Prince George’s planning chair Darryl Barnes faces a slew of misconduct allegations

The chair of the Prince George’s County Planning Board is facing allegations that he pushed the planning commission to hire his sister, promoted members of his business network for government contracts, and requested the commission purchase box seats at Capital One Arena, according to an 11-page complaint reviewed by The Banner.

The complaint, filed in February, also states that the chair, Darryl Barnes, asked the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to cover his private social club dues and assign a park police officer as his driver and bodyguard, among many other “misconduct” allegations dating back to his appointment in July.

Barnes, in a statement from his attorney, denied the allegations and disputed the “accuracy, completeness, and characterization” of the accounts in the complaint.

The confidential complaint was filed by Debra Borden, who is on extended leave from her job as the chief legal officer for the agency that oversees parks and planning in Prince George’s and Montgomery counties.

Borden has alleged Barnes retaliated after she raised legal and ethical concerns about his conduct by threatening to have her fired, a move that requires approval from the Prince George’s and Montgomery planning boards.

The commission has hired an outside law firm to investigate the allegations, according to three people familiar with the investigation who confirmed its existence on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the commission’s private internal process.

The commission’s inspector general, Modupe Ogunduyile, said in a statement that “as part of our standard procedures, our office does not disclose whether we are or are not conducting an active investigation.”

Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy, who appointed Barnes as chair, has instructed her team to conduct its own investigation into the allegations, said Tracy M. Benjamin, the administration’s liaison to the commission.

“We’ll be taking swift action to address [the allegations] if such action is warranted,” Benjamin said in an interview Thursday.

Barnes’ attorney, Jamar Creech, denied the allegations of misconduct, retaliation, self-dealing, procurement interference and personal benefit.

He also denied that Barnes retaliated against Borden for performing her duties as general counsel and for raising legal concerns.

“Chair Barnes has acted in good faith in his role as Chair,” Creech said in the statement, adding that his client has “focused on improving accountability, transparency, effectiveness, and service to Prince George’s County residents.”

Creech said the nature of the allegations that Borden and her attorney described is “not fairly or fully captured by a complaint presenting only one side of a disputed matter.”

Whispers of Barnes’ conduct have circulated for months in Prince George’s County’s political circles and among current and former employees of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which also administers recreation programs in Prince George’s.

The counties’ five-member planning boards combine to serve as the commission’s governing body.

Borden’s account portrays Barnes as a local official who has attempted to operate outside the bounds of his role and, in a handful of cases, is said to have violated the commission’s policies on procurement and ethics, Borden’s employment agreement, personnel confidentiality regulations, bond covenants and state law.

Creech, though, said Barnes has not used his office for personal enrichment; directed staff to award contracts to friends, family members, personal businesses or affiliated entities; or instructed anyone to violate the commission’s procurement rules, ethics requirements, personnel policies, bond covenants or state law.

Borden’s attorney, Timothy Maloney, wrote in the complaint that Barnes’ conduct has threatened “the integrity and reputation” of the century-old commission.

Maloney did not respond to emails or return phone messages left over the last two weeks with staff at his law office, Joseph Greenwald & Laake.

A message to Borden’s work email prompted an automated response stating she is on extended leave, and she didn’t respond to other attempts to reach her, including a LinkedIn message and multiple voice messages left on her cellphone.

Borden has requested that the commission remove Barnes from any direct supervision over her or the Office of the General Counsel.

She also called for the commission to retain an independent law firm to investigate the issues she raised in her complaint.

Maloney wrote that Borden was concerned Barnes or his allies would retaliate because of the complaint, and he added that she would take immediate legal action if that were to occur.

Borden’s attorney added that his office would be filing a Tort Claims Act notice with the M-NCPPC executive director “concerning Barnes’ conduct and treatment of [Borden] since taking office.”

The law allows people to sue the government for an injury. Local governments in Maryland generally cannot be held liable to any one person for more than $400,000.

Lofty requests

As planning chair, Barnes, a former state delegate who chaired the powerful Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, became the only full-time member of a five-member body that advises the County Council on issues of zoning and land use, reviews and approves development site plans, and rules on subdivision applications.

He also became the presiding officer of the 10-member M-NCPPC. The Prince George’s and Montgomery planning board chairs take turns leading the bi-county commission. Barnes arrived when it was Prince George’s turn.

Barnes, according to the complaint, has repeatedly pushed the commission to increase spending, including on his office.

Shortly after he became chair, the Prince George’s County Council approved his request to add seven positions to his office staff, bringing its total to 16.

