Court employees list poor work conditions

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Court employees list poor work conditions

'I've seen rats in the cafeteria, fleas and mites in the carpet'

By Wan

Sun Staff

Baltimore Sun

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-

md.courthouse25aug25,1,4092221.story?coll=bal-local-

headlines & ctrack=1 & cset=true

Originally published August 25, 2005

Armed with pictures of mold, stories of rats and descriptions of

pungent odors permeating their workplace, Baltimore Circuit Court

employees unloaded a long list of complaints last night to City

Council members at a hearing on conditions in the two courthouse

buildings on Calvert Street.

Angel , one of about 35 employees who turned out for the

hearing, said she had developed asthma during her eight years

working in the 73-year-old Courthouse East building -- the old main

post office and federal court.

" I've seen rats in the cafeteria, fleas and mites in the carpet.

Every day, I have to wipe black stuff off my desk from the

ventilation system, " said , 33. " We don't even know what it

is. "

Some employees complained of bronchitis, others of open sores from

insects in the carpet, and a few simply said the whole place stank.

City health officials expressed support for cleaning up the

courthouses, but said that the conditions did not constitute a

health risk.

Acting Health Commissioner Francine J. Childs noted a 2001 study

that found " no serious or pervasive microbiological problems. "

Public works officials also presented a report on their efforts to

improve courthouse conditions, including increased exterminator

visits, more trash pickups, and netting draped over the buildings to

deter pigeons and their resulting mess.

But union officials representing courthouse employees came with a

report of their own, including pictures of dirty vents, skin rashes

and bats caught between the netting and windows.

One page, showing a moldy floor that employees say was insect-

infested, included this caption: " Employees, on the weekend and

their own time, removed the old carpet little by little. ... They

were literally being eaten alive. "

In addition, the state's attorney's office was told last week that

peeling paint in one room on the fourth floor had tested positive

for lead.

Many employees testified that they were tired of halfhearted

attempts by the city to solve the problems.

" A 'quick fix' for these old buildings would be like putting a patch

on a bald tire, " said M. Conaway, the clerk of the Circuit

Court. He and others have asked the city to start thinking about

building a new courthouse.

" Hotels and stadiums are luxuries. In a pinch, we can do without

them, " Conaway said. " We can't make do with a defective criminal

justice system. "

Conaway's daughter, Councilwoman Belinda K. Conaway, said she called

for last night's hearing before the Judiciary and Legislative

Investigation Committee after touring both buildings in June.

" These employees should be commended, " she said, " for coming into

work every day despite the rats, soot and mold. "

Sheriff's Sgt. Sam Cogen said the courthouse was not only filthy but

dangerous because of its layout.

" The other courthouses in land have separate corridors for

criminal defendants. In our courthouse, we have to ask people to

stand on the other side of the hall while we walk dangerous people

through the halls, " said Cogen, president of the union representing

the city sheriff's officers who guard the buildings.