Baltimore County proposal to limit inspector general’s power contradicts claims of transparency and honest government

Just hours before the Baltimore County Council was set to go into session Tuesday, the county executive’s office sent out a news release indicating that it was postponing the introduction of proposed legislation that would have severely limited the authority and independence of the county’s recently created Office of the Inspector General. The reason for the delay, as reported by The Baltimore Sun, was that “details of the draft prompted backlash from groups that said it would hamstring the county’s corruption watchdog.”