| About Us | 
| | | The Anne Arundel County Ethics Commission administers the Public Ethics Law. It is an independent agency, performing its duties and responsibilities without the oversight of the county government. It is served by a staff of two part-time employees, an executive director who is a lawyer licensed to practice law in Maryland, and an assistant to the commission. The Members of the Commission The members of the Anne Arundel County Ethics Commission are volunteers selected by the county executive and approved by the county council. Each member serves a four-year term, and no more than four members may belong to the same political party. The Anne Arundel County Charter, Article X, Section 1001 establishes the qualifications for membership on the commission as follows: - A commission member must be a resident of Anne Arundel County
- A commission member may not hold and may not be a candidate for an elected or appointed office of the federal, state, or local government or a political party
- A commission member may not be an employee of the federal, state, or local government or a political party
- A commission member may not be a lobbyist required to register under any federal, state, or local public ethics law
- A commission member may not participate in the campaign of a candidate for elective office, or support or oppose a ballot question at any general or special election, except a question directly affecting the commission
| The Chairperson | | | Christopher S. Rizek is a tax lawyer and member of the law firm of Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, in Washington, D.C. He formerly served as Associate Tax Legislative Counsel in the U.S. Treasury Department, Office of Tax Policy, where he helped write tax legislation, including particularly the Taxpayer Bill of Rights 2 (1996) and the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. He has also previously worked as a Trial Attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division and in other Washington law firms. Mr. Rizek has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Dartmouth College and received his J.D. and his LL.M. in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. His interest in the work of the Ethics Commission arises from both his philosophy background and his experience in Government. Mr. Rizek and his wife Anita Horn Rizek live in Davidsonville, Maryland. Mr. Rizek is a registered Democrat. | 
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| | | | The Vice-Chairperson | | | Carol S. Lewnes is a real estate appraiser with Maryland Appraisal Network, a company she founded. She attended Centenary College in Hackettstown, New Jersey, and worked for 10 years as a flight attendant for United Airlines. Ms. Lewnes is a registered Republican. | | | | The Members | | | Cynthia H. Caldwell is retired from the Anne Arundel County school system after 33 years of service. She served as a teacher, principal, and instructional director. Currently, she supervises teachers who are enrolled in a graduate program at McDaniel College to become school administrators. She also supervises student teachers at Bowie State University. In addition, Mrs. Caldwell serves as a classroom observer for the implementation of an Adolescent Literacy Model designed at the Center for Social Organization of Change in Schools at Johns Hopkins University. Committed to life-long learning, Mrs. Caldwell enjoys the new experience of providing volunteer services to the county through the Ethics Commission. Mrs. Caldwell earned her B.A. and M.A. at Morgan State University and also completed graduate courses in school administration from Loyola College. She lives in Pasadena with her husband and they have two adult sons. | | | Cathleen M. Conlyn is retired from Anne Arundel County Government after 25 years of service. Currently she operates Herring Bay Towing, Inc., an affiliate of Boat US, with her husband. Ms. Conlyn "emigrated" to Maryland from Massachusetts and has been a resident of Anne Arundel County for over 33 years. After graduating from the University of Maryland with a bachelor of science degree in mathematics, Ms. Conlyn taught "maths" in Fiji as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Ms. Conlyn resides in Tracy’s Landing with her husband William and son Zachary, and two kitties adopted from the SPCA, Patches and Toonces. She is a registered republican. |
| | | Richard L. Hillman is retired after 16 years managing the state's Local Government Infrastructure Financing Program. He formerly served as Mayor of Annapolis and as the County Attorney for Anne Arundel County. Mr. Hillman has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts from The Johns Hopkins University and received his J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. A native Annapolitan, he resides in the home in which he was raised with his wife Lisa, son Jacob, and two rescued Greyhounds. Mr. Hillman was appointed to the Commission in 2004 and is a registered Democrat. | 
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| | | John R. Moses has been a full time resident of Anne Arundel county for 32 years after being a part time resident for 31 years. Upon moving to Arundel-on-the-Bay in 1971 he became active in addressing zoning disparities between various communities that existed on the Annapolis Neck Peninsula. He is a former trustee of Key School and is currently a director of Annapolis Banking and Trust. Mr. Moses has a degree in mechanical engineering from Yale University and a law degree from Catholic University, obtained while employed as a Patent Examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He was a Patent Attorney for several years with the Western Electric Company and for almost 30 years has been in private practice. Mr. Moses is a registered Republican. | | | | The Staff | | | Betsy K. Dawson, the executive director, is a lawyer admitted to practice in the State of Maryland, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the 4th Circuit United States Court of Appeals. She has worked for the Ethics Commission since 1996. Ms. Dawson is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and the Case-Western Reserve University School of Law. | | |
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