Longtime Howard County Auditor Craig N. Glendenning appears to have been removed from his position without any announcement. Deputy Auditor Owen Clark is now listed as the Acting Howard County Auditor on the County Council website.
Both Howard County Council Administrator Michelle Harrod and a staffer at the county’s human resources department declined to comment on the matter.
“I am really unable to comment,” Harrod said. “All personnel matters are confidential.”
The Human Resources department deferred questions about Glendenning’s status to the county’s Office of Public Information. Safa Hira, Howard County’s Director of Communications, did not immediately respond to an email inquiring about Glendenning’s status.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Glendenning had served in the position since 2012. The Howard County auditor is hired by the council and serves at its pleasure. The auditor reviews county spending and investigates allegations of waste, fraud and abuse.
Council Chair Deb Jung confirmed that the auditor was no longer in his position, and said that she was not legally permitted to provide information about the circumstances that led to his exit.
As reported previously in Baltimore Fishbowl, Glendenning received heated criticism from some council members earlier this year for an inquiry into the president and CEO of the Howard County Library System. Glendenning was investigating a tip which suggested special treatment for use of library space by a local chapter of the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha in October 2022 at the library’s central branch in Columbia. The audit report included descriptions of participants’ race and gender which some felt were inappropriate.
Councilmembers Christiana Rigby and Opel Jones called Glendenning’s language harmful. Jones and Rigby called for Glendenning’s removal in February, but a majority of the council did not agree at the time. Tracy Williams, president of the African-American Community Roundtable of Howard County called Glendenning’s inclusion of phrases like “African-American women in white dresses” served to tarnish the reputation of Howard County Library System CEO and President Tonya Aikens.
Glendenning never completed his report because he said there was a lack of cooperation from the library. The library refuted Glendenning’s concerns in its own assessment and stated it is a state agency, and the county auditor does not have the authority to investigate it.
Glendenning could not be reached for comment.
Finally. I believe this man endangered people’s lives due to his misogyny and racism. Then he blamed his staff for his actions. P.S. It appeared that “Democrats” Deb Jung and Liz Walsh supported this man.