Montgomery County Inspector General Edward Blansitt, whose office recently conducted an exhaustive audit on how a former economic development officer could embezzle $7 million from the county over six years without notice, is stepping down.
Blansitt, 69, said in an interview Friday that he had been contemplating resignation “for some time,” and decided Jan. 1 that he wanted to live in a warmer climate.
“I will have been in the office for eight years, and as much as I have enthusiasm for the job, it’s time for me to think in terms of warmer weather,” said Blansitt, who will leave in July.
The County Council created the watchdog’s office in 1997 to prevent and ferret out waste, fraud and abuse. In the last year, the office received 106 complaints, the highest during his years on the job.
The office issued reports or memos on a range of topics, from a review of disability retirement programs to how county offices get rid of surplus scrap metal.
According to the Office of the Inspector General’s website, the office typically has a staff of five that includes the inspector general, deputy inspector general and three investigative analysts. In fiscal 2019, the office had a budget of about $1.1 million. Blansitt’s current salary is $174,576 according to the county’s salary database.
Blansitt replaced Thomas Dagley in 2011 and is in the middle of his second full term, which ends June 30, 2021. He said he recognizes that leaving in the middle of his term due to the weather seems “awfully shallow” but that his staff has known of his plans.
“My enthusiasm for the job is still high, but my energy level at my age is hard to sustain,” he said.
Blansitt served for 40 years in the federal government including acting deputy inspector general for the Department of Commerce.
Council President Nancy Navarro, who was on the council in 2011 when Blansitt was unanimously confirmed, praised his work in a Friday statement that announced the retirement.
“Our county and its residents have been fortunate to have someone with his credentials and professionalism watching over the programs and operations of county government and its outside agencies for nearly eight years,” she wrote.
The council is expected to appoint a panel to screen applicants and make recommendations for the County Council on top candidates.
At-large council member Hans Riemer said Friday that he wasn’t surprised at Blansitt’s decision.
“He had retired from federal service already and had been with us for quite a few years. think he’s riding off into the sunset with a successful tenure,” he said.
Blansitt’s office recently released an audit that explained the factors that enabled former county employee Byung Il “Peter” Bang to embezzle more than $7 million from the county’s former Department of Economic Development between 2010 and 2016.
Among the factors cited was the county’s distribution of funds into “off-book accounts” that were outside the purview of management since the money was not being used for procurement.
Blansitt said on Friday that his office has been studying the embezzlement case for two years and he doesn’t think there are any more off-book accounts that existed at the time.
Additionally, he said a number of reforms have been put in place to correct the “segregation of duties issue,” which allowed Bang to misuse county funds by diverting them into South Korean bank accounts that contained his home address.
“That was an unfortunate situation we had to look into. It would be something that I think is well on its way to being resolved as far as the control issues,” he said.
Blansitt said the most important quality for his successor is open-mindedness.
“One of the most important quality of any high-level official is to listen. To sit back and listen and not pre-judge,” he said.
Blansitt said he plans to move to Charlotte, N.C., where his grandchildren live.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media
