Baltimore officials flock to Ocean City for annual MACo gathering
The city is sending 65 people to the beach town gathering, whose theme this year is “Build What’s Next.”
Above: The MACo Networking Cruise is one of many food, sports, educational and entertainment features at the convention.
The corridors of City Hall will feel lonely today as top officials flee the city and converge on Ocean City to attend the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) Summer Conference, the most popular gathering of politicos and government vendors outside of the Maryland Party held annually in Las Vegas.
Attracting the upper echelon of the mayor’s brain trust, plus City Council members and agency staffers, the confab held Wednesday through Saturday at the Roland E. Powell Convention Center offers a mix of educational sessions, boozy receptions, keynote speeches, a golf tournament, and a Friday evening networking event featuring all-you-can-eat Maryland blue crabs.
Baltimore will field 65 attendees at the late summer rite, making it the second largest contingent among the state’s 23 counties, according to MACo’s attendance records reviewed by The Brew. (Prince George’s County is dispatching 86 people, while Montgomery County, with double the city’s population, is sending 59, and Baltimore County a relatively sparse 44.)
They will be joined by state legislators, Governor Wes Moore and hundreds of exhibitors and corporate sponsors hawking their wares at the trade show.
The outing is expected to cost Baltimore taxpayers more than $100,000 in travel, registration fees, hotel and meal expenses based on travel requests so far submitted to the Board of Estimates.
For early-bird arrivals, there’s a golf tournament today where public officials can mix on the links and at lunch with corporate sponsors. (mdcounties.org)
$469-A-Night Lodging
The largest number of city representatives come from Mayor Brandon Scott’s office.
His chief of staff, his deputy chief of staff, his two senior advisors, a deputy mayor – plus the city administrator, deputy city administrator and government affairs staff – have all submitted approved requests for travel, lodging and incidental expenses.
They include $1,618.68 each for City Administrator Faith Leach and Deputy CA Shamiah Kerney, who have rented $459- and $469-a-night hotel rooms for their abbreviated, two-night stays. The lodging is above the $295 per-diem GSA rate for government employees on official travel, requiring an additional subsidy that was approved last week by the spending board.
On the other hand, Scott himself has expensed only $505 for his stay, which his travel request attributes solely to the MACo registration fee (which is actually $445).
Asked yesterday about this discrepancy and about who is paying for his lodging, meals and travel, the mayor’s press office has not responded.
Mayor Brandon Scott’s reimbursement request for the MACo convention. (8/5/26 Board of Estimates agenda)
Eight City Council lawmakers and several aides will be at the conference, along with Comptroller Bill Henry and four members of his staff.
Henry says he will be using his city-issued vehicle to drive to Ocean City and has requested an extra night’s stay (at $322.50) at public expense. His overall bill comes to $2,519.52.
Baltimore Fire Chief James Wallace, Chief of Staff Veobia Akilo, Chief of EMS James Matz and Government Affairs Director Jennefer Haslam are going to the convention at a cost of $9,581.44.
Chad Helton, CEO of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, is also headed to OC, along with members of the sheriff’s office and the departments of Public Works, General Services, Transportation and Information Technology.
On the other hand, the Police Department is sending nobody, and City Council President Zeke Cohen, off to Houston, TX, today for a National League of Cities meeting. will be absent.
Selling Access
MACo’s 2026 theme, “Build What’s Next,” reflects the organization’s self-proclaimed mission of promoting efficient, effective local government and helping Maryland’s 23 counties and Baltimore City prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the future.
The conference begins with the Tech Expo, then kick-starts on Thursday with a keynote address by Scott Lesnick, a motivational speaker who will challenge attendees to rethink organizational productivity, leadership, collaboration and employee well-being while exploring how emerging technologies can strengthen rather than replace the government workforce.
About 30 panel discussions will explore infrastructure investment, growth of AI, affordable housing, educational funding and spurring “responsible Data Center development” – a forum whose sole speaker, Maurice Simpson Jr., is Constellation Energy’s director of state government affairs and former president of the Prince George’s County Young Democrats.
“We give you access to the decisionmakers involved in or related to local government all in one place” – MACo’s pitch to corporate sponsors.
The latter underscores what MACo is really selling – access to local government leaders amid the sun and surf, nightclubs and mega-bars, of a beachside town.
The organization is quite explicit about how this all works in its corporate partner program.
It explains that “MACo will help you reach Maryland’s county leaders, legislators, state government officials, and commercial and nonprofit representatives. Basically, we give you access to the decisionmakers involved in or related to local government all in one place.”
The pitch goes on to say, “We offer benefits worth every penny,” noting that all corporate sponsors are promoted in MACo’s blog as well as featured linked in its “Conference Countdown” emails and listed in the organization’s mobile app.
It is any surprise then that Amazon, AT&T, CareFirst, Constellation, Comcast, Motorola Solutions, Verizon, Washington Gas and WGL Energy Services are among this year’s corporate partners. Or that BGE/Constellation is sending 11 representatives to the convention. 
MACo’s sponsorship brochure details why corporations and nonprofits should partner with the organization. (mdcounties.org)
“On behalf of Baltimore residents”
Public officials are required by Board of Estimates rules to justify their travel requests as official city business.
The eight council members headed to Ocean City – Zac Blanchard, John Bullock, Mark Conway, Antonio Glover, Paris Gray, Jermaine Jones, Phylicia Porter and Odette Ramos – gave justifications that echo the same points in very similar language.
In the words of Ramos, it is:
“The MACo 2026 Conference will provide Councilwoman Odette Ramos with the opportunity to engage with local and state leaders on issues impacting Baltimore City, including housing, transportation, infrastructure, public safety, environmental sustainability and economic development. The conference offers valuable policy discussions, training sessions and networking opportunities that will strengthen intergovernmental partnerships and support informed decisionmaking on behalf of Baltimore residents and the 14th District.”