At $150 an hour, Harford County CPA Steven Wright earned about $100,000 for less than six months of work for the city of Aberdeen as a consultant, according to invoices provided by the city to The Examiner.
City officials have said that in light of a questionable budget inherited from the administration of former Mayor Doug Wilson, the hiring of Wright was “a good investment,” regardless of ties Wright has to present Mayor S. Fred Simmons. Wright?s hiring was not part of a bidding process, nor was his hiring officially voted on by the council.
Simmons said that he is business partners with Wright at the Aldino Airport in Churchville, and that Wright was his campaign treasurer, but he denied that he was responsible for Wright being hired to audit the city budget in the face of an approximate $2 million deficit.
“I had some reservations about it,” Simmons said, given his relationship with Wright, but after Wright met with Councilmembers Mike Hiob and Ruth Elliott, it was agreed that Wright was the right person for the job.
“There wasn?t anything shady or illegal about it,” Simmons said.
He added that he did not think city law required the position to be put out for bid. Simmons said Wright was hired by the city based on his experience and the fact that time was an issue.
“It was a good investment,” said Kupferman during a recent interview with The Examiner. “After I came into office, [then-Aberdeen Director of Finance] Frank Bitzelberger told me it would take two years for me to dissect the budget.”
Under Wilson?s administration, Bitzelberger was moving money from one fund to another to make up for shortfalls, Simmons said.
Bitzelberger has said this was true, but there is nothing illegal or improper about moving money around in a budget.
Due to the Maryland Municipal League convention in Ocean City, Yensan, Elliott and Hiob could not be reached for comment Monday.
Wright did not respond to requests for comment.
