The decision to meet with individual council members, who will ultimately vote to approve or reject her nomination, comes ahead of a 4 p.m. Tuesday council work session. That meeting will be the first opportunity for Walker to answer questions from the seven-member body publicly.

As of early Monday afternoon, Walker was scheduled to meet with five council members Monday and Tuesday: Council chair Mike Ertel, a Towson Democrat; Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Democrat from Pikesville; Councilman Pat Young, a Catonsville Democrat; Councilman Wade Kach, a Republican from Lutherville-Timonium and Councilman David Marks, an Upper Falls Republican.

Klausmeier’s administration is working to schedule meetings with the remaining councilmen, as well, said Erica Palmisano, her spokeswoman.

Walker spent more than two decades in the federal government. Her most recent role was working as a deputy assistant inspector general for audits, inspections and evaluations at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General. Before that, she spent more than two decades with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in various auditing roles.

However, multiple County Council members have said they would prefer to keep Kelly Madigan, the county’s current inspector general, on the job — a potential roadblock to Walker’s appointment.

Patoka, Kach and Marks have said they will only support Madigan.

Some area residents plan to rally at 3 p.m. Tuesday, immediately before the work session, to urge the Council to reject any nominee who isn’t Madigan and demand a transparent, independent selection process.

The Council is also expected to discuss a charter amendment introduced by Patoka that would create an independent board to appoint and reappoint the county’s inspector general to remove political influence from the process in the future. Marks, a Republican, said on social media last week that he would cosponsor the measure.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

If confirmed, her new role would be to root out waste, fraud and abuse in county government, primarily through conducting investigations into complaints and producing reports. Recent reports produced by Kelly Madigan, the county’s current inspector general, for instance, have focused on fraud and misuse of county resources by county employees.

The job is somewhat of a shift from a career in auditing — at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where Walker has spent much of her career, audits and evaluations “generally look at groups, processes, controls or structures,” rather than individual employees, according to the agency. This type of work differs from the agency’s investigations in that it does not deal with criminal activities.

Walker’s appointment to the IG role is subject to approval by the Baltimore County Council, which will discuss her nomination Tuesday. Here’s what to know about her career.

Walker’s most recent job

Walker was most recently a deputy assistant inspector general for audits, inspections and evaluations at the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of Inspector General, according to social media posts from the agency.

She was sworn in to the role on Sept. 30 and had been working on overseeing USAID’s support to Ukraine.

It’s unclear when Walker left the agency, however. President Donald Trump’s administration began dismantling USAID earlier this year, placing all direct-hire personnel, aside from leadership and those deemed mission-critical, on administrative leave at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 23.

Walker’s most recent audit report for USAID was dated March 19.

A former longtime EPA auditor

Prior to her stint at USAID, Walker was with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Inspector General. She began her career as an auditor for the agency in 2003, according to her LinkedIn profile, and progressed through the ranks to project manager and director roles, with a focus on audits.

While there, Walker led and conducted performance audits of national environmental program areas, focusing on drinking water, clean water, contracts and grants, county officials said in a statement Thursday.

One audit Walker worked on focused on the EPA’s response to water contamination in Flint, Michigan. The report, released in July 2018, found that the EPA region there did not manage its drinking water oversight program properly, limiting its ability to respond to the situation in Flint and delaying responses, among other issues.

Walker’s other audits and evaluations have focused on the EPA’s responses to Hurricanes Katrina and Irma, as well as the water crisis in Jackson, Mississippi.

Part of Walker’s tenure at the EPA was under then-Inspector General Arthur Elkins, who served in that role from 2010 to 2018.

Elkins was also a member of Klausmeier’s five-person inspector general selection panel. The panel, assembled in June, was tasked with reviewing resumes, interviewing applicants and making recommendations to the county executive about who should be the next inspector general.

Though Elkins was not present during the panel’s first round of interviews due to scheduling conflicts, according to Klausmeier’s spokeswoman, he joined in the final three interviews of Walker, Madigan and an unknown third candidate.

