Baltimore city government has been caught in enough scandals to know oversight isn’t optional. That’s why voters chose to make the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) independent — the public demands an office exist for the expressed purposes of holding City Hall accountable. This year, Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming is asking for one new investigator, a $113,000 request in an overall $4.78 billion city budget.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott rejected her request, pointing to “fiscal restraints.” Yet, somehow, his budget greenlights 271 new city jobs including millions funneled to his own office’s programs. That’s not restraint, it’s hypocrisy. And it smells awful.

The work of the inspector general speaks for itself. Cumming’s recent DPW report, built on over 130 interviews, exposed a department in shambles plagued by systemic problems. The report detailed how workers are often ignored by their supervisors and their union. The OIG found DPW underreported heat-related illnesses by 40%. Worker injuries went ignored and the city health clinic allegedly skipped worker physicals.

These findings come on the heels of the death of Ronald Silver II who passed away after working outside on a brutally hot day last summer. This wasn’t just mismanagement, it was a failure of a department that has long endangered Baltimoreans.

Cumming’s small but mighty team dug this up while juggling 23 pending cases. She told members of the Baltimore City Council last month that a dedicated DPW investigator could prevent these failures. The $113,000 for a new position is a fraction of the multi-billion-dollar city budget, especially when Scott approved 271 other roles. Denying the OIG while padding his own priorities is ugly and creates the appearance of vindictiveness.

Ironically, the work of the inspector general actually pays for the requested positions. A February 2025 probe caught a worker approving $209,000 in unauthorized payouts, leading to their firing and tighter controls. In 2023, a vendor was forced to pay back $100,000 and got banned for five years, covering the cost of a new investigator in one case.

It should be no surprise that the Citizens’ Advisory Board, the independent body that oversees the OIG, actually backed two new positions for the IG. They see the strain, and so do we. Scott’s budget touts youth and safety investments but starves the OIG which protects those very programs from fraud. Approving 271 new positions while cutting $113,000 for oversight isn’t fiscal prudence, it’s prioritizing a personal agenda over integrity.

Baltimoreans need a government that serves not one that buries its failures. Cumming’s request isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity to tackle messes like DPW’s. The City Council must move to fund this position, overriding Scott’s shortsighted cut. Past scandals burned this city. The mayor’s hypocrisy — bulking up his programs while giving the OIG the cold shoulder — risks another. As a city, we’re smarter than that. Let’s hope our elected officials are too.