The Baltimore City Council voted down a proposed amendment to the city charter on Monday that could have substantially altered oversight of contracting.
Approving a hastily negotiated amendment that removed parts of the bill that would have allowed the council to raise the dollar amount for contracts that must be approved by the board of estimates, Council Member Mary Pat Clarke said she was pleased.
“This is a victory for the people.”
Had the amendment passed and subsequently been approved by voters on the fall ballot, the council could have raised the current $5,000 threshold over which contracts must be approved by the board of estimates.
While Dixon administration officials acknowledged defeat of the measure, they said the issue was not dead.
“Unfortunately we couldn?t come to an agreement in time, but it will be explored again,” said mayoral spokesman Anthony McCarthy. McCarthy said the charter amendment could be placed on the ballot in 2008.
“We still want to get our contracting system in line with other jurisdictions,” McCarthy said. City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake voted against the measure.
“She?s against taking the people out of the process. When you?re talking about spending taxpayer money, it should be transparent,” said Shaun Adamec, spokesman for Rawlings-Blake. The vote handed a symbolic victory to Dixon?s mayoral rival, Councilman Keiffer Mitchell, who opposed the change.
Earlier Monday, Mitchell held a news conference outside the Gallery Mall near the Inner Harbor, the former mailing address of UTECH, a company that employed Dixon?s sister Janice. The mayor was cleared of ethics violations for voting to approve contracts between UTECH and the city.
“UTECH was a source of contracts and shady dealings,” Mitchell said.
“We do not need more back-room deals, more pay to play, and awarding friends contracts on behalf of the city of Baltimore,” he said.
