Think globally; expense your upgraded hotel room locally.
City Councilman Ken Harris spent 10 days in Israel recently as part of the Baltimore Jewish Council’s annual mission to Israel. The Weinberg Foundation picked up most of the tab – as it has for the many Baltimore politicians who have taken part in the trip over the years. Harris was left with a $995 bill, however, because he opted for a private hotel room. He asked the city to reimburse him.
“Because it was an educational [trip], I didn’t see it different than elected officials going to MACO [Maryland Association of Counties] conferences or whatever,” said Harris, who learned things about homeland security, education and politics that he said will inform his work as a councilman.
Every council member has a $5,000-a-year account for official travel and other expenses, and Harris, who said he has never billed the city for a hotel stay in eight years on the council, figured that the Israel trip was a legitimate expense.
But the city’s Board of Estimates – chaired by the council president Harris is trying to unseat – isn’t buying it. At least not yet.
The board deferred action on the reimbursement request Wednesday. Members are reviewing the city’s policy on travel.
“It is not a city trip,” said Shaun Adamec, a spokesman for City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake. “It’s a private trip. They are guests of this private organization.”
Rawlings-Blake shared a room when she took the trip about 10 years ago, Adamec said. But Harris is not the only person to seek some privacy.
“Most people do want the single room,” said Art Abramson, executive director of the Jewish Council, who went that route himself. (The Jewish Council picked up the cost for him.)
Councilman Keiffer Mitchell, who made the trip last year, didn’t want a roommate either. “I’m a big person, and I need a big bed,” he said.
Mitchell paid for his upgrade personally. But the mayoral candidate didn’t think that Harris was out of bounds for seeking reimbursement.
“He’s going as a council representative,” Mitchell said. “It’s not a junket. You tour Israel, but you also met with people. It was a learning and educational experience.”
It’s not as though the city is particularly stingy with travel. In May, Rawlings-Blake’s childhood friend and deputy chief of staff, Kaliope Parthemos, accompanied the council president to Las Vegas for a shopping center convention. The board signed off on a $400-a-night hotel room at Wynn Las Vegas. (The budget rooms were said to be taken.) Total tab approved for her four days in Vegas: $2,884.54.
(It must be noted that Parthemos was on official city business, an annual retail mission that in previous years has helped Baltimore make great municipal strides, you know, like landing a free-standing Starbucks.)
Adamec said that Parthemos’ room and food expenses ended up being much cheaper than expected, though the receipts weren’t in yet. He also said the city saved money because – get ready for this, Harris – Rawlings-Blake bunked with Parthemos. (No mention in the Board of Estimates paperwork that the council president would be in on the pricey hotel room.)
So Rawlings-Blake has set a good example for Harris and other traveling council colleagues: Find roommates – ones who will let you expense the hotel bill under their names.
The town where big shots bite the dust
If New Yorkers can make it there, they can make it anywhere – anywhere but Baltimore. As Andres Alonso takes over as the city’s schools chief today, he should consider the fate of all the Big Apple ex-pats chewed up and spit out in Charm City.
Frank DeStefano, a former regional superintendent in Brooklyn, became Baltimore’s No. 2 academic official in 2003. He was sent packing three years later, after lowering admissions standards at some of Baltimore’s elite high schools and opting to teach middle-schoolers to read with CosmoGirl!, a magazine filled with tips for making out.
In DeStefano’s defense: While schoolkids weren’t hooked on phonics, they were hooking up.
Kevin Clark was a veteran New York police commander who’d worked that city’s toughest corners when he became Baltimore’s top cop in 2003. “For Clark, Bronx acted as crucible,” read The Sun headline at the time. Ha! He lasted 21 months, fired amid questions about alleged domestic violence.
In Clark’s defense: While he was accused of assaulting his fiancee in Baltimore, at least his wife was safe back in New York.
Ed Norris – third-generation New York officer, hailed as chief architect of that city’s get-tough policing strategy – took control of Baltimore’s department in 2000 full of zero-tolerance swagger. He got the homicide numbers down but wound up behind bars after wining and dining on a special police fund.
In Norris’ defense: The U.S. attorney who put him away not only got the Justice Department’s boot, but later, when ousted U.S. attorneys became tres chic, failed to turn the “Gonzales Eight” into the “Gonzales Nine.”
Norris has had a second act in Baltimore, bouncing back with a popular radio show whose listeners urge him to run for mayor. (C’mon, Ed! You’ve got till tomorrow to file.)
So maybe some New Yorkers can make it here, if they can survive an initial B’more beating.
