BALTIMORE (WBFF) — As Baltimore’s spending board reviewed the latest budget proposal Wednesday, Mayor Brandon Scott addressed ongoing scrutiny over plans to expand his office staff that have raised questions about fiscal responsibility and taxpayer burden.
The proposed increase would bring the mayor’s office staff to 134, up from 118 the previous year. A decade ago, the office had just 39 staffers, growing to 105 by 2025. Mayor Scott defended the expansion, emphasizing that half of the new positions are grant-funded and not a direct burden on city taxpayers.
“There’s been a lot said about the position increases,” Scott said. “The reality is that half of them, eight of them, are not funded by the taxpayers of Baltimore City. They’re grant-funded.”
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Scott argued that the expansion is necessary for broader city initiatives, including the Mayor’s Office of Performance Innovation and African American Male Engagement. He noted that some of the increase reflects converting part-time roles to full-time positions, which he says are essential for addressing community issues.
“These are the people that you see out dealing with the squeegee workers or out at the Inner Harbor, in the wee hours of the night,” Scott said. “These are services that I know the taxpayers support because they’re the ones saying we have to try something different with these young people.”
The mayor pointed to other agencies as well, including the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, MONSE. However, MONSE has its own budget and it’s not clear why the mayor included the anti-violence agency’s staff expansion is his explanation for the mayoralty staff growth.
In response to questions from FOX45 News seeking clarity, a spokesperson for the Mayor’s Office noted several staff positions are a reflection of restructuring within agencies, such as the elimination of the Mayor’s Office of Infrastructure Development and making the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs a standalone agency.
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The 16 positions added to the mayor’s office include five additions “made up of the new Deputy Mayor for Operations and his team, which were sourced from the newly eliminated MOID services.” There are 11 additions in a “new Innovation line item focused on vacant prevention and law enforcement recruitment and retention work.”
The Mayor’s Office indicated seven of those 11 positions are “fully funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies grant funding.”
“Only one position is a truly new additional role, the rest already existed elsewhere and now are organized under the Mayoralty,” the spokesperson said. “None of the 16 positions reflect the addition of any personal political aides for the Mayor.”
Meanwhile, not everyone is convinced by the mayor’s explanation. David Williams of the Taxpayers Protection Alliance criticized the expansion, arguing that it imposes a long-term financial burden on the city.
“This is not only a problem for today’s budget but also budgets next year and years down the line,” Williams said. “There is no indication that the mayor takes fiscal responsibility seriously at all.”
City Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer also questioned the necessity of such a large staff, pointing out the disparity between the mayor’s office and other jurisdictions.
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“134 people is an insane number for an administration to have,” Schleifer said in a FOX45 News In Depth interview. “Why does one jurisdiction’s executive need a bigger staff and more money than the governor?”
Schleifer confirmed that he plans to raise these concerns during the upcoming budget hearings, which have yet to be scheduled. The final budget must be approved before the start of the fiscal year on July 1.
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