The News Hole
Audit Bill Almost Killed; Sent Back to Committee
The City Council voted of 8-7 to kill a measure that would have asked Baltimore voters to amend the city’s charter to require biennial audits of major city agencies. After the stunning vote, Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young called for a reconsideration in order to send the bill back to committee, so it would not die.
Councilwoman Rochelle “Rikki” Spector (5th District) voted against that as well, even after the reconsideration vote was offered by Bill Cole(11th District), who had voted with the side that wanted to kill the bill.
“It’s pretty stunning,” says Stokes. “They don’t even have to approve it—they just have to give it to the voters.” He says that just about every other town and city in the country does regular, scheduled audits of major city departments.
Some of Baltimore City’s major agencies have not been audited in decades.
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has sent mixed signals, at best, about her support for more and better audits.
We’ll have more on the audit bill and what it (and this vote) means in next week’s paper.
