Baltimore housing officials hired a man as a housing inspector and promoted him to a supervisory position although he had been fired by the state Department of Corrections for forging sick leave forms and convicted of more than a dozen counts of theft, according to a report released Tuesday by the city's inspector general.
Algie C. Epps worked for the city Department of Housing and Community Development for five years after he was fired by the corrections department. He was promoted to assistant superintendent of code enforcement in spite of his criminal record, according to the report by city Inspector General David McClintock.
As a housing inspector, Epps was in a "position of trust" — a job that requires a background check. There is no indication that such a check was performed until more than two years after he was hired, McClintock reported. Police advised housing officials of Epps' criminal record in 2007, McClintock reported, but he was still promoted.
McClintock wrote that hiring and promoting employees to jobs for which they lack the qualifications "harms the integrity of the Civil Service and weakens our employees' trust in the system."
The city "must not permit any department or agency to place our system in abeyance at their choosing," McClintock wrote. "To do so would permit the exercise of authority without legitimate foundation."
City Housing Commissioner Paul T. Graziano defended his department's actions, writing in a letter to McClintock that "the Agency feels that we followed the required process."
A spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake described the report as "one of many examples of City agencies working with the new Inspector General's office to root out fraud, waste and abuse in government."
Rawlings-Blake hired McClintock shortly after she became mayor last year. In her State of the City address in February, she said she would increase funding for the Office of the Inspector General and hire an additional auditor and "create a new, innovative rewards program that incentivizes reporting of fraud and abuse."
In an email, spokesman Ryan O'Doherty wrote that while the mayor "does not support discriminating against applicants for certain types of employment based solely on prior criminal history, she will never tolerate unlawful behavior by any city employee."
O'Doherty wrote that Rawlings-Blake believes all housing inspectors must undergo background checks, in accordance with city policy on positions of trust.
McClintock declined to comment.
Epps was fired from his $51,000 position in February after McClintock told housing officials he had falsified his Social Security number, birth date and middle name on an application for a certification necessary for his position. Epps could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Epps, who was a lieutenant at the Maryland House of Correction in Jessup, was convicted in 2004 of 13 counts of theft and one count of conspiracy after he was found to have submitted 13 fraudulent sick leave slips to the Division of Corrections between 1996 and 2002, according to a 2004 press release from the office of the attorney general.
Epps was granted probation before judgment, according to a spokeswoman for the attorney general. He was ordered to repay the state more than $20,000 and given a 12-month suspended sentence, two years of probation and 100 hours of community service.
His wife, Sharon Epps, who was a hospital receptionist, also was convicted of theft charges, for providing the doctor's slips.
Graziano criticized McClintock for performing a "full-scale investigation" into a matter that he said "could have been addressed in one meeting."
Graziano said city regulations specify that criminal convictions should not be the "sole basis" for turning down a job applicant for a position of trust, a category that includes jobs in which employees handle money, access to sensitive or confidential information or work with children.
Housing inspectors scrutinize both the interior and exterior of homes to determine if they meet code standards and to check for unsanitary conditions.
Epps was hired as a housing inspector in October 2005, about a year and a half after he was arrested for faking the doctors' notes. The position required two years of experience as a housing inspector, which he did not appear to have, according to a November 2010 memo from the city human resources department.
There is no record of the housing department's submitting a criminal background check for Epps, according to the memo.
Epps was also required to become certified as a special enforcement officer within a year of being hired. According to the memo, he never received the certification.
Special enforcement officers, who have powers of arrest, must pass extensive background checks. Examples of special enforcement officers include park rangers and parking control officers.
In July 2006, Epps was promoted to senior housing inspector. Again, there was no evidence that a criminal background check was performed, according to the memo.
Epps continued to apply for promotions and underwent police background checks in 2007 to gain certification as a special enforcement officer. In September 2007, police informed housing officials that Epps had been rejected for the certification due to his criminal history and because he had falsified his birth date, middle name and Social Security number on his application, according to the memo.
Epps was promoted one month later to assistant superintendent of housing inspections. According to the memo, he lacked the necessary experience for either promotion to senior housing inspector or assistant superintendent of housing inspections.
Gladys Gaskins, the city director of human resources, wrote that the case "raises a number of troublesome issues for Baltimore City and all involved administrative agencies."
"It is clear that the [housing department] was not sufficiently rigorous or knowledgeable in evaluating applications against minimum criteria or Mr. Epps would not have been given housing inspection credit for his time as a security guard or as a pest control sales agent," she wrote.
In response to McClintock's report, Graziano wrote that he would stop requiring housing inspectors to become special enforcement officers. He wrote that only members of the "Special Investigations Unit," which investigates illegal dumping, among other complaints, should be required to get the certification.
Graziano wrote that "unnecessary" background checks are "an unwelcome burden on the police department."
Housing spokeswoman Cheron Porter wrote in an email that housing inspectors "principally inspect and issue notices and citations" and do not need the arrest powers that come with special enforcement officer status. Housing inspectors still would be considered "positions of trust" and applicants would be required to undergo a background check, she wrote.
Epps was a "high-performing employee who was not terminated because he had a criminal conviction," she wrote.
Graziano wrote that managers were aware of Epps' convictions, but that he was retained due to his "overall leadership skills and abilities."
Graziano also shrugged off concerns about Epps' lack of experience.
"If the [Inspector General] had the opportunity to review applications for most entry-level positions, a varying degree of experience would probably be recognized and accepted," he wrote.
"Mr. Epps' subsequent termination has negatively impacted our operations and decreased morale among the staff that reported to him," Graziano wrote.
Graziano hinted that McClintock's investigation was sparked by complaints from a disgruntled employee: "In [the department's] opinion, the driver for the investigation came from another agency that had been for years permitting the same to occur."
He quoted Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., who said "It is revolting to have no better reason for a rule of law that that it was laid down in the time of Henry IV," especially if the conditions which merited the law "have vanished long since."
In a rebuttal, McClintock notes that the rule requiring home inspectors to become Special Enforcement Officers was implemented in 2002. Graziano was commissioner at the time.
"Clearly Mr. Holmes espouses great wisdom," wrote McClintock, "but the application falls short here."
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