Council member Ingrid Watson was previously a Bowie City Council member who ran and won a seat in Prince George's County's Councilmanic District 4 in 2022.
While she lived in Bowie and inside District 4 for years, some of her constituents grew concerned that something had changed, so one of them hired a private investigator to find out.
District 4 encompasses Bowie and parts of Upper Marlboro. The home the private detective recorded Watson coming and going from is also in Upper Marlboro, but it’s a mile outside of District 4 in District 6.
The detective, who News4 is not identifying, explained why the constituent contacted him, saying, “It's not like you could bring this issue to the police and the police are going to do something about it.”
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He said that for two weeks he documented Watson coming in and out of the home outside her District. He said he picked up on signs that suggested she lived there, saying, “What really drove it over the top for me was seeing her coming out in the morning, collecting the garbage pails that were out in the street, bringing those to the back of the house and taking her dog outside.”
The detective said the constituent expressed that they were not happy with Watson’s representation, which is why they paid thousands to confirm where she appeared to be living.
The I-Team viewed the detective’s videos but did not rely solely on his surveillance. We went to see for ourselves and, as the detective did, we found Watson leaving the home early in the morning, walking her dog and her car parked there.
Investigations
Investigations by the News4 I-Team
According to the Prince George's County charter, a council member shall forfeit their office if they cease to be a resident of the district they resided in at the time of election. However, it doesn’t define residency requirements or how many days the council member must spend there.
State tax records list that Watson once owned a home in District 4 with her ex-husband but it was sold. She’s now married to Maryland state Sen. Ron Watson, who according to tax records owns the Upper Marlboro home where News4 saw her outside her district.
In her candidacy filing for the county council, Watson listed a Bowie apartment in District 4 as her address, but the detective said he didn’t see her there, and the I-Team didn’t spot her or her vehicle there, either.
Watson agreed to talk to News4 after the I-Team told her about the investigation. She was adamant that she lives at the Bowie apartment, saying, "I'm there most of the time. A lot of times I spend, with Ron at home, at his home. And then other times at night, I'm at my home. So, we have kind of a dual residence going. I do both. I kind of go back and forth to both, but the majority of my time is in District 4.”
Watson said everything she owns is in Bowie and that she’s abiding by the law. She said that when she and her husband first married in 2022, they looked for a home together in District 4 but were not able to find one they liked.
David Williams with the Taxpayers Protection Alliance says no matter what the distance or the reason, if there are rules for where elected officials can live, they should be followed. He said that Watson having an apartment in Bowie is "a way to adhere to the rules, but not really adhere to the rules, is because just having an apartment on paper doesn't mean you're part of the community.”
Prince George's also has two at-large seats, one of which recently opened after Council member Mel Franklin stepped down before the state prosecutor announced that they charged him with stealing his own campaign funds; but Watson is not running for that seat. The couple did, however, hold a fundraiser for one of the candidates at the house outside her district. News4 cameras rolled as guests arrived last week.
“When you see there are at-large seats, that makes even less of a reason why she should be outside the district, because there are opportunities for her to serve the public in a different way than serving a specific district," Williams said. "She can run at large and still be a public servant.”
Watson said she has no interest in running for an at-large seat and that she loves District 4 where she’s paid taxes for 20 years.
When News4 asked Watson if she was following the spirit of the law, she said, "I’m meeting the law. I live, reside in Bowie since 2015 in this particular apartment."
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