Career accolades and education

Walker has received multiple awards throughout her career, according to county officials.

Her accolades include an EPA Gold Medal for her work on congressional earmarks and an EPA OIG Silver Medal for Superior Service, among other nods from the EPA and the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency.

Walker has a degree in global policy studies from Chatham University, according to a 2018 biography from the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency. She also has a master’s in international development and policy from the University of Pittsburgh.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

Walker was selected for the role after a final round of interviews last week, which included Madigan, the county’s inaugural inspector general, and an unidentified second candidate. Walker’s previous roles have included deputy assistant inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development and auditor for the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Baltimore County residents deserve an independent Inspector General to elevate the work of this office and put an end to waste, fraud, and abuse in our local government,” Walker said in a statement. “I am confident that my federal experience will help this office continue to eliminate corruption and enhance public trust and accountability on behalf of all residents.”

The decision may not satisfy the residents, elected officials and good governance groups who have raised concerns from the start about the county executive’s handling of the inspector general search.

A majority of County Council members also have said they would prefer to keep Madigan on the job — a potential roadblock to Walker’s appointment, as the council ultimately must approve any inspector general hire.

Madigan declined to comment Thursday.

Walker would bring over two decades of experience as an inspector general to Baltimore County. In previous roles, she led performance audits of environmental programs, including the EPA’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Irma, according to Baltimore County officials. Her work has also looked at the federal responsibility behind water crises in Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi, they added.

In a statement, Klausmeier said Walker was the most qualified candidate to lead the office.

“Khadija has 22+ years of high-level Inspector General experience — notably in her work to hold the federal government accountable in the wake of the Flint, Michigan and Jackson, Mississippi water crises — which has prepared her to be a champion for communities and unafraid to challenge waste, fraud, and abuse at any level,” she said.

However, Walker’s stamp of approval from the County Council remains in question.

Councilman David Marks, an Upper Falls Republican, said early Thursday afternoon that he would only support Madigan’s nomination. And in an interview on Tuesday, Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, reaffirmed that he would support Madigan’s nomination.

After being notified of Walker’s selection, Marks told The Baltimore Sun that his position on the appointment had not changed.

Patoka, reached not long after he was informed of the selection, acknowledged that he wasn’t fully familiar with Walker’s background at the time, but raised concerns about a potentially steep learning curve for her in switching from federal service to local government, adding that he was “anxious” to learn more. He also nodded to Madigan, saying he thought she had done an “outstanding job.”

The council is expected to discuss Klausmeier’s appointment of Walker at a 4 p.m. Tuesday work session in Towson. A vote is expected at an upcoming legislative session.

Some area residents had planned to rally at 3 p.m. Tuesday ahead of the work session to demand Madigan’s reappointment and denounce what they said was Klausmeier’s mishandling of the process.

Questions started flying not long after Klausmeier gave Madigan a letter stating that she would conduct an open search for the role. However, she encouraged Madigan to reapply if she wanted to remain with the county government.

The six-sentence letter came during the first meeting between the two, a meeting that Madigan said she had requested for months. The result has been a public outcry about the process and questions about political influence in the selection.

Under county code, the county executive is responsible for appointing an inspector general, subject to confirmation by the council. Klausmeier has maintained since the start that the county code gave her the authority to conduct the search.

The Association of Inspectors General, a national group for government watchdogs, said in an open letter Monday that the county administration “departed” from county ordinances by launching an open search and, at the same time, inviting Madigan to reapply.

As part of the search, Klausmeier formed a five-person inspector general selection panel to review resumes, interview applicants and make recommendations. The panel, which first convened in late June, narrowed the field from the initial 23 applicants, conducting four interviews for the role. Three candidates advanced to a final round of interviews.

Attorney Dennis King, who chaired the selection panel, said in a statement that he stood behind Klausmeier’s selection.

Critics, however, have taken issue with how the final round of interviews was conducted. Klausmeier participated in the interviews last week, fueling concerns about a conflict of interest.

