BALTIMORE, MD (October 30, 2019) — Baltimore City Council President Brandon M. Scott is calling for a thorough investigation into missing financial disclosures from members of the Board of Finance after a revelation at today’s Board of Estimates meeting.
City Auditor Josh Pasch presented the findings as part of a Department of Finance audit. The audit found that three members of the Board of Finance, all Mayoral appointees, did not consistently file a required financial disclosure in their time on the Board.
Council President Scott issued the following statement, which calls on the Board of Ethics to investigate the matter and provide a public accounting of what went wrong:
“I was disappointed to learn this morning that there are members of the Board of Finance who were not complying with the law on financial disclosures.
I am calling on the Board of Ethics to investigate the situation with the Board of Finance. They are the appropriate body to conduct such an investigation and to provide a public accounting of the current status of these disclosures.
This morning’s Department of Finance audit, paired with what we’ve been through as a city, is exactly why I committed to fight for funding to appropriately staff our Board of Ethics in my Legislative and Policy Proposal back in July.
Baltimore City government has 13,000 employees and an operating budget of $2.9 billion, yet allocates no resources for ethics enforcement. It’s simply unacceptable at a time when we need our departments committed to transparency and accountability in the way we operate as a government.”
The Board of Finance is a five-member body, which includes the Mayor, Comptroller, and three Mayoral appointees. The Board of Finance is tasked with a variety of responsibilities, including authorizing and issuing certificates of indebtedness of the City, selecting depositories for City funds, and for reviewing the City’s six year capital improvement program and first year capital budget.
