Baltimore City Council President Jack Young will lead the city while Mayor Pugh is on an indefinite leave of absence as per doctor’s orders to rest and recover from pneumonia.
At a news conference Tuesday, Young said he plans to conduct business as usual while holding down the fort until Pugh is able to return. Young was joined by city council members and other city officials. “The past few weeks have been painful and traumatizing for all of us,” said Young. “We’re going to keep this city moving, we’re going to get things done,” he said after meeting with the heads of city agencies.
Young made no promises other than he would not run for mayor in 2020.
“Everybody knows that my dream job at one time was to be mayor,” said Young. “But I found out that the president of the City Council is the best job in the world and I’m just going to do this as a placeholder. I will be running for the president of the City Council of Baltimore.” Young has served on the city council for more than two decades and was elected council president in 2010. City Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton takes over as ex-Officio President of the council while Young is acting Mayor.
Late Tuesday afternoon, Pugh’s attorney, Steven Silverman, confirmed the state prosecutor’s office has officially opened an investigation and said she looks forward to cooperating and will provide "as much information as possible to put this matter to rest."
Meanwhile, The calls are mounting for Catherine Pugh to resign as mayor. The backlash is amid concerns about her lucrative book deals with the University of Maryland Medical System and Kaiser Permanente. City Councilman Zeke Cohen wished her a speedy recovery but he says the mayor has lost the moral mandate to govern and she should fully resign from office. Councilman Ryan Dorsey says the mayor has been an embarrassment to the city, adding that government operations have not worked under her lack of leadership and vision. Dorsey says he is glad to see her step aside and is looking forward to her stepping down.
City Councilman Brandon Scott says the ethical and financial allegations involving Mayor Catherine Pugh are concerning and embarrassing for Baltimore. Scott says the city deserves a mayor who can give their full attention to the issues - most importantly the continued violence on the streets. Scott chairs the Public Safety Committee.
Governor Larry Hogan has called on the state prosecutor to investigate Pugh's sale of the Healthy Holly books to the University of Maryland Medical Center while she was a board member. In a letter to the state prosecutor, Hogan called the allegations disturbing, saying he's concerned about the UMMS sale "because it has significant continuing ties with the state and receives very substantial public funding." Pugh reportedly sold $500,000 worth of her "Healthy Holly" children's book series to UMMS. She has since resigned from the board. Kaiser Permanente said it paid $114,000 for Pugh’s books from 2015 through 2018. Comptroller Pete Franchot has also called for her resignation following that news.
Legislation to reform the University of Maryland Medical System's board of directors is moving forward in the House of Delegates. Delegates voted to advance sweeping legislation to a final vote that would reform the UMMS board amid accusations of self-dealing. The legislation would prohibit no-bid contracts for the hospital network's board members, mandate an audit of contracting practices and take all elected officials off the board. The legislation comes after the Baltimore Sun reported that several board members, including Baltimore Mayor Pugh, had deals benefiting their private businesses with the hospital system. The House is expected to have a final vote on the measure later this week.