“It’s incredibly disappointing that County Executive Klausmeier refused to reappoint Madigan, a respected leader in our community. This entire process was politicized and lacked transparency, and it has destroyed public trust in the Inspector General’s office” said Joanne Antoine, executive director of advocacy group Common Cause Maryland.

“Baltimore County residents deserve a truly independent watchdog, and this chaotic nomination process cannot be the norm. We need structural reform now to reaffirm the independence of the Inspector General, and we need the County Council to uphold constituents’ desire to keep Madigan in the role.”

Arthur Elkins, a member of the five-person selection panel, and Mandee Heinl, a member of the Baltimore County Ethics Commission, joined Klausmeier in the final round of interviews. The rest of the five-member selection panel did not participate in those conversations.

Elkins, a former inspector general for the EPA and the first inspector general for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, was not present during the panel’s first round of interviews due to scheduling conflicts, according to Klausmeier’s spokeswoman. However, he was pulled into the final interviews because Klausmeier wanted his “expertise and input.”

The county administration “appears to treat the selection of an Inspector General as substantially similar to the appointment of other senior staff who are charged to advance the agenda (including the political agenda) of the County Executive,” Will Fletcher, president of the Association of Inspectors General, wrote in the open letter.

Controversy about the process has also ignited calls for reform. Earlier this month, Patoka introduced a charter amendment to create an independent board to appoint and reappoint the county’s inspector general to remove political influence from the process in the future.

On Thursday afternoon, he said he introduced the measure to ensure a transparent process that is not influenced by politics. That legislation is also expected to be discussed at Tuesday’s council work session.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

Selection of an inspector general under the existing process “would not, and should not, garner the trust of the public,” Will Fletcher, president of the Association of Inspectors General, wrote in an open letter this week to Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier and the Baltimore County Council.

“The Association of Inspectors General strongly recommends that the law and processes be reevaluated and that Baltimore County government proceed with careful deliberation and caution.”

Final interviews with the top three candidates for the role, including current Inspector General Kelly Madigan, were completed last week. Now, Klausmeier must make her final decision, which is subject to confirmation by the County Council.

But since the process launched in mid-May, days after Klausmeier gave Madigan a letter stating she would conduct an open search for the role, it has been the subject of intense scrutiny from elected officials, residents, and now, advocacy groups.

Many have rallied behind Madigan, the county’s inaugural inspector general, and called out Klausmeier for initiating a search process rather than simply reappointing her. For her part, Klausmeier has been firm since the start that county code gives her the authority to conduct the search.

County Council members have largely stayed out of the fray, publicly. However, some have questioned the existing process for selecting the inspector general. A majority have said they support Madigan, although the county has not released the names of any candidates.

At issue for critics is how the selection process started, something they claim doesn’t follow county ordinances. The Association for Inspectors General said in its letter that the administration is required to either submit the current inspector general’s name for reappointment to the County Council for confirmation or, if they decline to do that, instead conduct an open search for new candidates.

The six-sentence letter Klausmeier gave Madigan in May encouraged her to reapply for the position if she wanted to remain with the county government.

“Inexplicably, the Administration has chosen to depart from the Ordinance by [conflating] the two distinct provisions by launching the ‘open search’ provision while at the same time inviting the current Inspector General to apply,” Fletcher wrote.

The Democratic county executive received the letter from the national group for government watchdogs and will review it, her spokeswoman said Monday afternoon.

The search process itself has also drawn scrutiny.

In June, Klausmeier announced that a five-member inspector general selection panel would review resumes, interview applicants and make recommendations. After its first meeting, the panel narrowed the field from an initial 23 applicants, extending interviews to eight candidates, four of whom interviewed for the role. Of those candidates, three advanced to a final round of interviews.

Klausmeier, who is ultimately responsible for appointing someone to the role, took part in interviewing the top three candidates last week, raising concerns about a potential conflict of interest and fueling claims that she was influencing the selection. Joining her were Arthur Elkins, a member of the five-person selection panel, and Mandee Heinl, a member of the Baltimore County Ethics Commission. The rest of the five-member selection panel did not participate in the final interviews.

