Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich has called the gender- and race-based rate charged to vendors at a county library event “illegal,” forcing the library to change it after The Washington Times exposed the discriminatory pricing structure.
The MoComCon event at the Germantown Library and BlackRock Center for the Arts, which is the county’s take on the popular Comic-Con gatherings, was charging the highest vendor rates for businesses owned by White men with lower rates reserved for women and minorities.
Mr. Elrich, a Democrat, said it was the first time he had heard about the different vendor prices when asked about it at a press conference following the report in The Times.
“If they’re doing it, I can’t see how that’s not illegal,” he said. “We’re pretty clear that we don’t have different rates for different races.”
However, the Montgomery County GOP said that someone in the county government had to know about the pricing.
“This was clearly a county policy issue with an event by county-sponsored NGOs in a county building promoted by the county,” the GOP said on social media. “This time equal opportunity won. The MCGOP stood firm in the commitment that pricing by race, gender, nationality, or sexual orientation is wrong and the County has instituted equal pricing for all vendors at the new date.”
While the event is being held at a county public library, it was not sponsored by the county government. The chief sponsor was Friends of the Library, a private nonprofit that fundraises for the libraries.
The event was originally scheduled for Jan. 20 but was postponed due to a snowstorm until March 2.
Friends of the Library originally charged vendors who were people of color or women $225 without electricity access and $250 with electric service. Everyone else paid $275 without electricity access and $325 with electric service.
The disparate pricing was posted online with the application for MoComCon.
An updated version of the vendor application online now shows the new pricing as $125 and $175 with electricity access for all vendors.
Scott Peterson, a spokesman for the county government, said the Friends of the Library had “corrected the situation as soon as they were made aware by the Montgomery County Public Libraries.”
“The disparate pricing on vendors that has occurred between the Friends of the Library Montgomery County, Inc. and BlackRock Center for the Arts is not permitted,” Mr. Peterson said in a statement. “The County did not approve nor condone this decision.”
Executive Director of Friends of the Library, Ari Z. Brooks refused to respond to The Times’ repeated inquiries about the change in rates and whether refunds were given to vendors who paid the higher prices.
She defended the different pricing in a statement to MoCo360, saying that it was intended to “promote inclusivity in library programming and expand opportunities for groups who have been underrepresented in this industry.”
“Our efforts to support MCPL’s goals for promoting inclusivity inspired our initial pricing and, under updated county advisement, the vendor pricing has been adjusted,” Ms. Brooks said.
Reardon Sullivan, a former chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party, said the pricing policy is “clearly discrimination,” and as a Black man, he found it “really, truly insulting to say that a seller who’s Black or BIPOC is disadvantaged.”
“It’s good that [Mr. Elrich] is finally saying it’s illegal, which it is, but the fact is, his people said they didn’t know anything about it,” said Mr. Sullivan, who in 2022 ran unsuccessfully against Mr. Elrich for county executive. “However, he’s really hiding behind the Friends of the Library.”
The discriminator pricing drew attention from across the states.
A group of seven members of the House of Delegates sent a letter on Jan. 15 to the Maryland Commission on Hate Crime Response and Prevention. They said the pricing policy is “offensive, deeply flawed, and clearly violates America’s founding principles and the great state of Maryland.”
The delegates, who were all Republicans, called on the commission to “condemn” the policy and request that the Montgomery County Library System “formally apologize for the harm it has caused.”
The delegates who signed the letter were Matt Morgan of St. Mary’s County, Lauren Arikan of Harford County, Mark Fisher of Calvert County, Brian Chisholm of Anne Arundel County and Robin Grammar Jr., Kathy Szeliga and Ryan Nawrocki of Baltimore County.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.