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Council member asks for investigation
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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - City Council Member Ken Harris, D-District 4, called Wednesday for an official investigation into foreign travel by the board of the Baltimore Employees’ Retirement System as new information revealed that its travel expenditures have more than doubled in two years.
Harris said he sent a letter to Robert Curran, chairman of the council’s Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee, requesting an investigation of the board charged with managing city employee pension funds. Harris said the letter asked Curran to determine whether the frequency of travel and the discounts received by the trustees were “appropriate.”
Harris said he had received numerous phone calls from former city employees who complained about board travel occurring while their benefits have barely increased. “I thought it was time for the chairman to take the lead on this,” he said.
The call for an investigation comes after revelations by The Examiner regarding the details of overseas trips made by members of the board to Paris, Monte Carlo, India and Canada since 2005.
Annual reports issued by the ERS revealed that the amount of money the board spent on travel has more than doubled since fiscal 2003 year. The reports showed that the money spent has increased consistently since the board changed its procedures for monitoring travel, a fact revealed Wednesday by Board Member Ernest Glinka.
“The board stopped approving individual travel two years ago,” Glinka said.
For fiscal 2003, the ERS spent a total of $25,981 for travel, or $3,712 per board member. But just two years later, the board spent $58,322 on travel, or $8,332 per board member. In comparison, the Fire and Police Retirement Board, which manages the pension fund for retired city police officers and firefighters, spent $21,828, or $2,425 per board member, in 2004-05 — less than half of the ERS’ expenditures.
Curran said he will act on Harris’ request, and will hold hearings on the matter eventually. “We’re going to investigate his concerns to the fullest,” he said.
sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com
