BALTIMORE — The battle over Baltimore's conduit deal with BGE is not over as it is back on the agenda for Wednesday’s Board of Estimates meeting.
The boards's last meeting ended abruptly after City Council President Nick Mosby and Comptroller Bill Henry skipped the meeting out in an attempt to stop the vote. However, Mayor Brandon Scott moved forward on voting on the BGE deal without them.
Besides revisiting the BGE deal, the board will also vote on a $6 million GTTF settlement, as well as all of the other agenda items that got tabled until today.
The Baltimore Police Department's disgraced Gun Trace Task Force is still making headlines for an incident that happened thirteen years ago in April 2010.
Shirley Johnson and family is suing the Baltimore Police Department for $6 million. Their father was a bystander who was killed in a car crash during a police chase being conducted by the GTTF. Their father Elbert Davis Sr. died hours later, while their mother Phosa Cain suffered severe physical injuries in the crash. Cain died several years later.
MORE: City considers $6 million settlement with family of innocent man killed in 2010 car chase
Along with the GTTF settlement back on the agenda, so is the city's conduit deal with BGE.
City Council President Mosby and Comptroller Henry skipped the last BOE meeting on February 15, thinking that without enough people to cast a vote, it would stop the board from voting on the controversial conduit deal with BGE. However, the mayor called their bluff and moved forward without them.
Mayor Scott played an instrumental role in ushering in the $138 million deal. The city maintains ownership of the conduit, but before the board approved the BGE agreement, some feared the city was going to sell it.
RELATED: City Board votes for BGE conduit agreement despite absence of two members
The concern now is whether the deal gives BGE too much power over its fee structure and capital improvements.
Scott, Mosby, and Henry all spoke out after the controversial vote to express their opinions.
“We need more time to reach the level of comfort with this deal that they have already reached,” Henry said.
“We hired an independent investigator we hired a consultant firm that has the subject matter expertise to evaluate,” Mosby said.
“This is a win for the city of Baltimore anyone saying anything else either doesn’t understand it or doesn’t want to understand it,” Scott said.
The mayor, city council president, and comptroller will get another chance to debate the deal with each other, this time it will be face-to-face at the March 1, 2023 Board of Estimates meeting which starts at 9 am.
