By Chris McCormick
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore City Council on Monday introduced two charter amendments that would make it easier to remove elected officials from office while also professionalizing how city government is operated.
The amendments, which were both assigned to the council’s Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee, came just days before Mayor Catherine Pugh announced through her attorney today that she will resign. She has been on a leave of absence since April 1 for medical reasons.
The first charter amendment would create a mechanism for removing the mayor from office. No such mechanism exists today. The second charter proposal would create a professional city administrator to run the day-to-day operations of the local government. The mayor is currently responsible for those activities.
Both measures would have to eventually go before the voters because they involve changes to the charter, the document that establishes how the city government operates.
Council member Kristerfer Burnett said during the meeting that the proposals are “not about the current situation,” adding that “it’s about a rebalancing of power in the city government.”
However, the measures are being introduced as Pugh is being investigated by the FBI, the IRS and the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor in part over her no-bid contract to sell her “Healthy Holly” book to the Maryland Medical System at the same time that she was serving on the organization’s board of directors.
Pugh’s lawyer has called a press conference for today, where she is expected to resign.
The charter amendment was endorsed by all 14 council members and was led by Burnett.
It seeks to expand the political positions that can be subject to impeachment, including the mayor’s office.
“This body is the legislative branch,” Burnett said. “We should have all the tools necessary to hold the executive branch and administration accountable.”
“This [bill] is something that we hope we never have to use because we hope to move forward as a city that is more transparent to the voters of Baltimore City,” Burnett added.
The council also introduced another charter amendment that would establish an appointed city administrator to run the daily operations of the municipal government.
“We can no longer afford to have our mayor, no matter whom it is, to be worried about both high-level executive and the day-to-day minutiae of city government,” said Council member Brandon M. Scott, one of eight council members who sponsored the legislation.
The city needs to have a professional run the day-to-day operations of the city and allow the mayor to focus on the larger duties such as reducing crime, improving public schools and attracting businesses, Scott said.
“We have to join the rest of the world and the cities across the country and separate those duties,” Scott said.
Both amendments will be further discussed by the Judiciary and Legislative Investigations Committee and the Baltimore City Council before putting them before the public in a referendum, most likely in 2020.
At the end of the meeting during the general announcements, Scott and several other council members called for a moment of silence to honor the shooting victims of the Poway Synagogue and the 91 homicide victims of Baltimore City this year.
“This disease of gun violence is spreading and impacting way too many of us,” Scott said. “We have to get serious about tackling it.”
Councilman Ryan Dorsey echoed those remarks and talked about fighting the opioid epidemic while sharing his experience as a recovering alcoholic and drug user.