He is seeking the council’s approval for another nine positions next fiscal year, with plans to hire a chief of staff, create an Office of Performance Management, add communications staff and bring on two administrative specialists “for general office support,” according to commission budget documents.

He wanted a personal vehicle from the commission’s fleet but wasn’t fond of the available options, so he requested that the commission purchase an SUV worth $100,000, the complaint states. The complaint doesn’t list details about the vehicle.

(Barnes arrived at a recent planning board meeting as a passenger in a white sedan.)

Borden alleged that Barnes pushed for his office in Largo to be renovated and expanded. The building had been purchased and fitted for use roughly two years earlier, according to the complaint.

Barnes allegedly sought approval for the commission to pay about $45,000 annually for box seats at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., but Bill Spencer, the commission’s acting executive director, denied the request.

Borden also alleged that Barnes told several employees that he wanted the commission to buy a suite at Northwest Stadium in Landover, where the Washington Commanders play.

He has asked to be exempt from the commission’s policies against keeping alcohol in the workplace and pushed for the commission to pay for alcohol at its events, the complaint states.

He also requested that the park police assign an officer to serve as his full-time driver and bodyguard, though he later dropped the request.

The complaint states that the union representing the park police filed a Maryland Public Information Act request regarding Barnes’ attempt to obtain a driver and bodyguard, and that Barnes abandoned the effort after the records request.

Jonathan Ness, president of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge representing the Maryland-National Capital Park Police, said in a statement that the lodge didn’t file a records request over the matter. But he said Barnes used one of the lodge’s members as a driver and for executive protection services on multiple occasions.

“To our knowledge, this type of police responsibility had never been required of a member in the past,” Ness said.

Barnes, according to the complaint, requested that the commission pay his membership dues at Tower Club Tysons, a private club in Vienna, Virginia, including amounts he owed prior to his appointment as chair.

The commission’s procurement office also received a request to register the Tower Club as a vendor, which would allow it to do business with the commission, including bidding on contracts.

An assistant general counsel determined that paying the club dues would be inappropriate, and the two requests were denied.

Barnes allegedly then called Borden after work hours to voice his “extreme displeasure,” the complaint states. He was particularly miffed that the Office of General Counsel had issued written responses to requests for guidance about the requests, contending that Borden had “put him on blast.”

Borden alleged that Barnes said he “was owed deference” and that the incident had proved he couldn’t trust her.

In conversations with the planning board’s administrator, Jessica Jones, Barnes mentioned firing Borden because of the incident, the complaint states.

Jones, through commission spokesperson Calista Black, declined to comment. Black added the commission has “policies and procedures in place to investigate allegations of this kind, and we are confident that they are being followed.”

Playing favorites?

Borden alleged that Barnes first broke the commission’s procurement and ethics rules before he was sworn in.

On July 8, the day Barnes became chair, the Office of the General Counsel received word that Barnes had initiated plans for a July 19 community event featuring giveaway toys, food bags and bicycles, as well as carnival-like food and rides, the complaint states.

Barnes had planned for the commission to pay a newly registered Virginia-based nonprofit more than $57,000 to run it, the complaint states. The complaint does not clarify whether Barnes is connected to the nonprofit.

The organization, which isn’t named in the complaint, lacked insurance and a contract and allegedly planned to hire similarly unvetted subcontractors to operate event activities, according to the complaint.

The Office of the General Counsel reduced the size of the event and the scope of work for the nonprofit in order to draft and approve a contract, and the parks and recreation department brought on insured companies already under contract with the commission to help run the event.

Borden also alleged that Barnes violated the commission’s procurement regulations by providing staff with a list of vendors he wanted used for commission contracts. The complaint does not state whether Barnes had any connection to these particular vendors.

Borden’s attorney wrote that planning commissioners don’t have a role in the procurement process, which he claimed made Barnes’ “continuous interference especially egregious.”

Personal business ties

Barnes founded a bottled water company, Quora Alkaline Water, in 2022. About a month after joining the planning board, he filed to transfer ownership of the company, according to the state Department of Assessments and Taxation.

Borden’s complaint states that the next day someone from Quora attempted to register the business as a vendor with the commission’s procurement office.

After being rejected, the Quora representative tried again.

Following a second rejection, Barnes’ administrative assistant called the procurement office to ask why the company’s registration hadn’t been approved, the complaint states.

The procurement office requested a legal opinion from the Office of the General Counsel, and that office advised against registering Quora, citing the commission’s ethics code.

