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The Dripby Brew Editors11:28 amFeb 2, 20220

Spending board approves waiver of rules to rehire Kim Morton

At $150 an hour, the retiree will be making 41% more than she made as Jack Young’s chief of staff

Above: Memo from the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office to the Board of Estimates requesting approval of a contract to hire Kimberly Morton to make changes at the department. (Comptroller’s Office)

Without discussion, the Board of Estimates today approved a contract to hire Kimberly L. Morton, Mayor Jack Young’s former chief of staff, as a “contract services specialist” at the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office.

The spending item, one of many unanimously approved on the routine agenda, means that Morton will return to the payroll under a contract which specifies “312 hours not to exceed $46,800,” or $150 an hour.

At that rate, the flinty veteran of four mayoral administrations will be making 41% more per hour than she made when she retired in 2020, according to city records.

• Kim Morton set to return to city government via lucrative sheriff’s contract (1/31/22)

Board of Estimates approval was required because the rate of pay greatly exceeded the amount allowed under the rules for retiree employment contracts under the city’s Administrative Manual (AM).

To “Prevent Waste”

Responding to a public information request from The Brew, a spokeswoman for Comptroller Bill Henry said the office did not have a copy of the contract signed by Morton and Sheriff John W. Anderson.

“That wasn’t submitted to the BOE. I don’t have that document,” K.C. Kelleher, director of communications, said in an email.

Kelleher did provide a memo from Quinton Herbert, director of Human Resources, showing that the Mayor’s Expenditure Control Committee recommended the AM rules be waived to allow Morton to earn the $150 an hour while simultaneously collecting city retirement benefits.

According to the memo, her part-time position will be “responsible for coordinating and standardizing processes and procedures to improve, enhance fiscal and administrative operations and prevent waste on behalf of the fiscal office of the Sheriff.”

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