Following the Money

Lester Freamon the wily detective from HBO’s The Wire once said, “you follow drugs you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money... and you don't know where the fuck is going to take you.”

Following the money for the anti-growth crowd in Queen Anne’s takes you to some interesting places.

Money doesn’t travel on it’s own. People who have it need to give it to the people and organizations that will use it. The first place to look for the anti-growth crowd is the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association. QACA is an IRS registered 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. You can view QACA’s IRS 990 returns for 2005, 2006, and 2008 the latest available on Guidestar. QACA also has a related 501(c)3 the Queen Anne’s Conservation Fund, which is “operated for the exclusive benefit of the Queen Anne’s Conservation Association Inc.” Form 990s available for 2006 and 2008.

The returns tell us that QACA raised and spent a lot of money on lobbying, consulting and legal fees to stop the Four Seasons on Kent Island. While QACA is not required to disclose the identity of their donors, the names on the board of directors and listed addresses provide interesting leads.

Richard Altman is listed as QACA’s “Senior Planning Consultant” and is a registered lobbyist for QACA. Altman is also the former chairman of the Citizen’s Alliance to Save Our County political action committee. QACA board member James Campbell is the former treasurer of CATSOC and anti-growth commissioner candidate Bob Simmons is another former CATSOC chairman.
Altman’s wife is vice president of QACA.

QACA’s available 990s show that QACA paid Altman’s firm RSA Associates over $248,000 over those years. Only on the 2008 filing does QACA disclose the payments to Altman’s firm under “payments to “interested persons.” The disclosure lists the payments as providing “executive management services to QACA.” This is curious as Altman is an architect and his firm specializes in construction design rather than “executive management services.”

The 2800 Bennett Point Rd. address on the Queen Anne’s Conservation Fund’s 990s is the same address as Altman’s RSA Associates.

It is highly suspicious that the firm of QACA’s “senior planning consultant” and paid lobbyist just happens to be the same address for the 501(c)3 “charitable and educational” entity charged with benefiting QACA.

Is QACA merely Altman Inc.?