We hope that taxpayers are outraged that a golf course has cost them more than $3 million to keep afloat - especially when fire stations and school improvements are going unfunded.
Of course, taxpayers really don't know the full scope of the county's contract with the Maryland Economic Development Corp. - the quasi-government agency that leases the Compass Pointe Golf Course from the public - because the right checks and balances have not been in place. It's time for a change.
The golf course was the idea of former county executives, but it wasn't until 2001, after Janet Owens took office, that a contract was signed to build a course on the 734-acre plot in Pasadena. Even before the golf course opened in 2003, Recreation and Parks Director Dennis Callahan proudly proclaimed that the county was getting a $17 million course "without one cent of taxpayers' money."
Or so he thought. Less than a year after it opened, the County Council approved a $1.1 million interest-free loan to cover shortfalls in construction, $838,000 was diverted from profits at Eisenhower Golf Course and another $544,000 was funneled into Compass Pointe from admission and amusement taxes. And the golf course isn't even finished.
All of this was a surprise to the County Council, which didn't become aware of the county's obligations until it was asked to approve the loan. It could have - and maybe should have - denied the request and thus forced MEDCO to find the money itself or default on its loan. That the council was ignorant of its obligation until now does not speak well of the process that set up this contract.
In fact, the council and taxpayers could still be ignorant of the depth of this problem if not for the probing of Councilman Barbara Samorajczyk and County Auditor Teresa Sutherland. Now that they have exposed the situation, the council is wondering whether the county should take control of the golf course from MEDCO.
Before the county gets deeper into the golf course business, elected officials need a better understanding of the problem. They should do as Mrs. Samorajczyk and Mrs. Sutherland suggest: hire an independent attorney to determine the county's liabilities, and authorize Mrs. Sutherland to audit MEDCO's books to determine whether its finances have been well managed. Only with these results can elected officials safely determine the county's role at Compass Point.
Source: The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)