Elkins was not present during the panel’s first round of interviews due to scheduling conflicts, Klausmeier’s spokeswoman said. But he was pulled into the final interviews because Klausmeier wanted his “expertise and input.” Elkins was the first Inspector General for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and a former Inspector General for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

All of this got the attention of advocacy group, Common Cause Maryland, .

“It’s alarming that the County Executive has inserted herself into final round interviews — undermining a process that was supposed to be ‘independent,’” Joanne Antoine, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, said in a July 18 statement. “Her involvement further stains an already controversial process, leaving many to question whether the Office of the Inspector General is truly free from political influence, no matter who is nominated.”

Antoine was one of eight members of the Baltimore County Blue Ribbon Commission on Ethics and Accountability, a group tasked with studying the county’s existing ethics laws and the inspector general’s office. It recommended preserving the office’s independence in a 2023 report.

The Association of Inspectors General said an “inherent conflict of interest” exists when any person who is subject to an inspector general investigation is also charged with decision-making authority in selecting or reappointing an inspector general. The county administration “appears to treat the selection of an Inspector General as substantially similar to the appointment of other senior staff who are charged to advance the agenda (including the political agenda) of the County Executive,” Fletcher wrote.

Concerns about political influence in the process have ignited calls and efforts to reform the way it’s handled in the future.

A proposed charter amendment introduced by Councilman Izzy Patoka, a Pikesville Democrat, would create an independent board to appoint and reappoint the county’s inspector general to “eliminate real or perceived bias” in the selection process, he said earlier this month.

Antoine, of Common Cause Maryland, asked the council to adopt Patoka’s legislation at the same time as it confirms the inspector general nomination to ensure the “chaotic, clandestine process” is not the standard in the future. The Association of Inspectors General also recommended that county officials reevaluate the existing process, urging Klausmeier to exercise care and “ensure appropriate prophylactic measures are implemented” until the selection process can be tweaked legislatively.

“When a professional organization like that sends a letter to Baltimore County government, we should recognize what they’re saying,” Patoka said Tuesday. “I think they’re trying to advise us on what best practices are so that we’re able to implement those best practices.”

Because Patoka’s measure is a charter amendment, it will need five affirmative votes from the county council to be placed on the ballot in 2026 for voters to approve. It will not impact the current process.

Klausmeier has not announced when she plans to select her candidate for the post. Once she does, confirmation falls to the council.

Councilman Pat Young, a Catonsville Democrat, said in a brief phone call Tuesday morning that he hopes Klausmeier will send Madigan’s name to the council for confirmation.

Patoka, too, said he would support Madigan’s nomination for the role. But, having no information on any other candidates is “problematic,” he said, and the two other candidates shouldn’t be mysteries to the council two months into the process.

Councilman Julian Jones, a Democrat from Woodstock, who has not publicly endorsed Madigan, said applicants should have an equal opportunity to compete in the process.

“The county executive’s job is to select the person. My job is to see if the person is qualified,” he said Tuesday. “That’s the way I see it, not whether the person is my choice or not.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the number of inspector general candidates that were interviewed. Four candidates interviewed for the role. The Baltimore Sun regrets the error.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

With plans to turn the state-owned, former military site into a first-of-its-kind cannabis incubator now off the table, the future of the vacant two-story brick building on Mellor Avenue remains uncertain. In the meantime, state officials have begun pointing fingers over why the project was ever considered for that site in the first place.

Baltimore County Councilman Pat Young, a Democrat who represents the area, said in hindsight, he “probably should have” held a meeting letting the community know about the Maryland Cannabis Administration’s interest in housing the incubator there — even though the building is out of his control as a county council member.

“I’ll own it,” he said of the lack of communication, during a meeting last week at the Catonsville library. “At this point, I can’t fix that. What I can say is that as of right now, without a clear path forward for a vacant armory in Catonsville, this is the first step in the conversation that you wanted to see happen.”

