Nonprofit behind 'The Source' skips council meeting amid transparency concerns; Lawyer claims retaliation

COLUMBIA, Md. — Construction continues at the future site of The Source, a planned community center that's become the center of an oversight controversy between Howard County Council and the nonprofit behind the project.

Columbia Community Concepts, or CCC, was a no-show at the monthly council meeting Tuesday, the fifth time that the group has been asked to appear at a public meeting, according to councilwoman Deb Jung of District 4. The nonprofit's attorney sent a letter suggesting the invitation was a sham designed to embarrass the organization's representatives.

CCC received the county's largest-ever grant beginning two years ago for its keystone project: a 65,000-square-foot community space in the heart of Columbia. The brand-new nonprofit was awarded $25 million in two grant installments for the state-of-the-art facility. But earlier this year, the project came under scrutiny after it appeared to stall.
Jung, who initially voted in favor of the grants, has spearheaded efforts to get answers, citing the council's fiscal responsibility to taxpayers.

"How much money have you spent? Where did the money go? What have you invested in so far? Where are your plans? Why have you spent more than half of the $25 million and there's not a vertical thing on that lot? These are questions, legitimate questions that county council members have and the Columbia Community Concepts should be willing to answer," Jung said.

Though, attorney Gregg Bernstein's Oct. 9 letter raises concerns about Jung's personal motivations, writing that "her desire to bring representatives from The Source before the council are not based on a genuine and legitimate desire for information, but instead, are designed to embarrass and denigrate CCC's representatives," who he says supported Jung's opponent during primaries for county executive, and one of whom filed an ethics complaint against her that was later dismissed.

The letter also claims that the public proceedings and media attention have diverted management and resources from construction, increasing the costs of the project. Bernstein claims the group has repeatedly advised the council that, "under appropriate circumstances," it is willing to meet for an update.

District 5 Representative David Yungmann pushed back on that framing.

"Well, that's not your call to decide what's appropriate circumstances or not," Yungmann said."County law is clear regarding the county council and the auditor's... rights to review financial and other matters when an outside organization receives any amount of taxpayer money."

Meanwhile, District 2 Councilman and council chair Opel Jones suggested the continuing demand for oversight may be excessive.

"I don't think that Howard County operates under a [precedent] of doing bad business with people that want to do good for the community," he said.

Jung, for her part, remains skeptical.

"Everything could be wonderful and above board, but when you don't show up 5 times, you start to question what's going on,"Jung said. "I would like to believe that there wasn't something to hide, but if we're not getting the simple answers to these questions, one can't help but speculate."

The attorney's letter does provide some construction updates. Work completed so far has included demolition, rough grading and the construction of a bike-pedestrian pathway.

Next steps include the installation of a water line and construction of a retaining wall. Permit drawings were approved in late summer, according to Bernstein and the guaranteed maximum price is being finalized by the general contractor.

They plan to provide more information through its annual report in early December.

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