Baltimore paid more than $300k to city employees who left job, inspector general reports

Baltimore paid more than a dozen government employees more than $300,000 while on "permission" leave or after they departed their roles, a new investigation by the city's Inspector General shows.

Isabel Mercedes Cumming's report reveals that approximately half of the total payments were made to employees of the mayor's office. 

The report verified the complaint that five employees from the mayoral offices received "extensive permission leave," including one employee who worked with the city for less than six months at the time of their departure. 

Permission leave is defined as a type of administrative leave that is not accrued and is authorized by the employer during specific circumstances, like inclement weather or the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the inspector general's office. 

The inspector general started investigating back in 2025 after getting a complaint that the mayor's office used permission leave time for those employees leaving their jobs, despite it not being offered to the majority of city employees.

The mayor's office says the use of permission leave is common in many industries and will work to make sure it is administered fairly.

The mayor's office responded, in part, saying, "Discretionary HR decisions, especially ones that do not violate policy, are not inequitable or wasteful simply because the IG personally perceives them to be."

Mayor proposes Inspector General oversight bill

Controversy has developed over the past few months between Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Inspector General Isabel Cumming.

Last week, Scott proposed a legislation package aimed at increasing oversight of the inspector general's office.

The legislation would redefine how the city's Inspector General's Office investigates city government and launch an independent review of the city's SideStep program, one of the city's now-defunct youth anti-violence programs. 

Mayor Scott's proposal would address concerns over the "effectiveness and trustworthiness" of the inspector general's office. The measure also takes several steps to "clarify" the inspector general's oversight process and amend the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) to make the IG's office exempt from nearly all categories. 

Inspector General Cumming said the proposal is controlling and it does not hold the mayor's office accountability for the actions she investigated.

"What he proposes is not accountability, it is control. This is not about politics," Cumming stated. "It is about ensuring that the people of Baltimore know where their tax dollars are being spent and why. The OIG will continue to fight for the people."

The mayor's office responded, saying that Inspector General Cumming "severely mischaracterizes numerous aspects of the mayor's proposals."

The statement continued, "For months, the mayor's office has been interested in meeting with the OIG and the OIG Advisory Board to outline a process that delivers transparency while following State law. At every turn, these requests have yet to result in a meeting. We look forward to having an honest conversation with lawmakers on the City Council and in the General Assembly about what these proposals actually do and how to move our city forward."

More mayor, inspector general controversy

The Inspector General's Office sued Baltimore City in February, claiming Cumming was denied access to documents that are essential to her job. 

Cumming alleges the city refused to comply with a subpoena when she was trying to get financial records for the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE) youth program SideStep.

The city responded to the subpoena by providing heavily redacted documents, according to Cumming. 

"It is very clear that I can subpoena any records. [The city has] decided not to respond...they did nothing," Cumming said in February. "So I am now suing the city for the SideStep records they will not give us so I can do my job."