BALTIMORE CITY OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

[Pages:20]BALTIMORE CITY OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

2019 ANNUAL REPORT

Baltimore City

A Message from the Inspector General

It is with much gratitude to the voters of Baltimore City that I present the first Independent Baltimore City Office of the Inspector General Annual Report to the citizens and employees of Baltimore City. It was the people who voted overwhelmingly on November 7, 2018 to make the OIG an Independent office within City government. Yet, some still ask, what is an Inspector General? My answer is . . . An Inspector General is an Independent nonpartisan arbiter of truth who promotes efficiency in government programs. This past year, public input has been crucial to our mission. Your complaints to the OIG Hotline were the foundation of our success. These complaints have risen from 70 a year to almost 70 a month. We are always grateful when our office is contacted to pursue the truth in any matter. Even when we determine a complaint falls outside our purview, the OIG strives to inform the complainant where to go or what other avenues to pursue to obtain relief. Community OIG outreach is constant and employee training about the OIG starts at New Employee Orientation. I personally speak to incoming City employees and give each a hotline card to keep in their wallet in order to call in instances of concerns. The members of the OIG team take public trust and the responsibility to protect it as the mission and backbone of the office. In order to be an effective fiscal watchdog, our unity with other law enforcement partners such as the FBI, IRS and MD State Prosecutor is critical as it allows the OIG to continue to strive to maintain an honest City government. As I described in my first report last year, I consider the position of Inspector General that of the "People's Investigator." My team is proud of all we accomplished in 2019 with documented savings of over a million dollars, but we are still moving forward. There is an ironclad commitment to help Baltimore City and the people. The OIG works diligently to help the people have an avenue to successfully fight financial fraud, waste, and abuse in our government.

With sincere gratitude,

Isabel Mercedes Cumming

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Office of the Inspector General

The mission of the Office of Inspector General (OIG) is to promote accountability, efficiency, and integrity in City government. OIG's goal is to promote trust in government to the citizens of Baltimore by improving efficiency through the elimination of identified financial waste, fraud, and abuse. An effective OIG fosters public assurance in all City agencies through the impartiality, integrity, and transparency with which it operates. Citizens expects those leading the City to be committed to effective and honest government. The citizens' recognition of the essential work conducted by their government is best served when the government polices itself. The OIG does so by removing those who perpetrate fraud, waste, or abuse, and initiating improvements in the efficiency with which it operates.

WE WORK FOR THE CITIZENS OF BALTIMORE CITY

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Baltimore City

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from the Inspector General 2 Mission of the OIG3 Authority5 By the Numbers8 Impact10 Behind the Scenes11 Notable Cases12 Budget16 What's New17 Did You Know?18 Get In Touch19

4ANNUAL REPORT 2019

AUTHORITY

Office of the Inspector General

The OIG was created in July of 2005 through Mayoral Executive Order by former Mayor Martin O'Malley with the goal of increasing government accountability. OIGs are intended to serve as independent and objective units that are free from political influence. However the Executive Order did not make the Baltimore City OIG an Independent unit.

The 2005 Executive Order places the OIG under the authority of the Office of the Mayor. The absence of independence created a lack of effectiveness. An effective OIG is one that is an independent and objective unit, free from political influence. It was not until 2018 when a bill was introduced to establish OIG Independence.

Councilman Ryan Dorsey and many citizens groups worked to bring the OIG Independence Bill before the City Council. As a change to the Charter of Baltimore City ? the amendment, Article X, had to appear on the ballot.

2018 Ballot Question F Charter Amendment

Office of the Inspector General Resolution No. 18-08 is for the purpose of creating an independent Office of the Inspector General headed by an Inspector General. The law would establish the process for appointing and terminating the Inspector General and would establish the powers and duties of the Office of the Inspector General. The law would provide for the funding of the Office of the Inspector General, grant the Inspector General the power to issue subpoenas and require the Office of the Inspector General to issue an annual public report. The law provides for certain administrative procedures and establishes procedures to transition the existing Office of the Inspector General in the Law Department into the newly

created independent Office of the Inspector General.

On November 2018 the Baltimore City OIG achieved independence by voter referendum with an overwhelmingly 83% voter approval!

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Baltimore City

6ANNUAL REPORT 2019

THIS IS HOW WE DO IT

Office of the Inspector General

The OIG follows the standards set forth by the Association

of Inspector General's Green Book which outlines the

Principles and Standards for an Office of Inspector

General. With that, the OIG Hotline Administrator

takes an impact-oriented approach to prioritizing the

numerous complaints that come into the OIG hotline. What does that mean? It means the OIG must decide which investigations to pursue based on the potential

provided to the Mayor and relevant Agency Directors. OIG does not make recommendations.

impact to the taxpayers of Baltimore City.

Although OIG is an investigatory agency, this office does

The OIG receives numerous complaints every month. All complaints are carefully vetted to ensure they fall within the authority of the OIG in accordance with its mandate of rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse of City's financial resources. Complaints made to the OIG hotline often involve issues related to Human Resources such as personnel matters, employment related decisions or discrimination. The OIG does not normally investigate such claims unless the claims involve financial matters.

For those complaints that do not fall within the authority of the OIG, the complainant will be informed as to the reasons why. Some complaints may be determined to be

not carry law enforcement accreditation and thus has no power of arrest. While most of the OIG investigations are administrative in nature, OIG does conduct criminal investigations with our law enforcement partners when appropriate. OIG maintains partnerships with the Baltimore City Police Department, Office of the State Prosecutor, Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service. OIG's presence on various law enforcement task forces assists in forming new partnerships with other agencies.

appropriate for referral to another City agency

to address. OIG will only refer these complaints

with the permission of the complainant. The

confidentiality of all complainants is of utmost

importance to the OIG.

Once a complaint has been identified for investigation, it is assigned to an OIG Special Agent. Some cases take a few weeks to resolve while others may take several months to a year. Investigations are resolved strictly based on the facts uncovered during the process. Once the investigation is resolved, a report is written and

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Baltimore City

When appointed on January 29, 2018, Isabel Mercedes Cumming stated her goal was to quadruple the number of hotline complaints coming into the OIG. This goal was achieved as complaints rose from 74 to 380. Some of the OIG's most notable investigations have come from the OIG Hotline. It is an OIG's most vital component in fighting fraud, waste, and abuse. The more tips we get, the more we can investigate. The only way this can effectively happen is when more employees and citizens are aware of what this office does. Since being appointed, the Inspector General has made an enormous effort to spread the OIG word. The numbers speak for themselves . . . 8ANNUAL REPORT 2019

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