Plans to use the site as a state-run incubator for Maryland’s burgeoning cannabis industry took shape last summer when the Maryland Economic Development Corporation and the Maryland Cannabis Administration began eyeing the building.

This followed years of uncertainty about the property. Young said several Baltimore County agencies toured the property in 2022, but it “wasn’t in great shape,” Young said. Officials scoping it out also had to wait to see if the 1950s-era building would receive a historical designation, which comes with extra redevelopment hurdles.

State and county agencies toured the building again in 2023, and Young said he was hopeful at the time that it could be turned into a community center or another public facility. But the county didn’t want it due to the estimated price tag for rehabilitation — $11 million to renovate it to a “government standard,” he said.

Though an incubator would settle the building’s future, the public hadn’t been sold on the idea.

Young said he tried to slow the process down last year, after Baltimore County got $250,000 in state funding to appraise the building and get a more accurate remediation estimate, but there was no way to stop it unless state legislators requested a work group or commission to evaluate the project.

Young didn’t believe the cannabis agency knew what they were getting into with the armory — or what it would take to build it.

“They wanted to have this controversial opportunity to build an incubator, but then they wanted everyone else to do the work in terms of outreach,” he said.

As envisioned, the incubator would serve as a secured storage site for up to 100 small cannabis dispensaries and allow other such “micro-businesses” to use shared equipment to develop products. The site was selected because it’s already state-owned, centrally located and has a reinforced vault. Opponents of the project complained that the Armory is not an appropriate site because it is adjacent to a residential neighborhood and near Catonsville Elementary School.

A single public meeting on the project was held last November. No other meetings were held after that, Young said, though MEDCO sought millions in funding for the incubator project during this year’s legislative session. But state lawmakers restricted $100,000 in funding for the cannabis administration in the fiscal 2026 budget until it submitted a report detailing community engagement efforts for the incubator project.

A budget analysis also indicated that construction at the armory was set to start this summer, which prompted further confusion.

Following months of community outcry about the project, Gov. Wes Moore withdrew support for the project at the armory and said the state would look at other viable sites.

“This administration — they fumbled the ball, they did,” said state Sen. Charles Sydnor, a Baltimore County Democrat. “And we looked awful because we didn’t know what was going on.”

What’s next for the armory?

Young said he plans to meet with Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier to discuss next steps. State lawmakers are also trying to meet with the governor to request to halt the surplus process. Officials hope to pause it before the building heads to the Maryland State Clearinghouse, a part of the state’s planning department that makes recommendations on excess properties ahead of their eventual sale.

Residents have recently floated several ideas for the future if it were to go under county control. During a public meeting last week, one suggested a community center with ball fields and pickleball courts. Another suggestion was to open it up for parking for nearby sporting events. A third man asked if it could be turned into an animal sanctuary.

If so, it wouldn’t be the first transformed armory in Baltimore County.

Nearly two years ago, the county acquired the former Pikesville Armory for $1 and transferred it to the nonprofit Pikesville Armory Foundation to redevelop the property for future use as a senior center and recreational facilities.

But according to the cannabis administration, the armory can be sold with approval from the state’s Board of Public Works and if no other state government agencies are interested. Under state law, Baltimore County would have the right of first refusal to buy it.

The Department of General Services anticipates issuing a request for bids or a request for proposals to sell the property to any buyer with the best offer.

What about the incubator?

With plans for the armory abandoned, the state is launching a new search process for potential incubator sites.

Moore asked the three agencies in charge of the project — the Maryland Cannabis Administration, the Maryland Department of General Services and the Maryland Economic Development Corporation — to look for new sites that aren’t close to residential communities or schools.

While the 37 potential incubator sites identified in a December 2023 report are being reviewed, some counties are showing renewed interest in housing the project.

Montgomery County, for instance, submitted a revised list of potential incubator properties to MEDCO. The county had listed seven sites in the 2023 report. Dorchester County, on the Eastern Shore, is also interested in hosting the incubator.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

The New Windsor farmer owns two properties and farms on two others in the path of the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project’s proposed 67-mile transmission line. He said he wasn’t surprised that he was named in a lawsuit seeking to compel him and other area landowners to grant Public Service Enterprise Group access to their properties to conduct environmental surveys for the power line project.

