In a major shake-up at City Hall, new chiefs were announced Friday for three key Baltimore agencies.
Public Works Director David E. Scott said he was asked to resign because of a "difference of opinion" with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake's administration and that his abrupt departure has created instability in the department.
Col. Alfred H. Foxx Jr., 57, who has headed the Transportation Department for a decade, will take the helm of Public Works. Khalil A. Zaied, head of the Department of General Services, will fill Foxx's former post. Ted Atwood, 58, deputy director of general services, will rise to the agency's top position.
Scott, an appointee of Mayor Sheila Dixon, was pushed to step down after Kishia L. Powell, who had many allies at City Hall, resigned recently as the chief of water and wastewater.
"I was in a position where I had to run my agency, and there was just a difference of opinion," Scott said. "I serve at the pleasure of the mayor, and at any time the mayor could just say, 'We're not seeing eye to eye.'"
He said Powell resigned about two weeks ago after they had a dispute about leadership styles.
"I was concerned that … many division chiefs were departing under her leadership, causing a lot of strain on the organization," Scott said.
In his new role, Foxx will supervise a department with a $382 million operating budget and become one of the five members of the Board of Estimates, which controls city spending.
Foxx, a veteran of the first Persian Gulf war, held a high-ranking position with the Army Corps of Engineers before being chosen to head the city's new Transportation Department in 2001. He has a degree in building construction and graduated from the Army's Command and General Staff College.
Foxx's experience will likely come up during confirmation hearings before the City Council. Under the city charter, the public works director is required to have 10 years' experience as an engineer or "substantial administrative experience in the construction and maintenance of public works."
As transportation director, Foxx has supervised an intensive effort to repave city roads in the past three years and, after numerous delays, launched the Charm City Circulator, a free shuttle connecting popular neighborhoods. He also oversaw snow-removal efforts during February's historic storms.
But his tenure has not been without controversy. Foxx raised eyebrows when he accompanied his adult sons to a city vehicle auction. Transportation officials are prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in the auctions of vehicles seized by the city. At the time, Foxx said that he was "walking around" and was "not part of the bid process."
Zaied, the new transportation chief, worked for that department from 1998 to 2006, when he took a position supervising design and construction for city schools. He has supervised the Department of General Services, which oversees maintenance of city buildings and vehicles, since 2008.
Councilman Robert W. Curran said he had an "extremely high level of confidence" in Zaied, who supervised the Harford Road streetscape program in Curran's Northeast Baltimore district.
Scott is the latest high-profile official to leave city government since Rawlings-Blake's ascension to mayor in February after Dixon's resignation as part of a plea agreement in her corruption trial.
Deputy Mayor Salima S. Marriott left in February and Andrew B. Frank, first deputy mayor for economic development, took a job with the Johns Hopkins University in May. Diane Glauber left the helm of Homeless Services, and Janie McCullough has stepped down from the Commission on Aging.
Scott, who served as a top aide when Martin O'Malley was mayor, led the transition to the "One Plus One" weekly pickups of recycling and garbage. He said he had several "major initiatives" under way, including creating a dedicated revenue stream for solid-waste pickup and increasing regional cooperation on water resources.
"I am truly concerned for the stability of the organization," Scott said. "I really think we had a lot more to do here. Our work wasn't done."
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