Orleans Moves to Open His Ethics Commission Interview

A homeless man in Greenbelt is now vying for a seat on the city's ethics commission after losing the race for a council seat last November.

Bill Orleans gained 412 votes in the Nov. 8  election. He now hopes to be one of three citizens who will judge council’s ethics.

On Monday, Orleans has an interview scheduled for Greenbelt’s

However, unlike the other interviews for the commission, Orleans wants the public present, which is not possible in an executive sessions. Orleans left Patch a voice mail on the issue and also emailed an invitation for everyone in Greenbelt to attend his interview.

His email asks Greenbelters to “occupy the Municipal Library” on the second floor of the at 7:15 p.m. on Monday. Orleans' also included a short poem in his email titled ," which ends with a question:

The time has come, felicity mandates, an ethics commission, Green, clean transparency.

The selection, unobserved, of members malleable

Is there a discrepancy?

The commission was formed so Greenbelt would be in compliance with a state law which was passed in 2010. The law established mandatory ethics standards for elected officials and other representatives at the county and municipal level. It also requires a local ethics commission or an appropriate entity to annually certify that a municipality is in compliance with the requirements for local officials.

Council is now holding interviews to determine just who will be on the city's commission. But Councilmember Rodney Roberts doesn't see the point in holding those interviews in executive session. He said in an interview on Monday that technically all the other interviews that council holds for boards and commissions are open.

Roberts pointed out that throughout the years he has often voted against council holding executive sessions, and the commission is no exception.

“You can’t have an ethics commission that’s steeped in secrecy,” Roberts said. “Ethics to me means openness.”

Orleans agrees. “He’s basically opposed to the idea of an executive session” and he said he’s not ashamed of the answers he’s going to give, said Doug Love, who acted as Orleans campaign treasurer during the election and who offers his couch and telephone to Orleans on occasion. Orleans was no longer at Love’s home, when Patch tried to reach him for comments.

On Monday, Mayor Judith “J” Davis said if Orleans requests a public interview, the decision would be up to council. She was not sure what it would decide. But she intended to consult the city attorney, Robert Manzi, about it. Davis said it was Manzi’s recommendation that the interviews be held in executive session.

For his part, Roberts supports Orleans wish to involve the public. “That’s fine. If he wants it to be open, that’s his prerogative,” Roberts said.

Council has held three sets of interviews so far, Davis said. During the last two sets Roberts opposed them being in executive session, she added. Roberts said he didn't want to go into executive session the first time around either, but didn't vote against it until the issue arose again.

Having sat through multiple interviews, Roberts said he didn’t think the questions were private, secret questions. “Any question we ask, you should be willing to have that public," he said.

Roberts said normally no one shows up to the interviews for boards and commissions even when they are public. He couldn't recall a time when they did. If Orleans gets his wish, Monday night will be an exception.

This post was updated.