Mayor Scott claims he doesn’t use his city email as transparency fight erupts

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — City leaders are pressing Baltimore’s chief information officer about who can access city email and other records, as questions continue to swirl over transparency, cybersecurity and the inspector general’s access to information.

The scrutiny follows a judge’s order earlier this month requiring the city to restore the inspector general’s access to all city records. The city had previously blocked the inspector general’s access as she sought to investigate allegations of fraud at a city youth program.

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During the meeting, City Council President Zeke Cohen raised concerns about access and privacy within city systems.

“I want to be sure I’m not in the mayor’s emails. The mayor’s not in my emails. My colleagues only have access to what they need access to,” Cohen said.

Three weeks after the judge’s ruling, Mayor Brandon Scott made what was described as a ruling of his own, saying, “Mr. President, you can have my email because there are no emails there. The only way to protect your email is to not email.”

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

Baltimore’s administrative manual lays out the city’s privacy policy in clear terms: “Users have no expectation of privacy when using City IT resources. The City reserves the right to access and monitor all messages, files, logs, and content created using City IT resources.”

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

“This administration has been under investigation by the IG multiple times and all emails have to be available to the inspector general,” Williams insisted.

It’s unclear how the mayor is choosing to communicate, but critics complain transparency is at stake.

“People who don’t use this email system are potentially hiding information and are hiding from the public,” Williams said.