded.”
Meanwhile, an Oyster Harbor resident accused his board of stifling community participationin pursuit of a legal agenda.
Peter Vail estimates that the board’s legal fees to pursue Epstein and others exceeded $200,000 while community assets went without improvement and maintenance.
Jeanie Greenwell, a former Oyster Harbor Citizens Association board member, resigned from the board when she saw fellow board members “not fulfilling their duty of care as required under Maryland law.”
Duty of care is a legal obligation to act with reasonable care and to prevent “foreseeable harm” to others.
Greenwell cited internal documents to show the board made $90,513 in legal expenditures from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2025.
The documents also found that 81% of the costs were incurred in response to an audit of SCBD expenditures, Maryland Department of the Environment violations and a follow-up police investigation.
“While we recognize the importance of fiscal responsibility, we firmly believe these expenditures were essential and appropriate under the circumstances,” Greenwell and another board member wrote to other board members in a memo explaining the legal expenses. “Moving forward, the Board must prioritize transparency in communicating legal expenses to the community and actively explore opportunities for recovering costs wherever possible.”
Have a news tip? Contact James Matheson atjmatheson@baltsun.com,443-842-2344or on X @jamesmatheson__
Originally Published:
