Friday, November 07, 2014

MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF LIQUOR CONTROL EMPLOYEES ACCUSED OF STEALING BEER, RESELLING IT

NBC 4's News 4 I-Team alleges that some delivery employees for Montgomery County's Department of Liquor Control have been stealing beer meant to be delivered to county businesses. Their report also accuses some store owners of being in on the scam, which purportedly allowed County-controlled beer to be sold for private profit later by those employees. At least one County Councilmember is calling for an investigation, but hold on a minute - where was the oversight by the Council while the alleged crimes were taking place on their watch? Much like the Silver Spring Transit Center debacle, expect the Council to point fingers at everyone else but themselves, and claim they are victims just like the taxpayers. It's time the press starts asking the Council why they haven't been executing their oversight role in county government.

In the Farm Road case, where multiple Sandy Spring African-American landowners' property rights were violated, the Montgomery County Planning Board was allowed to hire a county political operative, Douglas Bregman, to investigate the scandal. This was somewhat like allowing Richard Nixon to investigate Watergate, as the Planning Department itself is under question in the Farm Road matter.

Bregman also had strong ties to development interests in the county, a conflict of interest for the Farm Road case, in which private developers were involved. Bregman's report was favorable to those who should have been investigated (surprise!), and Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler declined to answer calls to launch a state investigation of the Farm Road case. But, as I exclusively reported here, Bregman had donated $4,000 to Doug Gansler. Oops.

Only Councilmember Marc Elrich has continued to pursue the Farm Road swindle, and the local media dropped the story entirely after Bregman's "report."

County and state politicians have been treating mature adults in Montgomery County like children for years, denying us the right to even buy Bud Light at grocery stores and drug stores. Yet, if these accusations are true, their very own employees have been breaking the law themselves and getting away with it. The "beer skimming" scandal, and the transit center and Farm Road scandals, demand a federal investigation into each.

How convenient is it that we are only hearing about this sensational "beer bust" right after the county elections?

24 comments:

Bull said...

It will be interesting to see the county's response.

I fully agree that moco's alcohol sales policy is akin to a parent scolding a child. It's ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

LOL, this isn't Watergate and you're not Bob Woodward or Carl Bernstein.

And this story wouldn't have changed the elections one bit if it had come out last week. You still would have lost, loser.

Woodmont said...

We've always been told that our liquor division is world class. Sounds like they're just world class thugs.

Mr. Riemer must have been particularly outraged that county employees chose to drink on the job using *Styrofoam* cups.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and Kraut scooped you.

AGAIN.

Anonymous said...

You got Riemed!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 7:44AM is now taking credit for NBC4's investigative report?

We'd be better served as citizens if the Gazette, Post, Patch, etc. would investigate what's going on in MoCo government. It's a shame Bezos isn't investing in local news.

Meanwhile, check out Robert's exclusive investigative report on Farm Road that he linked to here.

Anonymous said...

Anyone else concerned that our MoCo alcohol distribution system has paper-based inventory tracking in the year 2014?

Robert Dyer said...

7:44 You just embarrassed yourself again, paid commenter. The "scoop" was Channel 4's, who conducted the investigation - as clearly indicated above.

Robert Dyer said...

No I didnt. You've been a liar once again, cowardly Anonymous. You're the most gutless man in Montgomery County, hiding behind a screen and the skirts of your bosses. Kind of like Hans Riemer, who didn't have the guts to face me in a debate like a real man - he didn't even show up, slapping his constituents in the face.

Robert Dyer said...

"LOL" there are actually 2 scandals here: 1) The beer scandal, and 2) Hans Riemer's involvement in the report, and the decision to hold it until after the election. I think the citizens will be seeking answers in the coming days. "What did they know, and when did they know it?" Oops.

Robert Dyer said...

Sounds like another vestige of Hans Riemer's high-tech legacy, which includes running MoCo food trucks out of business, running the government on Windows 2000, and trying to preserve a prehistoric taxi service in the age of Uber. I'm so impressed.

Anonymous said...

Shame on anonymous blogger 7:44am for claiming he broke the MoCo liquor investigation story. That's really a slap in the face to NBC 4's Tisha Thompson & Rick Yarborough.
We all know who anonymous is and he should apologize for taking credit for Tisha & Rick's work in his "anonymous" comment earlier today.
Shameful.

Anonymous said...

Robert Dyer, a 40-year-old guy who sits in his mom's basement all day just called out a guy with kids and an actual job, and did it by diverting to a lazy sexist insult like "didn't have a guts like a real man."

You truly are a disgrace Dyer.

Anonymous said...

So says anonymous guy commenting on a local news site from his basement.
Riemer and Leventhal showed their true colors when they blew off a community forum for a party in Potomac. Nightlife economy indeed.

Woodmont said...

Anonymous 8:12 brings his same old style of personal ad hominem attacks.

Robert's site reaches the most educated community in the country. You're not going to win over these intelligent MoCo readers with childish attacks. You're better than that.

Robert Dyer said...

8:12: You're saying a person has to be married and have kids to have any credibility, and then you call someone sexist? Sounds like a pretty Neanderthal attitude to me. But no one's confusing you, a guy who isn't brave enough to put his name to his comments, with Don Draper. Given the vulgar and childish comments you've posted on here, you are the real disgrace. The politicians you speak for on here look worse by the day to the people who are reading your comments.

Anonymous said...

8:12 you are a weirdo, stop obsessing about Robert and get a life! So weird. You don't even know him.

Robert Dyer said...

Woodmont, that's why he's hiding behind Anonymous. If he made these comments in front of Barnes and Noble, he would be laughed out of town. Why anyone thinks this campaign of harassment on my blog would be effective in an enlightened, educated town like Bethesda makes one wonder about the intelligence level of the folks paying him to do it. Unless he really is just typing this from a basement 24/7...

Robert Dyer said...

10:06 He didn't even get my age right.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Woodmont said...

It's good to see that there are still a few vigorous supporters of Mr. Riemer around who believe he's actually working. However, they're so embarrassed, they have to stay anonymous. Totally understandable.

Even The Washington Post dropped their endorsement when they realized that Mr.Riemer hasn't accomplished anything on the MoCo Council. Residents say he's all talk but I suppose he'll still get some love from a few loyal bloggers.

MoCo tax payers still have some adults in the room like Mr. Leggett who can try to reign in some of Mr. Riemer's riskier schemes.

Anonymous said...

This anonymous guy who hates Robert loves his pizza and lives his life by claiming to have a wife and four kids who are totally fictional. We all know who you are and will expose everything about you very soon.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

In fairness to Robert, however, Hans Rimmer does look kinda like an old lesbian.

menwholooklikeoldlesbians.blogspot.com/