With law school deans off board, who oversees Baltimore inspector general?

The deans of Maryland’s two law schools sent a joint letter last month to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and City Council President Zeke Cohen announcing their resignations from the board that oversees the city’s inspector general.

“After thoughtful consideration, we concluded that the [Inspector General] Advisory Board’s primary responsibilities are functions that do not require legal academic expertise,” wrote LaVonda Reed, dean of the University of Baltimore School of Law, and Renée H. Laurent, dean of the University of Maryland‘s Francis King Carey School of Law.

In the letter obtained by The Daily Record and first reported by The Baltimore Banner, the deans noted their responsibilities overseeing their respective law schools as an impediment to meaningfully participate in the board’s activities. But they also declined to appoint designated representatives from their institutions to replace them.

In February, Baltimore City Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming filed a lawsuit alleging that Scott made her job investigating waste, fraud and abuse more difficult by restricting her access to city records. She is seeking a declaration from Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Pamela White that affirms her office’s independence, subpoena power and direct access to city records.

The Baltimore City Inspector General Advisory Board is tasked with approving and revising the office’s budget, briefing the city council on the office’s activities and performing an annual performance review for Cumming. Should they determine she is not adequately performing the duties of her office, the board has the authority to remove her on a majority vote and can appoint a new inspector general.

Those interested in serving on the board submit applications to their city council member, who selects one person from the pool of applicants in their district. The chair of the city’s board of ethics then selects candidates, ensuring they are representative of various city districts.

The board currently has eight members with a wealth of legal and governmental knowledge. So who is still overseeing Cumming?

Gayle Guilford

The chair of the advisory board, Gayle Guilford, retired from a long career with the city government in 2020.

Her career in government began in 2014, when Guilford served as the director of information services for the Baltimore Police Department before she accepted a position as the first chief information security officer for the city. In 2018, she received the Richard A. Lidinsky, Sr. Award for excellence in public service for the work she did for the city government.

Guilford is listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit that the Office of the Inspector General filed against the Scott administration over records access, both in her official capacity as the chair of the board and as a city taxpayer. She didn’t respond to a request for comment.

James Godey

James Godey is an attorney, a Certified Public Accountant and the secretary of the advisory board. It’s required that at least one board member be a CPA.

Like Guilford, Godey is listed as a plaintiff in the case against the Scott administration. He declined to comment. 

Raymond White

The board’s certified fraud examiner, Raymond White, has nearly 20 years of experience as an auditor and accounting professional. He holds professional certifications in internal audits, fraud and project management. According to his LinkedIn profile, White is also certified in financial management for the U.S. Department of Defense.

He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Brittany Banks

Since 2022, Brittany Banks has served as the assistant inspector general for follow-up at the Architect of the Capitol — the organization responsible for preserving historic structures for judicial and legislative buildings on Capitol Hill.

Prior to that, she was an audit manager for AmeriCorps, a senior auditor and financial analyst for the U.S. Agency for International Development and an auditor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Banks is certified as an inspector general inspector and evaluator through the Association of Inspectors General and a certified fraud examiner via the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

She declined to comment.

Gary Williams

A lifelong Baltimorean, Gary Williams is a program officer at the France-Merrick Foundation, an organization that invests in Baltimore-area nonprofits whose missions center around culture, community and economic development, conservation, education, health and historic preservation.

He previously served as the deputy director of programs at the now-defunct social justice organization Public Allies Baltimore; a program manager at B’More for Healthy Babies; a senior program manager at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s Center for Community-Based Engagement and Learning; and a service coordinator at The Choice Program at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Lauren A. DiMartino

An associate at the law firm Brown, Goldstein & Levy, Lauren A. DiMartino’s legal practice focuses on housing discrimination, disability and LGBTQ+ rights, police misconduct and employment discrimination.

She is also an adjunct professor at UMD’s law school. Prior to attending law school, DiMartino worked in New York City community colleges, where she served as an academic counselor and the assistant director of a program to remove systemic barriers for obtaining a degree.

She couldn’t be reached for comment.

Michael Dowd

Michael Dowd has an extensive history in the field of corporate finance. He most recently served as the director of finance for Northeast Maglev, the company that sought to establish a high-speed rail system connecting Washington, D.C.; Baltimore; Philadelphia; and New York City before federal funding for the project was canceled by U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy last summer. Prior to that, Dowd spent nine years in finance and capital planning at Amtrak.

He couldn’t be reached for comment.

Alan Garten

A director and officer at the law firm Fedder and Garten, Alan Garten’s legal practice centers on business, commercial litigation, real estate and estate planning. He previously served as a member of the Baltimore City Bar Association’s Judicial Selections Committee, executive council for the city bar association and as a member of the Maryland State Bar Association’s board of governors.

He declined to comment.

This story has been updated.