The revelation of extensive overseas travel by the board that manages the city employees pension fund has caused another member of the Baltimore City Council to question its propriety.
Council Member Mary Pat Clarke, D-District 14, said heavily discounted trips could possibly constitute gifts under the city ethics code. “It?s a gift; a discount is a gift,” she said.
City ethics law forbids accepting any “gift” ? financial or otherwise ? from people or businesses attempting to do or already doing business with the city. Clarke said the registration discounts and tickets to sporting events are questionable, even though the city is picking up the tab. “These people are responsible for making investments with the city?s pension money. Even an appearance of influence is bad,” she said.
The recent revelations about Baltimore Employees? Retirement System board members? overseas travel has not diminished their wanderlust. According to documents obtained by The Examiner, two board members and Executive Director Roselyn Spencer are scheduled to attend Opal?s Alpha Max conference in Barcelona May 8-10. The conference, Maximizing Alpha in Institutional Portfolios, will convene at a four-star luxury hotel.
Spencer is listed on the program as a “moderator” of a panel discussion.
But Spencer told The Examiner she is not attending the conference, and that the company?s materials are false. She did not explain why she is listed on the agenda, and has yet to provide The Examiner with details of her past travels paid for by the city. A spokesman for Opal Financial confirmed that the ERS is not traveling to Barcelona but would not say why ERS was listed as attending.
As with past conferences attended by ERS board members, the Alpha Max registration price is heavily discounted for public pension board members at nearly $1,500. Similar to past conferences, businesses that have financially benefited from the ERS will attend at full price, according to the company?s brochure. Morgan Stanley, which earned $14,528 in ERS commission in 2001, will be attending the Alpha conference, along with theBank of Ireland, whose asset management division earned part of a $903,865 fee for managing the ERS? international portfolio.
Council Member Kenneth Harris, D-District 4, thinks spending money to travel overseas is particularly outrageous given the crime rate in the city. “I?ll take that money and put it into more police officers,” he said. “I?m fed up.”
