CASCADE - The sole employee of the PenMar Development Corp. said Monday that he will continue working for the organization indefinitely.
PenMar Executive Director Richard Rook was the only PenMar employee to not join the payroll of Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) after the recent transfer of the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base in Cascade.
Hired in 2002 to manage day-to-day operations, Rook said he investigated the possibility of becoming the Fort Ritchie On-Site Asset Manager for COPT but decided to stay in his current position after the Maryland Ethics Commission ruled in March that his transfer to a position with COPT would violate the Maryland Ethics Law.
"We determine that the Requester (Rook) would be prohibited from being employed by the Developer (COPT) to assist in any activities that flow from the 2004 agreements," the ethics commission wrote in its ruling.