Days after the Baltimore City Council Board of Ethics determined that City Council President Nick Mosby violated the city's ethics code, several council members now say Mosby should comply with the board's orders.
Saturday six city council members sent Mosby a letter, calling on him to "correct multiple ethics violations and follow the clear and straightforward path, set by the Ethics Board's Administrative Order."
The letter is signed by council members Zeke Cohen, Kristerfer Burnett, James Torrence, Ryan Dorsey, Phylicia Porter and Odette Ramos.
There are eight other city council members, not including Mosby, who are not on the letter.
On Thursday, the City's Ethics Board determined that Mosby violated the city's ethics code by receiving and failing to report funds that were contributed to a legal defense fund. The report also found that some of the contributors do business with Baltimore City.
Following the release of the report, Mosby criticized the board, its process and denied committing any ethics violations.
"I categorically deny that I have committed any breach of the City’s Ethics Code and I am completely perplexed by the Board’s findings. The Board is fully aware that I have never asked, requested, or solicited any person to donate to the ‘legal defense fund.’ The Board further knows that I never assisted in the creation of the legal defense fund or the entity that controlled the funds that were donated. In fact, I proactively disclaimed any interest in that trust fund, in advance of their findings, and I instructed the trust to return the limited amount of funds received on my behalf," The City Council President said.
If Mosby doesn’t come into compliance with the city’s ethics code within the next 30 days, the ethics board can file a petition directly in Circuit Court. That could also come with steep fines. Mosby could potentially be charged $1,000 a day until the violations are corrected.
We reached out to City Council member, Zeke Cohen, for an interview Saturday but he was not available.