Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore’s college of public affairs, said if the council wants Pugh gone, its power lies in the ability to apply pressure. One way the members could do that is to ask the city’s inspector general to investigate. That is a step Dorsey and Councilwoman Shannon Sneed have already taken; they want Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming to examine how a $48 million contract was awarded to Kaiser Permanente to provide health benefits to city workers. While Kaiser was seeking the contract, the health provider paid Pugh more than $100,000 to buy about 20,000 copies of her books. Pugh voted to approve that contract through the city’s spending panel, a board that she controls.