Baltimore's deputy transportation chief, Anthony P. Wallnofer Jr., resigned Tuesday, just days after the city inspector general completed an investigation into his relationship with a private towing company that bought a boat on his behalf at a city auction. Mr. Wallnofer was accused of violating departmental rules that he himself wrote prohibiting top agency officials from acquiring vehicles or vessels at city auctions.
We fully agree with First Deputy Mayor Andrew Frank, who called Mr. Wallnofer's departure "the right decision." But Mayor Sheila Dixon, who praised Mr. Wallnofer as an "extraordinary" city employee, got it all wrong when she declined to release the inspector general's report on the flimsy grounds that his case was merely a "personnel matter." Any time the city launches an investigation involving charges of possible wrongdoing by its officials, it's also the public's business, and the public has a right to know the results.