Borden has also alleged that Barnes has promoted members of his business network for government contracts, including those associated with a membership organization he created called the Bi-County Business Roundtable, which advances the interests of small businesses, according to its website.

Barnes founded the Bi-County Business Roundtable in 2018 as a private company and served as director until 2023, when he filed to restructure it as a charitable organization. He and three others were listed as board members.

Borden’s complaint states that Barnes has failed to clarify whether he is still affiliated with the organization.

The complaint offers few specific examples of Barnes trying to promote members of the organization for government contracts, nor does it name the members.

In one instance, ahead of the January start of the state’s 90-day legislative session, Barnes requested that the commission reopen its lobbying contract for bidding.

The complaint states that Barnes recommended a list of businesses from the Bi-County Business Roundtable.

After the commission put its contract out to bid, it re-selected Manis Canning & Associates, which, according to the complaint, led Barnes to express his “displeasure” to Borden about the outcome.

Borden claims she explained to Barnes that she wasn’t part of the committee reviewing bids, that the bidding process is competitive, and that “an incumbent vendor brings to the process the benefit of experience performing under the contract.”

Borden alleged that, despite being a planning commissioner, Barnes continued to advertise himself online as a lobbyist for hire through another company he created, Barnes International.

“The potential for conflicts of interest related to Mr. Barnes engaging in a lobbying practice seems obvious,” Maloney wrote in the complaint.

Borden’s attorney wrote that Barnes didn’t disclose his affiliation to Barnes International in his financial statement for the commission, and he claimed that it was unclear whether Barnes was still operating the business.

The Department of Assessments and Taxation website shows that Barnes International was forfeited by the Office of the Comptroller in September, the fourth time it’s been in forfeiture since Barnes founded it in 2004.

Accusations of patronage

Shortly after joining the planning board, Barnes advocated for Darius Stanton to be appointed director of the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation. He has called Stanton his “best friend,” the complaint states.

Borden claimed that the county has, in the past, conducted a search and interview process to fill the position. She alleged that Barnes made clear he had a long-standing relationship with Stanton and was uninterested in a wider search.

The planning board announced shortly afterward that it had appointed Stanton as the new director.

Barnes also pushed for the commission to hire his sister, according to the complaint.

After the commission’s human resources director, Todd Allen, cited the commission’s policy against nepotism and refused to hire her, Barnes contacted Montgomery County Planning Board Chair Artie Harris and asked him to have the commission hire his sister in Montgomery County, according to the complaint. His sister wasn’t hired.

An ‘illegal’ transfer

In January, the complaint states, the Prince George’s County Council voted to compel the commission to transfer more than $12 million that the commission had budgeted for recreation programs.

The $12 million transfer and other smaller transfers ended up catching the attention of state lawmakers, who moved to limit the County Council’s ability to draw down commission funds.

After Borden raised legal concerns to the county attorney about transferring state-regulated funds without approval from the General Assembly and outside of the normal budget process, Barnes demanded a meeting with her to issue a written reprimand, according to the complaint.

He included Stanton in the meeting, though the parks and recreation director has no supervisory role over Borden.

The complaint states that Barnes said he would seek to dismiss Borden and that while he had asked Borden to meet with the county attorney, he hadn’t authorized her to “express her legal opinions” to the attorney. The next day, Barnes issued a written reprimand.

Borden’s attorney wrote that this threat of termination violated his client’s employment agreement, the commission’s policies and personnel confidentiality regulations, and that it was a clear attempt at intimidation.

Barnes also lacked the authority to make that decision unilaterally. The general counsel reports to the 10-member commission.

Borden’s attorney wrote that Barnes was attempting to facilitate the $12 million transfer in violation of bond covenants and commission policy, and he warned that Barnes’ actions could come with “catastrophic” consequences for the commission.

Around this time, state senators representing Prince George’s County introduced a bill to break up the bi-county commission. Barnes was one of the lead proponents of the bill, and he contended in his written testimony that it would, among other things, “provide greater alignment with Prince George’s priorities” and “direct accountability to County leadership.”

The complaint, filed after the senators introduced their bill, didn’t mention the bill or the push to break up the commission.

Officials have pushed to disband the commission before — one former planning board chair, Montgomery County’s Royce Hanson, said officials have typically done so after receiving advice from commission staff that they didn’t want to hear.

This bill would have divorced the commission’s shared administrative departments, including the Office of the General Counsel, and left each county with a staff serving at the pleasure of its respective planning board.

But it stalled before the end of the legislative session in April.