HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Members from different organizations in Howard County came together Monday evening to rally for the termination of the county auditor who started a report they say was racial profiling.
This was right before the county council meeting.
Council members voted to introduce new legislation Monday night after the rally, that will look further into what county auditor has the authority to do.
The protestors gathered outside the George Howard building in Ellicott City ahead of the county council meeting.
"These actions are certainly reminiscent of Jim Crow, reminiscent to a complete insensitivity to the community,” said Reverend Larry Walker, who organized the protest.
The call for termination comes after county auditor Craig Glendenning started an audit about the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority meeting.
The historically African American sorority held the meeting at the Howard County library in Columbia back in October.
The audit was initiated after an anonymous complaint of the misuse of Howard County funds and library resources.
"The auditor saw fit to have someone sit in the parking lot and watch the organization go into the library on that night, even though he was told in advance that this was an approved event that was on the county libraries website in advance,” said Walker.
Walker was the organizer of the protest and says the auditor contacted the head of library Tonya Aikens, back in October, to ask for details of the event before it happened.
He says Aikens is not part of the sorority and the sorority paid for the entire event themselves which was a celebration of their 50th anniversary.
"In his report, he points out the gender of these women who happen to be African American, he points out what the women are wearing, he points out how they wear white dresses for their rituals and other formal events,” said Walker.
Some details were removed from the report that was placed on the Howard County website. The audit was not completed by the auditor saying it was due to the library not cooperating.
"I want to apologize that in 2023 that you even have to stand here for this purpose," said Howard County Councilman Opel Jones.
At the rally, county council members Christiana Rigby and Jones voiced their frustration. Where soon after, they introduced a late filed legislation that would reform the duties of the auditor and further define what the auditor can or can't do.
"It's just to introduce it tonight so we can talk about in public on the 20th and vote on it in April,” said Councilman Jones.
Four votes were needed and all five council members voted yes to introduce the legislation.
The group says their demands remain the same in asking for termination of the Howard County auditor, an apology to the president of the library and the sorority.
WMAR-2 News reached out to auditor Glendenning for comment on the protest and has not heard back yet.
