It’s exhausting for taxpayers to abdomen!
The Mayor of Baltimore’s workplace spent greater than $890,000 on lavish meals and events— together with crab feasts, catered “farewell” bashes and large tabs at Ravens soccer video games, based on a report Wednesday.
Mayor Brandon Scott’s administration blew taxpayer money on over-the-top perks for staffers — together with $52,589 on grub within the Mayoral Suite at Ravens and Orioles video games — in a gross violation of town’s “public funds” guidelines, based on baltimorebrew.com
One of many elaborate meals was served at a $3,636 farewell “workplace occasion” for Scott’s former marketing campaign supervisor Marvin James, which featured a $324 balloon arch, a $217 cake and a $2,600 catered unfold with crab balls and grilled salmon in March 2025, based on the outlet.
James — who has been praised for his strategy to crime by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani — didn’t truly depart Metropolis Corridor and remains to be on the payroll because the mayor’s $190,000-plus-a-year senior advisor.
In whole, the workplace spent $801,839 on meals and catering, $42,691 on floral preparations and funeral companies, and $45,646 “unreconciled” bills between July 2022 and November 2025, based on the outlet
The administration spent lavishly on meals akin to banana bread pudding, pizza, bottomless freshly popped popcorn and “a contemporary fruit tray out there to everybody within the mayor’s suite each day,” based on the outlet, which cited a report from Inspector Common Isabel Mercedes Cumming, town’s waste and fraud watchdog.
It additionally forked over greater than $10,000 on flowers, which metropolis laws state shouldn’t be bought “for any motive,” the report states.
The investigation discovered different extravagant so-called “P-Card” — aka procurement card — bills associated to birthday celebrations, child showers and flowers “for a particular few, together with govt management,” based on the report.
A minimum of 336 of the “P-card” transactions violated metropolis guidelines, which require a waiver to make use of public funds “for any social capabilities or actions” with out the categorical approval of the Bureau of Buying, Cumming notes within the report.
“[The watchdog] discovered that taxpayer funds have been used for floral purchases for occasions, worker celebrations, recognition, child arrivals, funerals bereavement and condolence,” the report states.
When the buying bureau denied the mayor’s workplace’s request to make use of taxpayer cash to host an annual crab feast, the mayor’s workplace went to finance director Michael Mocksten who authorized the feast, based on the report.
The administration has been making an attempt over the previous month to limit Comming’s entry to metropolis monetary and personnel data — which might stop her from exposing over-the-top spending, she advised the outlet.
The mayor’s Chief of Workers, J.D. Merrill , defended the food and drinks spending as “legit bills that help environment friendly and mandatory operations of metropolis authorities,” based on the outlet.
“The mayor’s workplace commonly takes on the duty for offering meals for each its personal staff and staff of different metropolis businesses,” he stated.
He dismissed the $167,455 in unapproved “P-card” transactions because the equal of “ an estimated 0.19% of the mayor’s workplace price range over the time interval reviewed” and stated a brand new place is being created that’s “centered on inner fiscal oversight.”