“I knew it was going to happen,” he said Wednesday evening at Hereford High School, where he attended a town hall about the transmission project. What matters is “how we deal with it from this point forward, and it’s not going to be a lot of fun.”

With more legal filings expected as PSEG seeks to gain access to private property as part of its power line proposal, state legislators and area landowners remain firmly opposed to the project, angered by how the efforts have unfolded so far with the utility company.

Del. Nino Mangione, a Republican who represents northern Baltimore County, said that PSEG has misled area residents about the project and the need for it. PSEG representatives were not invited to the meeting.

“We tried to work with you, you did a horrible job in working together with us, you’ve sued now not once, going on twice,” he said of the utility company during the town hall. “We will do the best we can; we will see you in court, we will also see you at the Public Service Commission, and we hope to do our best.”

Construction on the high-voltage transmission line can’t begin until the Public Service Commission, which regulates public utilities in Maryland, determines if the project can receive a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. No proceedings have been scheduled yet.

In a statement, a PSEG spokesperson said the company has made “numerous proactive efforts to engage with property owners to answer their questions and concerns and we will continue to do so as the process continues.”

Much of the recent frustration voiced by residents in the rural portions of the three counties focuses on undesired requests for access to private property, though concerns have also been raised about the costs Marylanders could shoulder for the power line’s construction and its limited benefit to residents.

State Sen. Chris West, a Republican representing Baltimore and Carroll counties, criticized Gov. Wes Moore for inaction, saying he has focused more on potential political aspirations than on joining residents in the fight against the project.

“He’s been totally AWOL on this issue,” West said of the governor.

In April, however, Moore said he did not believe that PJM, the organization responsible for operating Maryland’s electric grid, was following the process “in order to truly make sure that we’re providing the type of energy assets that we need for the people in our respective jurisdictions.”

“I’m always going to stand with the people on these issues, and I think that the challenge of this wide-scale eminent domain that they’re talking about is not something that I’m OK with,” he said at the time.

While the latest round of litigation has just begun, a federal judge’s June ruling to grant a preliminary injunction allowing PSEG access to more than 100 properties for survey work remains in effect for now. It has been has been appealed —  a process that is likely to take months, said attorney Harris Eisenstein, who represented about half of the landowners named in the first land-access case.

Still, PSEG needs to give those property owners at least 24 hours’ notice before coming onto their land for the surveys. It’s unclear when surveys will begin, what surveys they will do and which properties will be first, he said.

“The fight is not over,” Eisenstein said. “The fight has just begun.”

For now, state legislators are urging those affected by the project to keep reaching out to Moore and the Public Service Commission.

And for those landowners who are already required by the court to provide access to surveyors, Eisenstein recommended documenting “everything” if that time comes.

“The only thing we can continue to do is to get the word out there and apply the pressure,” Mangione said. “That’s all we can do at this point.”

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

The Public Service Enterprise Group’s legal filing, submitted Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for Maryland, is the second such legal effort by the New Jersey-based utility company to get access to private property as part of its power line proposal.

It comes less than a month after U.S. District Judge Adam B. Abelson granted a preliminary injunction allowing PSEG access to more than 100 properties in those counties for survey work, a ruling that prompted strong objections from owners.

Joanne Frederick, president of Stop MPRP Inc., a grassroots group that opposes the Piedmont Reliability Project, said in a statement Tuesday that it’s more than a court filing — it’s a “direct assault on property rights.”

“Hundreds of landowners across Maryland are now being dragged into federal court simply for saying no to forced corporate access and defending their right to control what happens on their land,” she said. “This is a dangerous precedent. If allowed to stand, it could open the floodgates for more corporations to use the courts to trample on private property.”

A PSEG spokesperson contends that it has tried since last fall to have an “open dialogue” with affected landowners, seek permission to access the properties and explain the types of surveys requested by state agencies before such a transmission line may be built.

