May 13, 2023

For Immediate Release

Contact: Sharon Taylor 240-354-6853

Statement from Commissioner Thomasina Coates

Charles County Commissioner Coates Says Citizens Deserve the Facts
Charles County, MD…Charles County Commissioner Thomasina Coates issued the following
statement today after calls from constituents and supporters urging her to set the record straight
about the June 2020 and December 13, 2022, Board of Charles County Commissioners meetings
where she was not allowed to vote to fire County Administrator Mark Belton.

Regarding outreach from constituents and friends in business and industry:

“I appreciate the calls from constituents and supporters. They know everything I care about is here
in Charles County and they know that I have been the victim of a smear campaign. I regret that
some of them have been threatened and harassed as I have been. But I promised to work hard for
the people of my district and for the county, and they can depend on me to do just. While the stress
has been tremendous, backing down is not an option. Citizens know that’s not who I am. Charles
County is being held hostage and I will not stand down.

Regarding the accusations of alleged racial discrimination and the 2020 Censure:

“I realize the media have not had a full picture. On the advice of counsel, I remained silent until
matters before the court were public record. The story has been about my being censured in a 2020
closed meeting of the Board of Charles County (BOCC) commissioners because of “alleged” racial
discrimination. It is an erroneous accusation gleaned from a 2020 report of investigation by outside
counsel. The accusation simply isn’t true.

For the record, I did not initiate the request to fire the county administrator in 2020, but I
supported it. The Board of Commissioners was informed in 2020 by Mark Belton that outside
counsel had been hired, we understood, for the complaint of an employee against Mr. Belton. The
Board of Commissioners were not told that outside counsel was investigating a complaint against
me by Mark Belton. To this day, I have not seen a formal complaint against me from Mark Belton.
And if he had, Mr. Belton, like the employee who filed the complaint against him, would have been
responsible for his own legal fees – not the county. I was contacted by outside counsel because of
my familiarity with the employee’s complaint.
Mr. Belton is an at-will employee. Prior to the June 2020 Board of Commissioners meeting the
Board leadership met with him – consistent with procedure - to inform him of his termination, a
conversation during which he learned that I was the third and deciding vote. During the Board
session, the investigative report of outside counsel – dated May 25, 2020, to the County Attorney -
was presented which covered Mr. Belton’s allegations against me and to my surprise, mine against
him.

The report says that Mr. Belton’s allegation was that “he has been subjected to an abusive hostile
work environment.” I’m sure many have seen the report.
The report also asked Mr. Belton if my treatment of him was related to his race, to which he
replied, “Coates has been upset with him because he is not willing to be a willing ally in making
race-based decisions to advance her agenda. Somehow seeing a distinction Belton said he does not
think Coates treats him this way because he is white.” In direct conflict with the words directly
from Mr. Belton, the independent investigator independently concludes that, “there is strong direct
evidence of Commissioner Coates racial biases!
I wish I could say this is something new, but it isn’t. It is unfortunate, but this the quicksand that
too often occurs when we pledge our allegiance to the citizens of the county and then allow
ourselves to be bullied, distracted and forced to dance around the emerging issues in our county
related to diversity, inclusion, and fairness in our hiring and business practices. Change is hard!
I’m pretty sure I know what the County Administrator was calling my race-based agenda.
Was he talking about the County Commissioners recognition of change in the county, which is why
we established racial competency and diversity goals for county government?
Was he talking about the Commission’s vote that budgeted for a Disparity Study that passed 3-2?
The Disparity Study was not an indictment of anything or anyone. It was a professional and
transparent way for the county to assess where it was and to provide a way to move forward, for the
county and for professionals and firms doing or wanting to do business with the county.
The July 2021 Study - on the County Website - does exactly that in its Executive Summary with its
Legal Findings, Commendations, and Recommendations. Mr. Belton refused to release the
Disparity Study unless the contractor changed the language, specifically that 80% of the county
workforce is white. The simple, reasonable goal of racial competency and diversity goals was not a
wholesale firing of employees but a signal for hiring managers to strive for a diverse pool of
applicants for all jobs as people left the county, retired, or new positions were created.

Was he talking about my race-based agenda when I, recognizing the challenge around fairness as
the demographics of the county have changed and attempting to assure an atmosphere of fairness,
recommended in 2019 that we hire a professional to guide us through the process and to assist us in
developing a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Plan? The Commission passed that
recommendation, voting 4-1 in favor. That important position is being temporarily filled by a
county employee; I’m unaware of their training, experience, or credentials for the job.

Mr. Belton undermined each of these initiatives. He held the county budget for the Diversity hire
for a full year. When a woman was hired, he rebuffed every attempt she made to be of assistance,
such as to sit in on conferences when employee complaints arose – discrimination, sexual
harassment, retaliation. He refused, telling her “. he didn’t need her, and he’d let her know if he
did.”

She prepared a draft plan but left within 3-4 months, saying she didn’t think the county was ready
for a diversity and inclusion commitment. The County Administrator refused to allow the
commissioners to see her exit interview.

So, this was not my race-based agenda; it was the forward-looking agenda of the Board of
Commissioners, which upheld its responsibilities as any sound business would, especially utilizing
taxpayer’s dollars. With the Disparity Study in particular the Board asked itself: How do we move
the County forward in our business and professional practices without a current assessment against
which we can measure our progress in the future?
As the investigative report further states, the County Administrator met with me and all
commissioners when he came on board again in 2019. I did raise the issue of diversity in hiring,
about which he indicated his commitment.

I found it interesting that at that time, in that meeting, he let me know that he was aware that I had
not signed off on his contract... I did not. As your Charles County Commissioner, I really felt
that the County Administrator’s contract was fiscally irresponsible, with excessive
compensation and which included unreasonable accommodations related to his personal
housing. My concern then and now is that as stewards of the County taxpayer’s dollars Mr.
Belton’s contract was excessive. Furthermore, while an employee of the county, the county
allows the County Administrator to benefit from taxpayer’s dollars while also consulting.
For the record, I did not initiate the request to fire the county administrator in the December 13,
2022, Commissioner’s meeting, but I supported it.
In that meeting, under “Personnel Matters” the County Attorney and Mark Belton were to be
terminated. The details of how that meeting unfolded are best seen on the County Video. Simply
put, the County Attorney – also an at-will employee - had an HR employee read his contract so he
could remind the Board of Commissioner that he could only be fired by Mark Belton.
As the termination of Mr. Belton came up on the agenda, the County Attorney offered to throw Mr.
Belton under the bus if he was granted early tenure. When that was not granted, suddenly, a
commissioner brought up the 2020 Censure saying that I was prohibited from voting! This after
nearly three years of passing all of my county-related work to the Board Chair or Vice-Chair as
terms of the Censure, including that I could have no direct contact with Mr. Belton – an at-will
employee, hired by the Board of Commissioners!
Still pending is a frivolous lawsuit against me for so-called racial discrimination by two sitting
county commissioners, a lawsuit that the County Attorney attempted to be the attorney for while on
the county payroll. Mr. Belton also joined that lawsuit!
Again, County taxpayers are footing the bill for the complainant’s lawsuit – a bill they should be
paying, in a lawsuit against a sitting county commissioner. I’m on the record!
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“…there’s always time to get it right!”

O: 240.354.6853 | E: Sharon@TaylorRomayne.com | 3701 S George Mason Dr, #914N, Falls Church, VA 22041 | www.TaylorRomayne.com