Prince George's County Grant Dispute Continues After a Nonprofit Returns $7.6 Million

The Prince George's County Council remains divided amid disputes over the county's grant funding practices, The Diamondback reported. The council is in the middle of a monthlong controversy after at-large council member Jolene Ivey and District 9 council member Sydney Harrison voiced concerns over millions of dollars in grant funding awarded to two organizations, Community on the Frontline and Joan's House, which have close relationships with District 7 council member Krystal Oriadha and District 8 council member Edward Burroughs.

On October 12, Ivey and Harrison held a press conference calling for an independent audit of the two nonprofits, saying they were concerned about a lack of oversight in how the county distributed the funding, The Diamondback reported. The next day, Oriadha and County Executive Aisha Braveboy sent a letter to Community on the Frontline and its fiscal sponsor, the Edward Charles Foundation, requesting they return $7.6 million in county funding. The foundation returned the funding on October 22, according to a statement from Braveboy, who noted the amount made up about 60 percent of the total funds the county directed to the foundation between 2024 and 2026.

The dispute widened this week. Ivey and Harrison initially filed a complaint with the Maryland Open Meetings Compliance Board on Sunday, alleging that Oriadha and county administrator David Murray silenced them at an October 20 council meeting, and filed a revised complaint on Friday, The Diamondback reported. In their letter, the two said Oriadha and Murray muted their microphones and did not let them ask questions after a presentation by Joan's House leadership. "We were not censured, yet we were silenced all the same," the letter read.

In a press release Wednesday, Ivey called for the rest of the $5.2 million of county funding allocated to the foundation to be returned, and Braveboy said in her statement that those funds would be returned in the coming days, The Diamondback reported. Oriadha has maintained that no wrongdoing occurred with the distribution of grants to Community on the Frontline, and has supported the return of funds and transparency with the council's grant funding process. Oriadha, Murray and Harrison did not respond to The Diamondback's requests for comment, and Burroughs, Community on the Frontline, the Edward Charles Foundation and Joan's House also did not respond.