By Adam Pagnucco.
In response to my Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request, county council staff has confirmed that taxpayers paid some of the costs of Council Member Laurie-Anne Sayles’s recent trip to Hawaii during the council’s budget deliberations.
First, some context. Every year, the county council works on the operating budget during the spring. The county’s charter requires the county executive to transmit a recommended budget by March 15 and the council must adopt a budget by June 1. This is a period of intense work for the council and its staff, especially during the first two weeks of May as the budget process concludes. All council members are aware of the nature and the timing of this work.
Another point of context. While council members have personal staff, there is also a central staff that works for the institution as a whole. The central staff does not give orders to council members, but it does enforce council office policies on expenses and other matters.
Sayles’s trip to Hawaii occurred during the week of May 4, when the council was deep into deliberations on competing tax plans. She attended two conferences: the 2026 National Association of Counties (NACO) Western Interstate Regional Conference and the 40th Annual National Organization of Black County Officials (NOBCO) Economic Development Conference, both of which were held in Maui. She also attended council meetings virtually although it’s unclear how she managed conference and council events scheduled for the same time. (Hawaii does have a five hour time difference with the East Coast in the summer.)
Planning for the trip began as early as January. Sayles’s staff asked central staff to process registrations for two NACO conferences, one of which was the Western Interstate conference in May. Sandra Marin, the council’s Deputy Director for Operations, confirmed one of the conferences but wrote this about the western conference in a January 30 email:
The NACo Western Interstate Region conference, however, is not eligible under the Council’s guidelines (attached) which only allow for conference reimbursement for:
- Non-partisan conference related to County work
- Issue based conference relevant to County
- Focus on issues under consideration by the Council
Since the WIR conference states that it focuses on issues facing Western counties and residents, it would not qualify since it is not to related to County work or issues under consideration by the County.
Sayles did not give up. In April, she asked a top NACO official to send a statement to Craig Howard, the council’s executive director, supporting her attendance at the western NACO conference. The statement did not change Howard’s mind, as he again explained to Sayles that this conference was not eligible for council reimbursement. Sayles replied:
Thank you for meeting with Christine and me yesterday. After careful reflection, we find ourselves at an impasse.
Consequently, I feel it is necessary to seek resolution through the appropriate channels. This is to ensure that my responsibilities as a member of the NACo Board of Directors, as outlined in the attached correspondence from NACo’s CEO, are not improperly constrained.
Sayles also mentioned the matter to Mike Sanderson, who is the executive director of the Maryland Association of Counties. The two screenshots below show her correspondence.
Sayles tried but failed to obtain taxpayer reimbursement for the NACO Western Interstate Region conference. Accordingly, no taxpayer money was spent for that part of the trip.
However, council staff did approve reimbursement for the National Organization of Black County Officials (NOBCO) conference, which took place immediately after the NACO conference and was also based in Maui. That approval can be seen in the email exchange below between Sierra Gray, who is a staffer for Sayles, and council central staffer Lauren Yamada.
The registration fee for the NOBCO conference was $1,125.50 as can be seen in the screenshots below, one of which shows a payment receipt.
Sayles fronted the costs for the flight and the NOBCO hotel room. Gray, who works for Sayles, told central staff: “She will seek reimbursement upon her return.”
I asked the council’s central staff whether the NOBCO conference registration fee of $1,125.50 was paid with county funds. Sandra Marin, the council’s Deputy Director for Operations, replied “The NOBCO conference was paid by County funds.” Her email to me is shown below.
The record above demonstrates that county funds were used to pay for part of Sayles’s trip to Hawaii during the council’s budget deliberations.
In her public statement, Sayles claimed, “Importantly, I personally paid for all travel expenses. No taxpayer funds were used for airfare, lodging, or conference-related costs. Any reimbursement will follow standard County procedures and applicable budget guidelines.”
Readers, you now have the information necessary to assess that statement.
The files available for download below contain the council staff’s entire response to my MPIA request.