Prince George's County Executive Aisha Braveboy says she has the utmost confidence in her nominee to run the county's Department of the Environment, even though he was terminated from the department in 2014 for "gross negligence."
A group of environmental and community activists in the county is not so sure. And they're likely to be on hand Thursday when Samuel Belsham Moki's nomination comes up before a County Council committee.
"I was just flabbergasted that someone who had caused such a grievance against the county on environmental issues would now be tapped to lead the Department of Environment," said Carlo Sanchez, a lifelong county resident who represented the county's 47th District in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2015 to 2018. "It's just astounding, really."
Sanchez said he is part of a loose group of environmental and community advocates who have coalesced in opposition to Moki's nomination, have been reaching out to council members and who plan to speak out at public meetings.
The first opportunity is Thursday, when the council's Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy and Environment Committee takes up Moki's nomination. The five-member committee can issue a favorable or unfavorable recommendation on Moki's appointment to the entire 11-member council, or it could vote to issue no recommendation at all.
Moki has been serving as acting director of the department since late June, when he was nominated by Braveboy.
It was later revealed that Moki had been terminated from the agency in 2014 over "gross negligence" and mismanagement of the county's stormwater program. Stormwater violations accrued during Moki's tenure cost the county thousands of dollars in fines.
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Moki argued at the time that he had insufficient funds to handle the county's obligation to control runoff, according to records from the county personnel board. But it found he had consistent access to a dedicated fund with tens of millions of dollars for stormwater management.
"The dishonesty about the budget was a significant violation of his employment by itself," read the personnel board decision, signed by then-chair Carolyn F. Scriber. "His conduct calls into serious question the appellant's trustworthiness and integrity."
Moki challenged his termination before both the personnel board and in circuit court. Both bodies upheld his firing as justified, agreeing that he failed to manage the county's compliance with Environmental Protection Agency mandates.
Since the firing was revealed, Braveboy has come out in full-throated support of her nominee. When asked for comment this week about the upcoming hearing, aides to the executive said she had nothing to add to her previous statements.
In an August news release, in response to questions from Maryland Matters, Braveboy passionately defended Moki's aptitude for the post, arguing that his "record, credentials, and vision for the future of our environment speak louder than his past circumstances."
Braveboy argued that Moki, who started with the county while Jack Johnson was executive, was terminated after a change in administration. Rushern Baker, who was elected in 2010, was reelected in 2014, the year Moki was fired.
She also said that during Moki's tenure, the county was caught up in a period of "intensifying enforcement" of stormwater rules by the Environmental Protection Agency.
But advocates are not convinced, and are concerned that Moki's appointment comes at a particularly delicate time for environmental policy in the county, as officials weigh rules for data center development in the county.
Tolson Banner, executive director of the Prince George's Community Development Corp., a nonprofit focused on development issues, said it will be partially be the job of the county environmental agency to protect residents from noise pollution, air emissions -- and the impacts of a data center's significant water and power demands.
"Are we to believe that Samuel Moki will be able to do that, given the fact that he was fired for gross negligence? Are we to believe that?" asked Banner, a county resident for more than 20 years. "I doubt it very seriously. And these are the kinds of things that erode the public trust."
Taylor Frazier McCollum, a community advocate from Landover, started a Change.org petition to oppose a data center proposed for the old Landover Mall site, a petition that collected nearly 21,000 signatures since its debut in late June. Now, Frazier McCollum said she is spreading the word about Moki's past.
"Once I found out about the history with his previous employment, it was like, 'Why are we going to bring someone back that's done us kind of dirty?'" she asked. "I don't think that he's the right choice."
Braveboy issued an executive order on Sept. 12 placing a "temporary hold on accepting, considering, and processing permit applications" for data centers, while the county waits for research and recommendations that are due Nov. 30 from its Qualified Data Centers Task Force. Braveboy's executive order expires on Dec. 31, 2025.
Braveboy told WTOP News that she supports data centers, but believes the county should pump the brakes because of resident concerns about their locations.
"I'm in support generally of data centers," Braveboy said. "I do believe it's a really good economic tool in the right locations."
Staci Hartwell, a strategic adviser for the South County Environmental Justice Coalition, sits on the data center task force and worries that the pause is "performative," and the county will end up green-lighting data center development regardless.
She said Moki's appointment leaves her feeling worried for the future.
"It's bad enough that they're trying to take these data centers and ram them down our throats," Hartwell said. "But then you're going to put in place someone who has demonstrated that they're not trustworthy?"
Banner said he's concerned that the end result could be that county residents are disproportionately the victims of data center impacts, continuing a history of environmental racism in the majority-Black county.
"We know the history of environmental racism in this county, and in this nation. And we're to believe that Moki is the best person suited to guard our interests?" Banner asked.
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Hartwell warned that appointing and confirming a candidate like Moki has the potential to send "shock waves through every corner" of the county agency.
"It tells staff people, it tells partners, it tells the broader community that accountability is optional, and that serious past failures can be rewarded with a promotion, instead of caution," Hartwell said.
In a letter to the council, Braveboy wrote that Moki is "a distinguished public servant and policy expert with over two decades of leadership experience in environmental management, intergovernmental affairs, and academic instruction."
She added that, in his prior tenure as associate director at the department, Moki "helped secure and manage" over $10 million in federal and state environmental grants, and "previously led major environmental programs and capital projects aimed at enhancing water quality, sustainability, and flood mitigation throughout the County."
Her letter, addressed to Council Chair Edward P. Burroughs III, did not reference Moki's termination.
Hartwell added that the nomination is particularly upsetting given that a number of qualified federal workers may be entering the job market as President Donald Trump (R) slashes the federal bureaucracy, including the Environmental Protection Agency.
"All of these brilliant -- these stellar, great minds have been let go of the EPA. Some of them are residents here in Prince George's County," she said. "These are really reputable, credible people. Why are we not ... looking at those people for candidates for this position?"
Local advocates say they're still scratching their heads over the nomination -- though they're preparing to put up a fight.
"It just doesn't add up. I don't care what kind of math you're using," Banner said.
"I understand politics, but there's some political decisions you should not gamble with," he said. "With some political decisions you have to say, 'No.'"