Baltimore’s top financial watchdog has long advocated for ways to change how the city spends its money. Now, he’s emphatic that the city has vested too much power in its mayor.
“We’ve had this culture for now almost three generations of the mayor is just an absolute monarch,” City Comptroller Bill Henry told The Baltimore Sun.
Henry referred to Baltimore’s Board of Estimates, which handles the city’s fiscal policy. The mayor effectively controls three out of five votes on the board: his own and those of his two appointees — the city solicitor and director of public works. The two other BOE members are the comptroller and City Council president, both elected citywide.
While some say there are advantages to a “strong mayor” system of government — and suggest the comptroller’s portrayal of the mayor as a “monarch” is too extreme — several current and former council members, mayors and city residents have advocated for reform. At least nine bills have come before the council in the past 30 years to restructure the board, usually by removing the mayor’s two appointees, but none have passed.
The reason, Henry said, comes down to politics.
“The mayor is completely in charge of everything. That’s part of the culture. People expect that,” Henry said. “Which means that the people who want to be mayor expect that. Which means the Council people who want to someday be mayor don’t always think it’s a great idea to reduce the power that they themselves might want to have someday.”
A strong mayor
Baltimore has a “strong mayor” system of government, where the mayor is elected by voters and is given veto power over the council, in addition to other powers. Among other cities with strong mayors, Baltimore has one of the “strongest” in the country, said Roger Hartley, dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore.
“There are benefits and costs to that, no question,” Hartley said.
Some see benefits to a strong-mayor system: a strong mayor “can do a lot more, faster and arguably more efficiently,” Hartley said. But others “say it’s too much power, and it means elected council members who know their districts really well may have to do a lot more work to get something done,” since they may need the mayor’s support, Hartley added.
Former Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young said he disagrees that the mayor is a “monarch.” But he still supports removing the mayor’s appointees from the board.
West Baltimore Council Member James Torrence described Henry’s comments about the mayor and council as painting with a “broad brush.” He previously said he’s open to studying BOE reform but doesn’t want to opine on “hypotheticals.”
“I think we’re presenting ideas, but never did a deep dive and examined the impact that it would have on city government,” he said.
Why it matters
Henry noted a high-profile BOE controversy from two years ago, where Scott moved forward on a $134 million deal with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., over the objections of the comptroller and City Council president.
“I asked some very basic questions right away when they proposed this, and over the course of the months that we discussed doing it, I never got answers to those questions,” Henry said.
Henry said it’s “pretty rare” that the council president and comptroller both object to something the mayor is doing. But given that the mayor doesn’t need their votes anyway, it “doesn’t technically matter” if they voice their objections, he said.
“There could be a number of items on any given agenda which would be more controversial if the mayor had to actually proactively get either the comptroller’s vote or the council president’s vote to assure that it happened,” he said.
If the council president or comptroller votes “no” on an issue, it’s just about “making a stand philosophically and trying to get the people of Baltimore to understand that this is a big problem,” he said.
Eliminate the BOE?
While serving as council president in 2020, Mayor Brandon Scott introduced a bill to remove the mayor’s two appointees from the board. He postponed a vote on the measure after being elected in the mayoral primary that year. Scott recently told The Sun he’d be open to eliminating the board altogether, but his office didn’t provide clarification on what sort of structure would replace it.
The mayor’s office said in a statement to The Sun:
“We are entering the second month and have not yet completed a full 14 days into a presidential administration that has already caused widespread havoc. At a time when the needs, beliefs, and values of our residents are under attack from the highest levels, our residents are extremely concerned and want their elected officials focused and doing everything they can to protect Baltimore in every way.
“Mayor Scott has repeatedly stated that he wants to modernize city government in its entirety, including the city’s severely outdated procurement practices. He believes this is essential to building a stronger, more efficient government.”
Asked whether eliminating the board is a good idea, Henry said it depends.
“If what the mayor means is… just have the mayor have the powers of the Board of Estimates, that would be bad. If he says we should eliminate the Board of Estimates and just let the agencies approve their own spending, that would be bad,” he said.
If the mayor wants to divide the board’s powers between the mayor’s office, the comptroller’s office, and the City Council, “I would be happy to have that conversation,” Henry said. He added, “My assumption was he didn’t mean that, because if he had meant that, he would have talked to the council president and I before saying the things he said to the press,” he said.
Asked about Mayor Scott’s apparent reversal on BOE reform in 2020, Young said, “If I was mayor, I wouldn’t give up that power either, even though I strongly believe it should be the three elected officials,” adding, “I know it sounds contradictory.”
Young sponsored previous efforts for reform while serving as a City Council member. Asked why no change occurred during his year and a half as mayor in 2019-2020, Young noted many other issues he had to deal with, including COVID-19, a ransomware attack and explosions.
Possible reform
One-third of the City Council so far has expressed openness to BOE reform: Council President Zeke Cohen, and members Mark Conway, Odette Ramos, Zac Blanchard, and Torrence. Councilmember Ryan Dorsey, when asked for comment on the issue after this week’s City Council meeting, replied, “No comment.” Others have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Cohen will advance legislation to establish a commission studying national best practices for financial decision-making “in the weeks ahead,” said Cohen’s spokesperson, Tijani Harris, in a written statement.
Asked what she thinks about eliminating the board, Ramos said in a text message she’d “have to learn more about the alternative that the Mayor is thinking about.” She noted that “other jurisdictions in Maryland do not have spending boards like this” and “there is more power in the councils. That is something I’d be interested in.”
Henry said in the past there used to be more to loyalty to the mayor’s agenda among council members, but the current council is “probably the most independent council that I’ve seen in my life,” he said.
“So I think now there’s a chance that people will vote for something like this on the merit of the issue,” he said. “And the merit of the issue is having a ridiculously strong mayor whose power is unchecked does not actually benefit the citizens of Baltimore.”
Asked if he’ll request that Cohen introduce a reform bill, as the comptroller sometimes does, Henry noted Cohen’s stated intention to examine best practices and said he’s “inclined to wait a few months and see how his efforts to study the issue play out.”
Carson Swick contributed to this report. Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com.