City Comptroller Joan M. Pratt says the information currently provided by her office regarding cost overruns in city contracts is “sufficient” for the public.

She rejected the recommendations contained in an Abell Foundation report calling for more information in the weekly agenda prepared by her office for the spending board.

“Adding more data to the Board of Estimates Agenda is not the solution,” she said, asked by The Brew to respond to the Abell report titled The Opacity Problem. “The Board of Estimates Agenda provides sufficient information to the public.”

In particular, she said there was no reason to publish more details about the status of existing projects or why the board pays “EWOs” (extra work orders) on previously-awarded contracts.

The Abell report zeroed in on City Hall’s practice of sometimes awarding a dozen or more EWOs on existing contracts that can increase costs by 50% or more.
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PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

• Tracking costs of city contracts is an exercise in futility, Abell report says (10/27/15)

• Jack Young denies that his votes are influenced by campaign donations (10/29/15)
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Because the Board of Estimates is “the only information source on contracts that is truly available to the public,” the Abell report argues that it is “the best medium for detailed information on changes in projects.”

Board Secretary Since 1995

Pratt countered that “the best source” for information on the cost and progress of large city contracts “lies in the agency” managing the contract. She said that the public can file requests for information through the Maryland Public Information Act.

As to the Abell report’s recommendation that the BOE agenda disclose campaign contributions made by contractors to board members, Pratt said such information is filed with the Maryland Board of Elections and is “available for public review.”
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UPDATE 10/29/15: Pratt says her position on city government transparency was mischaracterized by The Brew.
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Pratt is the secretary of the five-member board, which includes three elected officials (Pratt, City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake) and two agency heads, Rudolph Chow, director of Public Works, and City Solicitor George Nilson.

Pratt has been elected five times as city comptroller and has served as the board’s secretary since 1995.

She said the issue of contractor performance is being studied by the Boards and Commissions Evaluation Committee, administered by the Department of Public Works.

“This process of evaluation and review of contractors will ensure accountability and transparency,” she said.

According to DPW’s webpage, the committee has met once since its formation last December and taken no steps yet in setting up criteria for contractor performance.

The committee replaced the Contractor Qualification Committee, set up by the Board of Estimates in 1991, that had not met as a group in more than a decade.

[DISCLOSURE: Baltimore Brew receives grant funding from The Abell Foundation.]