Gazette: Subin tried to weaken IG office for two years

County Councilman Mike Subin has been trying to undermine the authority of the Inspector General for almost two years, the Gazette reports.

In May 2004, "Subin suggested cutting the inspector general's operating budget - it is now $480,000 - and putting the office under the executive branch," according to the Gazette.

"I did not think it was a good idea" to put the IG under the County Council, Subin now says.

County Executive Doug Duncan, who is running for governor, vetoed the council's creation of the IG in 1997, but was unanimously overridden.

While acknowledging a need for an IG, Subin says the current setup upsets the comfortable environment of the County Council: "instead of being used as a tool for the executive to maintain honesty in his own branch, now it is seen as a weapon ... There is an inherent friction in the way it is now.”