“Because many landowners refused our efforts, and in order to obtain this survey data information, PSEG previously sought and has obtained a court order confirming that State law allows us to access a number of properties to complete the required surveys,” the statement said. “That process continues with the additional properties included in this filing.”

PJM Interconnection, the organization responsible for operating Maryland’s electric grid, commissioned PSEG to build the power line. If it’s not built, the court filing states, the regional transmission system could experience blackouts or other reliability issues due to increased power usage.

Construction on the transmission line can’t begin until the project receives a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity from the Public Service Commission. PSEG filed an application for that certificate in December. In the court filing, PSEG stated that it needs to begin construction no later than the first quarter of 2026 to bring the power line into service by June 1, 2027.

The preliminary injunction issued in June requires that property owners allow PSEG to access their land as necessary until the certificate is granted or denied. However, PSEG needs to give property owners at least 24 hours’ notice before coming onto their land for the surveys.

State Del. Nino Mangione, a Baltimore County Republican, Sen. Chris West, a Republican who represents portions of Baltimore and Carroll counties, and others scheduled a public meeting Wednesday evening in the Hereford High School Auditorium to talk about efforts to stop the project.

Mangione and West are not the only officials to balk at the project.

Gov. Wes Moore said in April that he would always “stand with the people” in supporting property owners’ rights.

In June, Carroll County Sheriff Jim DeWees sided with landowners and said he would not enforce the ruling. And earlier this month, the Board of Carroll County Commissioners agreed to look into a more formal effort to halt the project.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

The candidates, whom the county did not identify, will be interviewed by three people ahead of a final decision.

Madigan, the county’s first inspector general, confirmed to The Baltimore Sun in a text message Tuesday evening that she remains in the running.

However, only one of the interviewers is a member of the Inspector General Selection Panel, the five-person panel tasked with making recommendations to Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier, who is responsible for appointing someone to the role.

The candidates will “soon participate in interviews” with Klausmeier, panel member Arthur Elkins and Baltimore County Ethics Commission member Mandee Heinl. Dates for those interviews are being scheduled.

The panel’s initial interviews of the candidates were held behind closed doors. While the panel is subject to the Open Meetings Act, the group is allowed to meet in closed session to discuss personnel matters, including those related to potential appointees to the inspector general position.

Elkins, the first inspector general for the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and a former inspector general for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was not present at either of the July panel meetings when it interviewed candidates for the role.

A spokesperson for Klausmeier said in an email Monday afternoon that there were “scheduling conflicts that prevented Mr. Elkins’ presence at the first round of interviews.”

“The County Executive wanted Mr. Elkins’ expertise and input from his years of serving as inspector general during the interview process,” the spokesperson said.

Klausmeier “expects to share her decision in the coming weeks,” according to the statement on the county website.

While the process has narrowed the field from an initial 23 applicants, eight of whom were offered interviews with the panel, it doesn’t end when Klausmeier announces her appointee.

The Baltimore County Council must confirm Klausmeier’s pick. Most council members have said they want Madigan to remain in that role.

It was not clear how many candidates participated in the first round of interviews with the four panel members.

The panel’s process to review and recommend someone to be the inspector general was launched six weeks after Klausmeier gave Madigan a letter stating she would conduct an open search for the role.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

The officer, whose name was redacted from the report, received a $19,638 loan in June 2021 through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program. The loan was issued based on representations that the officer earned $7,855 per month from his work in the taxi service industry, the report stated.

According to the report, the officer was a part-time Lyft driver from August 2016 to December 2016, but was fired from the ridesharing service due to negative reviews about the condition of his car. The officer began driving for Uber in September 2018, as well.

The officer first heard about the loan program through a middleman, who put him in touch with a “Nigerian man from either Texas or California,” the report said. However, the officer did not file the application himself — he “likely” gave his personal and banking information to the man to submit the application for a fee that “may have been $1,000, or possibly more,” according to the report.

While the officer’s loan application stated that he had been in the “taxi service” industry since 2016, according to the report, he did not recall telling the loan filer that he made more than $7,000 from driving for Uber or Lyft.

