Friday, February 10, 2017

County spends more than $110,000 a year on cars for its lawmakers

(Click on the image for Arelis' report in The Washington Post)
By Arelis R. Hernández:
The Prince George’s County government spends more than $110,000 a year on automobile allowances and take-home cars for county council officials, a perk that goes far beyond what is offered in neighboring jurisdictions.
All nine council members and the council’s two top administrators are either assigned a government vehicle or paid a yearly car allowance.
Between 2011 and 2016, council members driving take-home cars were involved in at least 15 collisions, including a major crash Nov. 21 that resulted in the arrest of council member Mel Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro), District 9, on drunken-driving charges.
They also received at least 107 speeding, missed-toll and parking citations, according to public records provided to The Washington Post.
Forty-six of those tickets went to council member Karen R. Toles (D-Suitland), District 7, a popular lawmaker who drew attention in 2012 after she was ticketed for driving 105 mph on the Capital Beltway.