Several citizens recently reported Carroll County government workers at left-leaning, LGBTQ+ events recruiting voters and promoting services.   

The Carroll County Board of Elections, now operated by a Democrat-majority board, held a booth at the Westminster Pride Festival to recruit voters from what is widely known as an event favorable to Democratic voters.  

The Carroll County Public Library and Carroll County Youth Service Bureau also held booths alongside Planned Parenthood, Trans Maryland, PFLAG and the Democratic Central Committee, while Health Department employees were seen handing out water bottles to festival goers.  

Many taxpayers questioned whether having local government resources at a left-leaning event, which featured drag queen story hour and other sexually suggestive activities for children, demonstrated a gross misuse of public funds.

Citizens also reported Carroll County government involvement at the Sykesville Pride Festival, where the Public Library was seen facilitating a photo booth.

The appearances gave a perception of political bias, as the same agencies were not seen at recent town carnivals, Memorial Day parades and 4th of July celebrations. 

Your Tax Dollars At Work

While the amount of tax dollars spent on the recent string of LGBTQ+ events may be difficult to quantify, Informed Carroll also identified non-profits where taxpayers have unknowingly funded controversial social justice causes spanning pro-abortion views, child gender ideology, and anti-racism.

A subset of Carroll County’s budget for non-profit funding showing the CC Arts Council’s appropriation.

One of the non-profits, Carroll County Arts Council, received over $40,000 in annual funding from Carroll County and has a history of left-wing bias.  The most recent example involved the Art Council’s decision to abruptly terminate their contract with a local IT service provider in response to social media posts made by the contractor supporting the recent overturn of Roe v. Wade.  The Art Council’s theater also hosts left-leaning events and features anti-racism literature from authors such as Ibram X. Kendi in their lobby.

Another organization, Together We Own It, provided social services to troubled youth that included gender affirming counseling and received more than $100,000 from the county budget and thousands more at the state and federal level.  The founder of the now defunct organization was caught in a sexting scandal involving a minor.

In an April 18th budgeting session, Commissioners Mike Guerin and Ken Kiler both pressed for stricter measures when evaluating nonprofits seeking public funding.

“I would have to insist on more information from the non-profits.  I would like to see their yearly plan, their goals and objectives, measures of effectiveness, and not just a document where the date is changed every April of each year,” said Guerin.

Additional measures to monitor how county resources are used at political and social events have not been discussed by the Commissioners.  However, early indications signal a majority oppose government resources being directed towards child gender ideology and other left-wing causes.