Watchdog Urges Baltimore City Oversight Panel to Keep Politics out of the Inspector General Office

For Immediate Release                                                                                               Contact: Courtney Mattison (202-525-7492)    

July 12, 2021                                                                                                                                                          

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) sent a letter to Baltimore City’s Oversight Panel urging them to pursue reforms to keep the Office of the Inspector General (IG) independent from the Baltimore City government. To make the IG office political would jeopardize their ability to bring much-needed transparency and accountability to Baltimore. For the protection of taxpayers and residents, it’s vital to keep politics out of the oversight process and ensure when the panel convenes tomorrow it’s not turned into a crusade against the Baltimore City IG.

TPA President David Williams stated in the letter “On behalf of thousands of taxpayers and residents across the city of Baltimore, we urge you to carefully consider the findings of the oversight panel set to convene on July 13. Additionally, we urge you to support critical reforms that would make the Office of the Inspector General (IG) truly independent from the Baltimore city government… the convening of the panel also raises the disturbing possibility that city leadership will turn this ‘oversight’ exercise into a crusade against accountability and oversight. For the sake of Baltimore’s future, it is crucial that politics not be allowed to hijack this important process.”

The letter concluded “Now is the time for Baltimore city officials to listen to their own IG and make sure that politics does not get in the way of reform, transparency, and accountability. City leadership should use the July 13 panel as an opportunity to read through the IG’s reporting and work to improve a deeply troubled city.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.