Council Attorney and Glass Offer Conflicting Accounts on Press Policy

Montgomery County's first-ever written rules restricting access to Council President press briefings were adopted in January 2023. Yet according to the Council's own attorney, there are no records showing how the policy was created or approved. That seemingly impossible outcome, now at the heart of a transparency dispute, is contradicted by recent statements from a former Council President.

The Request

On August 23, The Montgonion filed a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) request asking for three things: the current Council press-access rules, any earlier versions, and documents showing how the current policy was created or adopted.

The Council's Reply

On September 8, Senior Legislative Attorney Christine Wellons produced a single document: the "Council President Media Availabilities Policy," dated January 2023. She confirmed no earlier versions exist.

Then came the surprise: On September 18, Wellons wrote there were "no responsive documents" showing how the policy was drafted or approved. In effect, the county’s first press-access policy—one that determines who may question elected officials—has no paper trail.

Wellons's position carries particular weight. She was the Council's attorney when the policy was adopted in January 2023. If anyone would know how the document came to exist and where to find the records, it's Wellons. But the other person with first-hand knowledge, the president at the time, Evan Glass, tells a different story.

Glass’s Office Responds

The official record as Wellons portrays it is contradicted by Council Member Evan Glass’s office. Glass became president in December 2022, just weeks before the policy appeared. In response to an inquiry from The Montgonion, his communications director, Chenda Hong, wrote on September 11:

"A policy was approved in early 2023 that codified already existing policies and included best practices from other jurisdictions."

That statement suggests approvals, prior practices, and benchmarking—none of which were produced in response to the MPIA.

As the presiding officer at the time, Glass’s account matters most. And it leaves a paradox begging for explanation: was the policy approved and benchmarked like Glass said, or did it materialize without process as Wellons asserts?

Why It Matters

The January 2023 policy bars "advocates or lobbyists" from participating and requires reporters to follow voluntary journalism codes, including the Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics, which begins by noting it is not legally enforceable. Yet those same policies are being used to restrict press access by the current Council President, Kate Stewart.

The Council attorney says no records exist to explain why or how such a policy was adopted. Glass’s office says the opposite. Both scenarios are troubling: either the policy was imposed without process, or records exist but were not disclosed.

Pursuing the Truth

The Montgonion has asked the Council to re-review its records and will seek mediation through the Public Access Ombudsman. We have also asked Glass’s office to produce the approval records or benchmarking materials it referenced.

When government rules appear with no trace of their creation, alarm bells should ring. The public deserves answers, and The Montgonion will continue to press for truth and accountability.