Should Rick Pollitt Fire His Public Information Officer?

It’s a simple question that can be readily answered either “yes” or “no.”

If Ms. Lee-Brooks was directed by Pollitt or his $125,000.00 per year assistant (“County Administrator”) to notify the news media of the press conference sponsored by Mr. Pollitt, apparently in his capacity as Anthony Brown’s local campaign manager, and others for the purpose of giving Larry Hogan a public whipping, politically speaking, then she is largely blameless, although she should have known better.

But if that is not the case and Ms. Lee-Brooks sent her e-mail at the request of the Brown campaign without first getting Pollitt’s approval, then he should discharge her – indeed, he should have done so already. The fact that Ms. Lee-Brooks remains on board as Pollitt’s “PIO” speaks volumes.

In either event, the e-mail sent by her, acting in that capacity and using the County’s internet access to do so, violates the County’s ethics law, regardless of whether (as she stated in the e-mail) she “was asked to forward” the announcement of the press conference, which was issued initially by a member of Brown’s campaign staff named Jerid Kurtz.

The more important question is whether Ms. Lee-Brooks was asked by her superiors, which include Pollitt, to do what she did. As mentioned above, there is reason to believe that’s the case.