11 News at 4 continues. All of this is connected in a very dangerous situation of weakening black political power. This morning, in response to Mayor Brandon Scott’s strong condemnation of a bill that would strip the mayor of his power over Baltimore’s spending committee, 11 News first reported on the proposal last week, and investigative reporter Tory Taylor joins us now. Tory, this proposal would actually cut the budget committee from five to three, right? Yes, that’s right. So the mayor would lose two appointees on the committee, which means the mayor, the City Council Speaker and the Auditor would have equal power on the committee. Baltimore’s powerful Budget Committee oversees city spending and approves millions of dollars of taxpayer-funded contracts for city services at every meeting. And as 11 News Investigates reported Friday, Brandon Scott introduced a similar charter amendment proposal when he was City Council Speaker in 2020, saying at the time that the mayor had too much power over the board.But when I asked Mayor Scott about that today, he said that there are influential people in Baltimore County, like the president of the Sinclair Broadcast Group, who are trying to diminish black political power in Baltimore. But when you look at the efforts of people who are funded by people who don’t live in Baltimore, people who are not from Baltimore City, they are trying to diminish political power in Baltimore, they are trying to attack the way Baltimore government is run. Frankly, if we’re going to talk openly and honestly about who’s in power and their ability to control that power, we saw it in the primary. We know that’s what these people are trying to do. We have to talk about these things in the context of all of this. Comptroller Bill Henry, who supports Mayor Mosby’s charter amendment to remove the city attorney and the public works director from the board, countered the mayor’s reasoning. I’m not going to argue with the mayor about the fact that there are people who want to diminish black political power in Baltimore City, but if all three of these elected officials are elected by primarily black voters, I don’t see how that would diminish black political power. Mosby’s charter amendment now needs approval from the City Council, and if the mayor doesn’t veto it, voters will decide in November’s general election.
Mayor claims proposed school board charter changes are part of effort to weaken black political power
The proposal would strip Mayor appointees from the Baltimore City Budget Committee.
Last updated: June 5, 2024 at 6:28 PM EST
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on Wednesday fired back at proposed legislation that would strip the mayor of his power over the city’s spending committee, issuing a strong rebuke. Last week, 11 News Investigates first reported on a proposal filed by Baltimore City Council Speaker Nick Mosby to reduce the five-member Budget Committee to three. The proposal would remove two mayoral appointees from the committee, and give the mayor, city council speaker and comptroller equal power on the committee. The Budget Committee oversees city spending and approves millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts for city services at every meeting. As 11 News Investigates reported on Friday, Mayor Scott introduced a similar charter amendment proposal when he was City Council Speaker in 2020, saying at the time that the mayor had too much power over the City Council. When 11 News Investigates asked Mayor Scott about it at an unrelated press conference on Wednesday, the mayor said Baltimore County has influential figures, like the president of Sinclair Broadcast Group, who are trying to curtail black political power in Baltimore. “When you look at the efforts of people who are funded by people who don’t live in Baltimore, who aren’t from the city, they’re trying to curtail political power in Baltimore, they’re trying to attack the way Baltimore government is run. Frankly, if we’re going to be open about who’s running and how they can control them, we saw that in the primary. We know what these people are trying to do, and we have to talk about them in the context of all of that,” Mayor Scott said. After the report aired on 11 News, the mayor’s office issued a statement to 11 News Investigates saying, “There are people pushing City Council Charter amendments to reduce the size of City Council, there are people pushing City Council Charter amendments to push term limits, there are people who fund the supers that you wrote about so eloquently and fund campaigns of people who are trying to take Baltimore in a different direction. There are people who are pressuring and funding City Council Charter members to cut property taxes in this irresponsible way when there are responsible proposals in Baltimore. We need to look at all of these things and understand how interconnected they are.” City Comptroller Bill Henry supported Mosby’s proposed charter amendment to remove the city attorney and public works director from the board, refuting the mayor’s reasoning. “I’m not going to argue with the mayor about the fact that there may be people who want to diminish the political power of black people in Baltimore City,” Henry told 11 News Investigates. “But if those three elected officials are elected by mostly black voters, I don’t see how that diminishes black political power.” Mosby’s charter amendment would need to be approved by the City Council, and if the mayor doesn’t veto it, voters would decide in the November general election.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on Wednesday issued a strong rebuke of proposed legislation that would strip the mayor of his power over the city’s spending committee.
Last week, 11 News Investigates first reported on a proposal put forward by Baltimore City Council Speaker Nick Mosby to reduce the city’s five-member budget committee to three members, which would remove two mayoral appointees from the committee and give the mayor, city council speaker and comptroller equal power on the committee.
The Budget Committee oversees city spending and approves millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts for city services at every meeting. As 11 News Investigates reported Friday, Scott introduced a similar charter amendment when he was City Council president in 2020, saying at the time that the mayor had too much power over the Budget Committee.
When 11 News Investigates asked Mayor Scott about the allegations at a separate press conference on Wednesday, the mayor said there are influential people in Baltimore County, like the chairman of Sinclair Broadcast Group, who are trying to undermine black political power in Baltimore.
“When you look at the efforts of people who don’t live in Baltimore, who are funded by people who aren’t from Baltimore, they’re trying to curtail the political power of Baltimore, they’re trying to attack the way Baltimore government is run. Frankly, if they’re going to be open about who’s running and how they can control them, we saw that in the primaries, we know that’s what they’re trying to do. We have to talk about them in the context of all of that,” Scott said.
After the report aired on 11 News, the mayor’s office released the following statement to 11 News Investigative:
“We can’t look at charter amendment as a one-off thing. When you have people pushing charter amendments to reduce the size of City Council, when you have people pushing charter amendments to push term limits, when you have people who have funded the super (political action committees) that you wrote about so eloquently, when you have people who have funded the campaigns of people who want to take Baltimore in a different direction, when there are responsible proposals being presented in Baltimore, you have people who are engaging and funding charter members in an irresponsible way to cut property taxes. We need to look at all of these things and understand how they’re all interconnected.”
City Comptroller Bill Henry, who supports Mayor Mosby’s proposed charter amendment to remove the city attorney and public works director from the board, disputed the mayor’s reasoning.
“I’m not going to argue with the mayor about the fact that there are people who want to diminish black political power in Baltimore City,” Henry told 11News Investigates, “but if all three of these elected officials are elected by primarily black voters, I don’t see how that diminishes black political power.”
Mosby’s charter amendment must be approved by the City Council, and if the mayor doesn’t veto it, voters will decide on it in the November general election.
