[Baltimore Sun] FOX45 News: Community members call for more accountability amid issues with Baltimore City facilities
Read Time:2 Minute, 16 Second
Amid issues surrounding workplace conditions at DPW, there are new calls for accountability from community members.
“The fundamental problem is leadership and accountability,” said community leader Linda Batts.
Batts is now a community advocate, but previously she said she worked for Baltimore City on equity-related issues, especially those with DPW. She said some of the problems coming to light now, have been issues for years.
“The culture was so corrosive that employees were afraid to make complaints or to speak up because they were afraid of being blackballed, retaliated against,” Batts said.
Batts said her time working with the City was short-lived.
“I was told my services were no longer necessary after pointing out a number of serious internal issues with respect to the treatment of employees and the treatment of communities,” Batts added.
Recently, a series of inspector general reports exposed workplace issues at DPW, in part, showing issues with workers not getting enough water, toilet paper, or even dealing with instances of broken air conditioning units. Batts said issues at DPW have existed for years, and also said some of the issues weren’t limited to DPW.
Through a public record request, documents showed over 100 work orders related to hot buildings and air conditioning repairs submitted this summer by various city agencies to the Department of General Services had not been completed. Many of those have been referred to contractors, but in some cases the requests were sitting open for weeks.
“Management has a fundamental obligation to bust through bureaucracy and create systems and protocols and channels that deal with exigent circumstances in real time. There’s no excuse for it,” Batts added.
Wednesday, Mayor Brandon Scott addressed some of the recent DPW concerns and said he was focused on changing the culture, investing in workers, and facilities.
“Anyone who is participating in treating our employees the wrong way, or doing things like that and we catch you, you will be held accountable,” he said.
In a statement about the work orders, a spokesperson from the Department of General Services said, “The health and safety of City of Baltimore employees is always the primary concern of the Department of General Services. Our Facilities Maintenance team has been working throughout the summer to address issues with cooling systems at City-owned properties. In some cases, DGS staff can make the repairs. In other cases, DGS will hire contractors to make repairs. In cases where cooling units need to be replaced, it can take several months for a replacement unit to arrive, and DGS will provision portable air conditioning units pending availability. The vendor community is stretched due to the widespread challenge of cooling buildings during this heat wave.”
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