This is not the first Baltimore County corrections officer to give their personal information to a third-party person and misrepresent their income on a pandemic-era loan application.

Last month, Inspector General Kelly Madigan released a report about a similar situation involving a different corrections officer, who received a Paycheck Protection Program loan for approximately $18,000.

Madigan said that the two officers lived on the same block of the same street and also worked at the same detention facility in the spring of 2021. The officer mentioned in Thursday’s report told Madigan that he was unaware of anyone else who had used the loan filer or anyone who had obtained a federal loan under similar circumstances.

Considering the similar events around the two obtaining their loans, Madigan wrote, she believes “it is reasonable to conclude” that the two used the same person to apply for their loans, and that both were “deceptive” about the identity of the third-party person during interviews with her.

The officer referred to in Thursday’s report did not earn money from Lyft between December 2016 and a few months ago, per the report. Tax summaries from Uber, which the officer shared with the inspector general, showed he had not earned money from driving for Uber in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Because he did not tell the loan filer to inflate his monthly earnings, the officer did not believe he had done wrong by accepting the loan, according to the report, even if it was based on false information.

Asked if he did anything to verify the legitimacy of the loan filer’s business, the officer said he relied on his “instincts,” the report said.

The officer said he used the loan proceeds to pay his credit card bills after taking cash advances to cover expenses related to a company, including purchasing vehicles at auction, hiring tow trucks to move the vehicles and paying shipping costs to get them to Nigeria.

The Baltimore County Department of Corrections is initiating a “comprehensive internal investigation” to review the case, county administrative officer D’Andrea Walker wrote in a June 27 response to the report.

In May, Madigan released a report of similar findings about another unnamed Baltimore County corrections officer who obtained more than $40,000 in fraudulent loans under the guise of operating an informal towing business. That officer was suspended pending further investigation, but he voluntarily resigned from his role.

Investigations by a federal COVID fraud task force showed that it was “not uncommon” for government employees, particularly police, firefighters and corrections officers, to apply for and receive loans, Madigan wrote.

A June 2023 report from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of the Inspector General estimated that the agency disbursed more than $200 billion in potentially fraudulent pandemic-related loans.

Madigan said Thursday that there were other county employees identified whom her office is continuing to investigate.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.

The IKEA Hunt Valley store, one of the Swedish furniture retailer’s “plan and order” locations, was set to open July 16 in the Hunt Valley Town Centre off Shawan Road, but its grand opening has been postponed because of light water damage from a thunderstorm.

Though part of the new store will be closed temporarily due to storm damage, customers can still place and pick up online orders from the store starting July 16.

The new 2,000-square-foot store is the second IKEA location in the Baltimore metro area, joining the IKEA Baltimore store in White Marsh.

“No more navigating the challenges of the Baltimore Beltway — now you can enjoy IKEA and our inspiring home design with less hassle,” John Caliguiri, market manager for IKEA U.S., said in a statement. “With the IKEA Hunt Valley Plan and order point with Pick-up, we’re bringing our signature styles closer to the community, making it more accessible, more convenient, and, of course, more affordable.”

Customers can meet with IKEA employees to plan and order home furnishings for their kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, though they can’t take their purchases home that day. The store can arrange pick-up or delivery to their homes. Customers can also pick up purchases made online.

The smaller-scale IKEA stores are part of the furniture retailer’s new growth strategy. In fiscal 2024, IKEA opened eight new plan and order stores, including a 3,219-square-foot plan and order point in Annapolis off Solomons Island Road.

“We are thrilled to offer Baltimore Metro Area residents more ways to shop and experience IKEA,” Javier Quiñones, the CEO and chief sustainability officer for IKEA U.S., said in a statement. “This new location highlights our commitment to bring IKEA closer to the many people and make it easier and more affordable to access our home furnishing products and solutions.”

This story has been updated to note the delayed opening of the store.

Have a news tip? Contact Natalie Jones at najones@baltsun.com.