As former Prince George’s County Councilman Tom Dernoga continues to grapple with allegations from several developers and business owners who claim he exploited his position to elicit financial support for pet projects, another business owner is stepping forward: Thomas Stokes of College Park’s Small Precision Engines.
Stokes, who owns the car shop at 9651 Baltimore Ave., said the former county official asked him to attend a fundraiser to support County Councilman Eric Olson’s campaign in return for granting his support of Stokes’ proposal to change the Route 1 Corridor Sector Plan. But Dernoga, who used to represent College Park’s district, claimed the allegation is “completely false” and doesn’t make sense.
“I often took the citizens’ side against the developers and property owners in these debates,” Dernoga wrote in an email yesterday. “It’s interesting to be accused of selling out the developers. The usual problem that people have is that their elected officials sell out the public interest to help special interests.”
Gov. Martin O’Malley signed an ethics bill into law earlier this month that prohibits Prince George’s County Council members from asking developers to give money to community improvement projects. The bill was proposed in an effort to combat allegations that this county’s council members wouldn’t pledge their support without these funds, as Prince George’s is the only county in which elected council members approve zoning projects; other counties outsource the decision-making to an outside board.
As federal agents continue to investigate county officials’ involvement in an alleged corruption and bribery scandal that ensnared former County Executive Jack Johnson and his wife, County Councilwoman Leslie Johnson, Dernoga has come under fire for practices that several developers and businesses have described as questionable.
Stokes, the latest to come forward with allegations, said he met with Dernoga a few years ago about the Route 1 sector plan.
At that time, the plan called for a boundary that would create a development zone intended to encourage smaller businesses to combine into larger developments. Because the plan drew the line behind his property, Stokes said his property would not have been as attractive to developers trying to capitalize on the benefits of the zone.
So, he said, he went to Dernoga for help.
“[Dernoga] said, ‘I can work with you on this, I can agree with you.’ He asked myself and my partner and said there’s a fundraiser coming up for Eric Olson,” Stokes said. “He asked, ‘Could we go to the fundraiser and could we bring some businesses along with you?’ He knew we were pretty much in charge of the informal North College Park business group. He asked us, ‘Can you attend that fundraiser for Eric and can you bring some businesses?'”
Dernoga said he met Stokes but denied requesting that the business owner to turn out for Olson’s fundraiser. Dernoga said he asked Stokes to meet with community members and get their feedback on his proposed zone shift.
Stokes said he went to Olson’s fundraiser and donated $1,000 to his campaign.
“I didn’t really feel good about it,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Olson has not been accused by any developers as having ties to Dernoga’s alleged practices.
“Eric Olson, I honestly don’t feel he had any idea what Tom was up to,” Stokes said. “I think Eric has integrity. I think he’s honest; I think he’s trying to do what’s good for the community.”
The boundary line was never changed.
Originally reported by The Washington Post, Joe Lasick — who owns property on Route 1 just north of University Boulevard — said Dernoga stalled the development of a $4.2 million project that would build 200 luxury apartments units and 2,500 square feet of retail when Lasick and his developers refused to put money aside for community improvement in Dernoga’s name.
“It didn’t take Ray Charles or Helen Keller or Stevie Wonder to see that things weren’t getting done because they weren’t giving [Dernoga] money,” Lasick said. “Everybody’s afraid. They’re afraid their projects won’t get done.”
Dernoga wrote that JPI — the company Lasick contracted with — had “agreed in much earlier conversations to provide an undetermined amount of donations to local community needs (e.g., public schools, police and fire).”
Lasick added he and JPI were willing to donate the money — just not the way Lasick said Dernoga allegedly asked for it. Lasick said he and the developers would give the money as long as it was written in the project approval document that they had donated $200,000 to the county.
“Dernoga’s exact words to me were ‘Joe, you know I can’t do that. They would have my ass,'” Lasick said.
Another local business owner, Ron Doyle, who owns land at 9104 Baltimore Ave., was with Lasick during that interaction, he said. Doyle also said he remembers Dernoga saying those words.
But Dernoga claims that was not the case.
“I don’t know what Mr. Lasick is accusing me of because he has refused multiple efforts to discuss what he believes — inaccurately — happened. Here is what I can tell you,” Dernoga wrote. “I expressed my annoyance to Mr. Lasick that he and others would make millions of dollars of profit and that there was so little concern for the general public benefit.”
The project eventually fell through.
“[Dernoga] was actually the cause of me losing this deal,” Lasick said. “Lasick’s gave until it hurt. … If I got $4 million for a piece of property, I should be able to determine who I give charity to and what that project has to support.”
However, Dernoga attributed the hold up to budget problems.
Former College Park District 4 City Councilwoman Mary Cook also said the economy was the project’s eventual demise. She added Dernoga has had a long career of championing community interests.
“He started out his career as a grassroots activist,” she said. “He worked very hard with the different communities to protect their interest and often that had to do with zoning. After he got elected to office, he continued to do the same thing.”
But District 2 City Councilman Bob Catlin said Dernoga’s dealings with developers has had a systematic and negative impact on Route 1’s growth.
“He always told me that he didn’t really care if they built the project in or not. … That was his tone about everything,” Catlin said. “He had a reputation for knowing how to chase away developers.”
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