BALTIMORE _ The Baltimore inspector general found that the first WorkBaltimore job fair _ held at the convention center last fall to fanfare from Mayor Catherine Pugh _ cost $425,000 and diverted city employees from their regular duties, yet officials could not say how effective it was at helping residents find jobs.
That is one of the findings of a scathing investigation into the city's Department of Human Resources.
Investigators also found the department took a $100,000 loan from the city's Innovation Fund to help pay for the Sept. 27, 2017, job fair, but had not repaid the money a year later as it was supposed to.
After interviewing more than 40 witnesses, Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming also reported on what employees called a "culture of fear" stoked by leaders at the department, which handles human resources for city agencies. The resulting poor morale and productivity had the potential to reverberate through other departments, investigators said.
The inspector general's office issued an interim report in late July to city officials. Mary Talley, the city's human resources director, resigned soon afterward. Earning $202,000 last year, Talley had been one of the city's best-paid employees. She declined to comment.
A spokesman for Pugh was not available to comment.
The first WorkBaltimore job fair was one of Pugh's signature efforts to get city residents jobs.
"This convention is more than a job fair _ it's a platform for local employers who are actively hiring to connect with and discover the great talent that exists within our city," Pugh wrote in her weekly newsletter before of the first convention. "When it comes to moving Baltimore forward, residents are the ones we're seeking to invigorate our city, and my goal is to ensure that every resident who has a desire to work knows how to access great career and training opportunities."
The inspector general found numerous problems with the way the inaugural fair was put together; it did not address the two-day 2018 version.
Human resources employees criticized the time and money put into organizing the initial job fair, according to the report. Some employees spent 10 or more hours a week on it, investigators found, "leaving them with inadequate time to complete their basic job functions." Others were pulled from their regular duties altogether.
The job fair's $425,000 cost was covered by private donations and sponsorships, money from the department's budget and the $100,000 loan from the Innovation Fund. The fund is designed to support itself by backing ideas that ultimately save the city money. Loan recipients are supposed to repay the money within a year, but the human resources department has not done so.
The inspector general reported that there was not enough information available to know whether the fair's cost was justified or how "successful the event was at securing employment for city residents."
