* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmembers Holton, Young
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
title
Investigative Hearing - Baltimore City Government - Criteria for Continued Employment
FOR the purpose of requesting the City Solicitor, the Acting Inspector General, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Human Resources, and the Labor Commissioner to address the City Council on departmental and administrative policy governing the continued employment of persons convicted of criminal offenses or acts of moral turpitude.
body
Recitals
On January 14, 2010, it was reported that a man had been arrested that morning for sexually assaulting a woman near Goucher Boulevard in Towson the night before. The man was charged with a fourth-degree sex offense, impersonating a police officer, and false imprisonment and was being held at the Baltimore County Detention Center on a $350,000 bond.
The next day the media buzz was that this man was a registered sex offender who has been employed for 10 years as a utility repairman by the City's Department of Public Works, earning $25,000 a year and $4,508 in overtime in 2008, while serving out the balance of his sentence and a 5-year probation for 7 counts of sexually abusing a minor.
By Saturday, the press reported a confused bureaucracy that did not know if persons convicted of certain crimes can remain in City employ, if persons who are given jail time can use accumulated leave time while incarcerated, and if there is a specific prohibition against persons convicted of certain crimes interacting with the public.
The next week brought even more damning reports and speculations - that Department supervisors threatened a fellow employee into silence about the repairman's sex offender status and that the offender was allowed not only to keep his job while serving 8 months in jail, but was allowed to enter private homes and work at schools while on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry.
Since the story broke it has been reported that several investigations are underway. There is purportedly an investigation by Department of Public Works officials to determine if there has been abuse of sick leave authorized for use by employees "who are required to be absent from duty because of personal sickness whether physical or mental, injury, or prenatal or postnatal disability", if supervisors had knowledge of the breach of protocol, and if the offending employee had assistance from other employees to falsify attendance and leave records.
Officials of AFSME Local 67, the union that represents the largest number of City employees, have launched their own investigation to determine if the union's sick leave bank was used fraudulently to give the offender the extra days needed to remain in pay status during his incarceration and to prevent his sex-offender status from being discovered by supervisors.
According to the latest media reports, the questions and confusion incited by this incident have prompted the City Solicitor to announce a comprehensive review of several key employment polices that will result in recommendations for change in several weeks.
City government has on obligation to the taxpayers whose hard work provides the foundation of the City budget. When City employees enter citizens' homes or interact with the general public, there has to be a valid expectation of integrity and safety. To further that goal, the questions engendered by this incident must be thoroughly and expeditiously addressed.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF BALTIMORE, That the City Solicitor, the Acting Inspector General, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Human Resources, and the Labor Commissioner are requested to address the City Council on departmental and administrative policy governing the continued employment of persons convicted of criminal offenses or acts of moral turpitude.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That representatives of AFSME, Local 67; CUB; MAPS; Baltimore Teachers Union, Local 340; Baltimore Paraprofessional's Union, Local 340; PSASA, Local 25; Baltimore City Firefighters Local734; and Baltimore City Fire Officer's Association, Local 964 are invited to attend the hearing on this Resolution.
AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the City Solicitor, the Acting Inspector General, the Director of Public Works, the Director of Human Resources, the Labor Commissioner, the Executive Director of AFSME, Local 67, the President of CUB, the President of MAPS, the President of Baltimore Teachers Union, Local 340, the President of Baltimore Paraprofessional's Union, Local 340, the President of PSASA, the President of Baltimore City Firefighter's Local 734, the President of the Baltimore City Fire Officer's Association, Local 964, and the Mayor's Legislative Liaison to the City Council.
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