A third of the Baltimore City Council has expressed support for or openness to reforming the Board of Estimates, potentially reducing the mayor’s power over city spending.

“It’s a challenge for the board to truly be effective when the mayor’s got such a commanding control of how the votes play out,” Councilman Mark Conway told The Baltimore Sun, noting that the mayor and his two appointees comprise a majority vote on the five-member spending board. He suggested either removing the mayor’s two appointees — as has been proposed many times over the past three decades — or “re-envisioning our spending board or how we look at that whole mechanism generally.”

“When the mayor’s got three out of five votes … there’s not really much of a decision to be made,” Conway said. “You will never find a situation where two people on that board who are hired and fired by the mayor at his whim would decide not to do what he asked them to do.”

Four other council members have also recently expressed support or openness to reform. Council President Zeke Cohen said earlier this month he intends to re-introduce a bill from 2023 to study the issue and previously advocated for removing the mayor’s appointees while running for council president. Council Member Odette Ramos told The Sun in October she would vote to remove the mayor’s appointees. Council Members James Torrence and Zac Blanchard have said they’re open to examining possibilities.

“Having spent one month on the council, I don’t have a strong opinion yet, but as a big fan of good government, I’m glad to see both the council president and the mayor strongly considering reform,” Blanchard said in an email last week.

Reached for comment by phone, Council Member Phylicia Porter said she would respond by email if she had a comment to provide on the issue. Asked whether she intended to provide a comment, she replied, “All right, thanks so much,” and the call ended.

Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton previously co-sponsored a bill to remove the mayor’s appointees from the board in 2010. She didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment about whether she’d support a similar bill in the future.

The eight other council members did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Asked about any potential conflicts with the mayor that could arise if council members supported BOE reform, Conway said he “will do what I think is right, regardless of what the mayor thinks. As evidenced by the opioid conversation, if I disagree, I’m just gonna say it.”

Mayor Brandon Scott told The Sun earlier this month he would be open to eliminating the board altogether. His office didn’t provide further details on what kind of spending structure would replace it.

Nearly two years ago, dozens of people signed a letter emailed to city council members, saying they believe the current configuration of the board “is neither democratic nor balanced” and that it “creates an atmosphere ripe for wasteful spending and contracts that are not in the best interest of taxpayers.”

The letter advocated for the board to consist of the mayor, city council president, comptroller, city solicitor — one of the mayor’s current appointees on the board — and a council member not serving as council president or vice president.

One of the signers, Paul Young-Hyman, said he first became interested in the issue after Scott moved forward on a controversial deal with Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. in 2023, over the objections of two other board members — the city council president and comptroller.

The current system “doesn’t just tilt the board in favor of the mayor, but it assures the mayor a majority vote on any project that comes before the Board of Estimates,” he told The Sun.

Young-Hyman said he voted for Cohen last year partly because of Cohen’s interest in BOE reform.

Cohen previously introduced a bill, which was later withdrawn, that would have established a task force to examine the BOE reform issue. The bill was co-sponsored by Ramos and former Council Member Kristerfer Burnett.

Have a news tip? Contact Brooke Conrad at bconrad@baltsun.com, 443-682-2356 or @conrad_brooke on X.