BALTIMORE — Six Baltimore City Council members are calling on Council President Nick Mosby to clear up alleged ethics violations revealed in an investigative report released Thursday.
The Baltimore City Board of Ethics voted unanimously that Mosby violated ethics laws when a trust opened on his behalf raised thousands towards he and wife, Marilyn Mosby's, private legal expenses.
Council members Zeke Cohen, Kristerfer Burnett, James Torrence, Ryan Dorsey, Phylicia Porter, and Odette Ramos wrote a letter to Mosby expressing their dismay over the report.
Mosby has disputed the board's findings and denied having any involvement in the trust, claiming to have no knowledge of solicitation efforts even though he was listed as a beneficiary.
In their letter, the council members appear to break from Mosby and side with the board.
"We commend the Board’s thorough report and diligent explanation of the law, facts, and precedent, making unmistakably clear the violations of the City’s Ethics laws," the members wrote. "The Ethics Board’s Administrative Order provides a clear and straightforward path for you to correct your multiple Ethics violations. For the sake of the trust and morale of both the public and the City Council, we ask that you immediately and fully comply with the Order."
For now, the Ethics Board is ordering Mosby to amend his financial disclosure forms and remove himself from any current or future interest from the trust within 30 days.
Additionally the board is demanding that the trust return all controlled donations that were made, and to immediately cease and desist from all fundraising activities on Mosby's behalf.
For her part, Ramos plans to introduce a resolution to amend the City Charter that would prohibit elected officials or their designee from sitting on the Inspector General's Advisory Board.
NEW: Councilwoman @odetteramos plans to introduce a resolution for a Charter Amendment to reform the @OIG_Baltimore Advisory Board so that no elected official, their designee, city/state employee, lobbyists or anyone doing business with the city serves on this board. @WMAR2News pic.twitter.com/jMCAIOp6Gy
— Mallory Sofastaii WMAR (@mal_sofastaii) May 16, 2022
The Advisory Board became a hot button issue last year, after releasing their first performance review of Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming.
At the time, Cumming had just released a critical investigative report into Marilyn Mosby's travel and side businesses.
Cumming previously expressed concern that current members of the Advisory Board could present a potential conflict of interest, in the event any of them come under investigation by her office.
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Although Cumming's office was not tied to this recent ethics report on Nick Mosby, he did appoint two current members sitting on the Inspector General's Advisory Board.
