Posted on 11/29/22
| News Source: WMAR2NEWS
Baltimore City's Board of Ethics has a problem with a recently passed council bill that changes the number of years elected officials have to serve in office before earning a pension.
On Tuesday the Board wrote a letter to Mayor Brandon Scott requesting that he hold off on signing the bill into law, pending an advisory review.
"The Ethics Board is concerned that it is impossible for the current Council, while in term, to have voted in favor of the amendment without giving the appearance of a conflict of interest; the terms of the Bill...serve the private and/or personal interests of the current Council."
Council Bill 22-0292 as it's known, was sponsored by Council President Nick Mosby. It proposes that elected City officials who begin serving as of December 1 this year, would be eligible for a pension after eight-years, as opposed to 12 required by existing law.
The bill passed after Baltimore City voters overwhelmingly approved Question K, imposing eight-year term limits on their elected leaders.
Leading up to its passing, many in the community and even some councilmen pushed back against the bill.