BALTIMORE (WBFF) — The dispute between Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott and the city’s Office of Inspector General over access to records intensified Thursday.
Wednesday, Mayor Scott released a multi-pronged approach to overhaul the inspector general’s office in the city, calling for short-term, long-term, local, and state changes. Part of the proposal includes putting an attorney from the city’s Law Department in the OIG, though Mayor Scott assured people there would be a ‘firewall’ to ensure independence for the lawyer.
One of the biggest parts of the mayor’s plan includes hiring an outside firm to complete a review of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, MONSE, and the youth diversion program Sidestep.
“We need someone neutral to restore trust with residents,” Scott said. “And finally, close the book on this investigation.”
However, the firm likely won’t get the redacted documents that’s central to the dispute between Mayor Scott and the OIG. Citing state public records law, Mayor Scott said no one – including the outside firm – will get anymore access than what’s allowed under the Maryland Public Information Act, MPIA.
Thursday, the OIG issued a statement, calling Mayor Scott’s proposed reforms “an effort to undermine the voters of Baltimore, eviscerate the independence enshrined in the OIG, and regain power over what should be a truly independent office.”
“What he proposes is not accountability, it is control,” the statement continued.
At issue is a new interpretation of the MPIA that came after a Baltimore state senator requested an advice letter from the Office of Attorney General. While Mayor Scott continues to say the access the OIG was utilizing for ongoing investigations, including the one into SideStep, was illegal, that’s “based on his interpretation of the law,” the OIG statement said.
“The OIG strongly disagrees and has, through its lawsuit, taken the steps necessary to let a court resolve that dispute,” according to the OIG.
Baltimore voters have twice amended the city charter, in 2018 and 2022, to strengthen the OIG’s independence. City Councilman Mark Conway, a vocal supporter of the OIG, is pushing legislation to amend the charter again to restore the OIG’s access to records.
In an interview with FOX45 News, Conway criticized the mayor’s plan, specifically calling the forensic audit by an outside group a “waste of money” and said it “further undermines the value of the work of the IG’s office.”
“My guess is maybe to some degree that the mayor doesn’t want something to come out,” Conway said.
Like Conway, the OIG raised concerns about the cost to taxpayers of the city hiring an outside group to do the audit. It’s not clear how much money taxpayers will be on the hook for to foot the bill.
“It is the OIG – not a private entity selected by the Mayor and paid for through taxpayer dollars – that has the responsibility to conduct those investigations,” the OIG statement read. “It is disappointing and disheartening that the Mayor has engaged a private company to usurp the role of the OIG, without any clarity as to what information will be provided to that entity and without assurances that it will be held to the same standards set for Inspectors General across the country.”
Follow Political Reporter Mikenzie Frost on X and Facebook. Send tips to mbfrost@sbgtv.com.
Local Story
