Trustee: City employees’ exotic trips should end

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - An Employees’ Retirement Systems trustee said Tuesday that the extensive travel of his counterparts to exotic resorts should end and charged that the board responsible for managing the city employee pension funds is not overseeing travel as it has in the past.

“I’m against it,” Ernest Glinka said. “But the board stopped approving individual travel two years ago.”

The revelations come as 2005 financial disclosure forms were filed by several ERS board members in anticipation of the May 1 city deadline. Glinka took pains in his filing to distance himself from the activities of his fellow board members, stating that he did not “accept or request any meals, entertainment or sporting event tickets, golf, spa from any entities doing business with the ERS.”

Glinka said the statement is precautionary.

“I have a highly ethical reputation. I thought it was important to state that in a positive way if someone looked into these trips,” Glinka said.

Glinka told The Examiner that based on his experience, expenses at conferences similar to those attended by ERS board members are paid for by the sponsors. “Money managers pay a fee to the organizer, and then the organizers are responsible for the expenses for the pension fund attendees at the event,” he said.

Glinka said this includes meals, transportation at the conference, tickets to sporting events and other amenities.

Several sources working for companies that sponsor the investment conferences confirmed that the meetings are subsidized by investment advisers. One employee who did not want to be named said the reason was “because the financial advisers have products to sell.” Subsidizing travel for city employees by companies that have done or are seeking business with the city is forbidden by the city’s ethics code.

Mayor Martin O’Malley said the practice of traveling by board members for education, even overseas, is standard.

“I believe it’s been going on for some time,” said. “I have confidence that the board is complying with ethics requirements.”

But the recently filed statements by other ERS board members do not list any gifts for 2005, when much of the board’s travel occurred.

Glinka said that he gets his education at home. “I read industry periodicals and magazines,” he said.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

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