Members of the Baltimore City Council heard a barrage of concern, frustration and outright opposition to the mayorās selection of Joel Fitzgerald as police commissioner when the public had its first chance to weigh in on his nomination Saturday.
Dozens of residents filed up to the microphone in the City Hall council chambers to testify before the councilās executive appointments committee. They urged council members to, at a minimum, subject Fitzgerald to more scrutiny. Some suggested rejecting the nomination and forcing the mayor to start the selection process over.
Business owner Beth Hawks testified about the violence she sees in her community and said she thought Fitzgerald, the police chief in Fort Worth, Texas, would be a ādisaster.ā
āI beg you please do not confirm Joel Fitzgerald,ā Hawks said.
Speakers said they had concerns about Fitzgeraldās handling of a brutality case in Fort Worth and the overstated accomplishments on his resume. Others criticized the secrecy of the hiring process and Fitzgeraldās seeming reluctance to share information with council members.
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund, a civil rights organization, called on Mayor Catherine Pugh to withdraw Fitzgeraldās nomination, pointing to those same concerns in a letter sent to council members Saturday.
Fitzgerald did not attend the hearing.
Robert Stokes, chairman of the committee that held the hearing, said Fitzgerald had agreed to come but had to cancel because his son suffered a medical emergency. Senior members of the mayorās team watched the proceedings in the council chambers.
Stokes characterized the public testimony as āvery negativeā and said it was unclear whether Fitzgeraldās own testimony could overcome it. Stokes said he hadnāt made his mind up on which way he would vote but based on what heād heard so far, āitās not good.ā
Councilman Zeke Cohen, one of five committee members, said he would vote ānoā on Fitzgerald. Cohen said that could change if there were meaningful opportunities for the public to get to know him.
āOur community has some deep concerns about this nominee,ā Cohen said. āHe needs to be here.ā
Fitzgerald has opted to continue in his job in Fort Worth and has spent little time in Baltimore since being nominated in November. Before his sonās emergency, this weekend was to be a critical one for Fitzgerald, with community meetings. Fitzgerald was scheduled to be interviewed publicly before the council on Monday evening, which Stokes confirmed had been canceled.
Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, another committee member, said he wouldnāt make up his mind about Fitzgerald until the nomination process had played out, but said he shared the concerns the public raised Saturday.
āThere hasnāt been much positive come out about his background and tenure in other cities,ā Burnett said.
Itās not clear what the next steps for Fitzgeraldās confirmation will be. The committee was expected to vote in the coming week, with a final vote of the whole council on Jan. 14. The council must vote at its Jan. 28 meeting or Fitzgeraldās nomination will automatically be confirmed.
Mary Pat Clarke, a member of the committee, said Fitzgerald had a lot of work to do to build relationships, but the deadline āis looming,ā despite Fitzgeraldās family crisis.
āLetās take a deep breath and see where we are next week,ā she said.
Karen Stokes, the mayorās lead lobbyist and one of the aides who attended the hearing, declined to comment on the testimony.
āIt sort of speaks for itself, I think,ā she said.
Former stateās attorney candidate Thiru Vignarajah told council members that Fitzgerald made a mistake staying in Texas and āsquandered an opportunity to meet community and faith leaders, learn neighborhoods, to allay concerns.ā
The council members got a sense of what those who know and like Fitzgerald would say when retired Philadelphia police officer Anthony Floyd Jr. testified. Floyd said he had read about the hearing in the newspaper that morning and drove from Delaware to attend.
Floyd said that given his extensive experience in Philadelphia as a narcotics officer, Fitzgerald was āprofoundly qualified.ā
"He knows the number one problem in any major city in the United States is drugs,ā he said. āThereās a direct nexus between drugs and what? Guns.ā
But in the first two hours of public comments Saturday before the committee broke for part of the afternoon, just one speaker from Baltimore suggested the council approve Fitzgeraldās nomination.
Retired business owner Glord McGuire said Fitzgerald ought to be given a chance.
āHopefully he comes, we have open arms and we can support him as much as we can,ā McGuire said.
Stokes, the committee chairman, said he counted 51 witnesses and said just three supported Fitzgerald.
The dozens of others expressed their concerns and opposition, with many calling for a commissioner with a track record in Baltimore. One proposed installing a civilian to the job. Another suggested the position be elected.
Machine operator William Washington urged the council to reset the process of finding a commissioner.
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āStart a process where public input plays a role so the community has buy in, has a stake,ā Washington said.