Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon named David E. Scott the city's new public works director yesterday. Scott, 47, public works commissioner in Atlanta, will replace George L. Winfield, who died late last year. Scott is to arrive in Baltimore in March. His appointment is expected to be voted on by the City Council at a hearing that has not been scheduled.

"I look forward to joining the City Hall staff and the Dixon administration," Scott said after the mayor's announcement of his appointment at the weekly Board of Estimates meeting.

Scott, who grew up in Baltimore County, had worked for the city's Public Works Department and was deputy mayor for operations when Gov. Martin O'Malley was mayor, according to information provided by Dixon's office. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"It is an honor to bring David Scott back home to Baltimore," Dixon said in a statement. "He has large shoes to fill, but I am confident that he will carry on Mr. Winfield's legacy of providing efficient and customer-friendly public services."

Baltimore's Public Works Department has an annual budget of about $438 million.

In Atlanta, Scott manages more than 900 employees in a department that serves more than 90,000 households and 676,000 daytime commuters.

He oversees solid-waste disposal, transportation and fleet services, with an annual operating budget of $80 million, a news release said.