After email remark, Mayor Scott says he uses city account ‘when appropriate’

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Mayor Brandon Scott said he uses his city email account “when appropriate” and denies using a personal email account for city business, after a remark at a public meeting raised questions about how he communicates with staff and residents.

At an Oct. 21 Board of Estimates meeting, City Council President Zeke Cohen said he wanted to know who could access officials’ emails.

“I want to be sure I’m not in the mayor’s emails. The mayor’s not in my emails,” Cohen said.

“Mr. President, you can have my email because there’s no emails there,” Mayor Scott responded. “That’s the only way to protect your email, is to not email.”

Mayor Scott later told FOX45 that his remark to Cohen was made “in jest” and reflected the “banter” among the mayor, Cohen and Comptroller Bill Henry.

“Do you really not use your work email for work?” FOX45 asked Mayor Scott.

“Yes, when appropriate, I use email,” Scott said. “Clearly, I get in my email every day.”

Mayor Scott said he communicates directly with city employees, residents and people in city departments.

“Every mayor, at least since 1996, when they had the Internet, has had other folks manning their email account, because too many emails come in for one person to name,” he said.

Asked whether he has used personal email, Signal or other apps for official business, Scott denied using personal email for city business. He did not directly answer whether he uses Signal for official communications.

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Mayor Scott said he puts city calendar items on his personal calendar so his wife knows his schedule. He also referred to communicating by text and said FOX45 had requested his text messages.

The questions come amid a months-long legal dispute between the city and Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Cumming over her access to city records and communications. A judge ordered the city to restore the inspector general’s access to city systems and produce records responsive to her subpoenas.

The initial Board of Estimates exchange drew criticism from David Williams, a taxpayer advocate with the Taxpayers Protection Alliance.

“It’s disturbing that the mayor of a major city is circumventing email, so his records won’t be made public,” Williams said.

Williams also pointed to the city’s technology policy, which says users have no expectation of privacy when using city IT resources.

“Public officials should first know the policy and second understand that emails are part of the public record,” he said.

In a previous statement to FOX45 News, the mayor’s office said Mayor Scott’s work often does not require him to personally send emails and that he delegates many incoming messages to staff to ensure they receive a response.

Baltimore’s administrative manual says users have no expectation of privacy when using city IT resources and that the city may access and monitor messages, files and other content created using those resources.

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