Leslie Johnson moves up resignation date; Pr. George’s Council urges her to quit now

Leslie Johnson walked into the Prince George’s County Council chambers Tuesday morning and began her usual routine — joining her colleagues in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. Although most of the council didn’t know it, she had just handed in a resignation letter. Minutes later, she left through a back door.

It was Johnson’s first appearance in public since she pleaded guilty last week to destroying evidence in a federal investigation of county government corruption. At the time, Johnson (D-Mitchellville) said she would stay on the council until her sentencing in October, prompting vociferous objections from fellow politicians and the public. Tuesday’s letter moved the resignation date to July 31.

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But Johnson’s unexplained change of heart did not buy her any sympathy. The other council members voted Tuesday to request her immediate departure. The council administrator said he would seize her cellphone, county car, parking pass and computer if she did not turn them over voluntarily.

“We would like Ms. Johnson to tender her resignation immediately,” council Chairman Ingrid Turner (D-Bowie) said after the closed-door meeting.

County Executive Rushern L. Baker III had already sounded an unequivocal call for Johnson’s departure, and after the news Tuesday, he said Johnson should not wait until the end of the month. “The resignation should be as quickly as possible,” Baker (D) told reporters.

Whether she bows to the pressure, Johnson — by moving up her departure — will spare the county additional political acrimony, which was building around her decision. The special election to choose her successor will be held months sooner. And she will forgo thousands of dollars in salary that would have been owed to her had she stayed on until her sentencing in October.

But the situation underscored the lack of teeth in the council’s governance mechanisms — something members have said they hope to change.

“We can continue to urge,” Turner said, noting that the panel has little legal power to force Johnson out of office.

In a written statement Tuesday, Johnson said: “My resignation is important for the constituents of District Six so that the District can be in the best possible position to continue to move forward. I again apologize for my mistake.”

At the council meeting, she said even less. After the pledge, Johnson, 59, was suddenly gone. She left the dais and went out the back door as the council voted to meet in the closed session to discuss her fate.

As several hundred county residents, including Acting Police Chief Mark Magaw, Acting Fire Chief Marc Bashoor and dozens of taxi drivers waited in the crowded council chamber for other items on the agenda, the council voted to go into a closed session.

When the council reemerged, Turner said it had voted unanimously to urge Johnson to resign immediately and would ask her to turn in her county-issued equipment. The council’s administrator, Bobby Williams, said later that the county could seize the items if Johnson did not turn them over voluntarily.