By Adam Pagnucco.
At a recent work session of the county council’s Economic Development Committee, then-Council President Evan Glass made an unusual allegation in the presence of the county’s permitting director: when he inquired on the status of a constituent’s permit, a permitting official expressed their displeasure about the inquiry to the constituent’s contractor. The incident raises the question of whether permitting officials engage in “retribution” when constituents seek to involve elected officials in their dealings with the department.
On December 4, representatives of the Department of Permitting Services (DPS) appeared before the Economic Development Committee to discuss some of their initiatives. One of them was a customer satisfaction survey in which 74% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with DPS’s service. However, the survey had a response rate of just nine percent. Its results are summarized in the slide below.
This prompted Glass to bring up an experience with DPS related by a constituent. Following is a transcription of an exchange he had with DPS’s director from video of the committee meeting.
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Council Member Evan Glass.
Anecdotally, within the last two months, I have reached out to your department regarding constituents who have had questions about their projects, primarily residential but also commercial. And in one case it was reported back to me that the department and whomever was the lead for that particular project review did not like the fact I was engaged and that I was asked to check in on the status. That came from the homeowner who is doing a residential project who heard it directly from the contractor doing the building. I don’t want to use the word retribution but there is a concern that expressing concerns can swing back around. And I share that with direct relation to the survey. So it’s real. And I’m not casting aspersions. I am just sharing a real life story from someone who I know conveyed the facts to me. Director?
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DPS Director Rabbiah Sabbakhan offered this reply.
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DPS Director Rabbiah Sabbakhan.
Well, I appreciate you sharing that, President Glass. I just – again, we spoke to cultural, um – you know, um – you know, structure of the department or changes and it’s I think the starting point, as I spoke on when I first arrived, on that particular issue – again, not knowing… I too was hearing, anecdotally, some things, and I had worked with the county in Rockville, but… I think, um, we have worked with those types of issues… I would say it’s great to hear that because that tells me we still have some work to do. We should not have anyone be it an inspector, a reviewer, a manager, myself even, becoming alarmed because a council member has every right to inquire, you know, work with their constituent. That’s why you’re here. And you should not take it as something negative because you’re doing so. And the whole retribution thing… Again, we just want to quell that. I mean, that’s… that’s going to be non-existent in DPS.
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Glass finished the exchange.
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I appreciate that candid response, I agree with you. It is our job to push the executive agencies and departments, to engage as best we can. And I also understand that residents, business owners, constituents sometimes misstate things to us. I’m well aware of that and that’s why we engage. But what should not happen is any retribution or fear that a project will be further stymied because elected representatives are inquiring. And I appreciate the acknowledgement across the board.
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Permitting officials wield enormous power over projects large and small. It’s understandable that constituents would be loath to criticize them, at least if complaints were known to those officials. While stories such as this have been circulating about DPS and other departments for years, it’s unusual for a specific one to be discussed at a council meeting. Kudos to Glass for bringing it up.
As for DPS Director Sabbakhan, he has been on the job for less than a year. In fact, DPS has had three directors and one acting director since 2019. In September, the county’s inspector general released a report finding that DPS junked a new enterprise system initiated by Sabbakhan’s predecessor at a cost of $2.1 million.
DPS is a critical agency for the county’s economy. Good luck to Director Sabbakhan in improving any cultural issues he identifies in the department.