For the second time, City Council President Nick Mosby has requested a postponement of travel policies that would require elected officials, including his wife, Maryland Mosby, Baltimore State Attorney, to disclose third-party-paid travel outside the state.
According to an email The Brew received tonight, his request was made so that his office could “work on additional clarifying and reinforcing changes to the policy that will not be available for consideration at tomorrow’s meeting”.
The new rules came after Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming blamed Ms. Mosby for failing to get appraisal committee approval for her trips outside of town in 2018 and 2019.
The finding was part of a broader IG report who criticized the city’s chief prosecutor for using a non-income company to deduct travel expenses from their federal taxes and for failing to disclose a subsidized trip to a spa.
Cumming accused of misleading the public, Mosby said she didn’t need Approval of the board, as the trips, including to meetings in Africa, Europe and Scotland, were paid for by third parties.
Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby speaks with the Baltimore City delegation in Annapolis at a recent online meeting.
New rules for the elected
After city attorney James Shea called the rules ambiguous, Mayor Brandon Scott convened a task force to set revised travel policies that cover local elected officials, including himself, city council members, auditor Bill Henry and the two Mosbys.
The revised rules were first presented to the appraisal committee on May 19, chaired by Mosby but in which Scott has a majority.
Mosby stopped voting and said through his spokesman that he wanted more time to learn “how the revisions would affect reporting standards for members” of the city council.
(According to IG Cumming, only prosecutor Mosby failed to report her trips to the spending committee, while councilors and other elected officials had revealed their trips outside the city, even if they are paid for by third parties.)
The revised rules should be part of the BOE agenda on June 2nd, when Auditor Henry tweeted that the new travel policy “won’t be heard tomorrow”.
The auditor “supports the travel revisions,” a spokesman said tonight, looking forward to the opportunity to “clarify the ethics committee’s involvement in the process.”
Mayor Scott’s office released a public statement last month recognizing the new rules as “in line with Mayor Scott’s promise to bring transparency and accountability to the city government.”
In his memo to the board, Nick Mosby said his staff were in contact with the city’s attorney and the Department of Human Resources to improve the revised rules that, as currently written, would require elected officials to report work trips Exceed $ 100 (if paid). for from a third party) or USD 800 (if paid jointly by the city and a third party).
Unelected city officials have long been required to report their trips outside of the city to the board.
Mosby did not say in his memo when he believed the “clarifying and reinforcing changes” he proposed were ready for consideration by the appraisal committee.
