Mayor Brandon Scott’s declaration last week before the Board of Estimates that he does not use his city email account raised eyebrows, but Scott said today his statement was “made in jest,” part of some “banter” with his fellow board members.

Public concerns about lack of transparency after The Brew’s story revealing his remarks, he said, are not just overblown but “ridiculous.”

“This is silly and clearly an attempt to take banter between colleagues and turn it into a conspiracy,” a statement  by Scott’s press office said this morning.

“As anyone who works with senior executives understand[s], Mayor Scott’s daily work often does not require him to be personally emailing,” the statement continued. “He believes that direct engagement with employees and community is the best way to serve our city.”

Asked about the issue at a news conference with State’s Attorney Ivan Bates on an unrelated matter, Scott again said he had been joking.

“What you saw at the BOE [meeting] was me saying something in jest to the council president,” Scott said. “As you know, there’s a lot of banter between him, myself and the comptroller.”

Scott said he often delegates the job of responding to emails to appropriate staffers, but also send emails himself at times, as well as texts.

“When appropriate, I use email, right? I have been in my email every day,” he said. “I like to communicate directly, be it with my agency heads, be it with the folks that work in our departments, be it with residents.”

“We’re talking about using the appropriate communication at the appropriate time,” he continued.

Scott was asked, “Have you ever used personal email or Signal or any other app to conduct city business?”

“Personal email for city business? No,” he replied. “I do not do personal email for city business.”

He did not respond to the question about Signal or other apps.

BOE Discussion

Scott’s remarks about not using his city email came amid a lively discussion among BOE members last Wednesday about the security of the city’s communication system.

Council President Zeke Cohen was addressing the issue of privacy when Scott jumped in to make his blunt remarks with a straightforward face (as can be seen on this Charm TV video clip):

“I want to be sure I’m not in the mayor’s emails,” Cohen says. “The mayor’s not in my emails. My colleagues only have access to what they need access to.”

“Mr. President, you can have my email because there’s no emails there,” Scott declares. “That’s the only way to protect your email, is not to email.”

The issue has been at the center of a controversy that has roiled City Hall since January, when Scott cut off Baltimore Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming’s access to city records, saying a member of her office “had gained unapproved and unfettered access” to confidential work-product and communications.

Cumming denied the charge and filed a lawsuit to regain her office’s longstanding access to the city’s servers.

Her lawsuit has prevailed in Baltimore Circuit Court, indicating that whatever mode of communication is being used, Scott and his aides cannot count on their emails being sheltered from scrutiny during an investigation by the IG office for potential waste, fraud or financial abuse.

Alluding to this, Cumming said in a brief public statement today that, “In Maryland, if you’re talking work, regardless of the platform, it could be subject to the MPIA” or Maryland Public Information Act.