The Department of Public Works - the DPW - is one of the city’s largest agencies, employing more than 2,700 people, with an annual budget of $607 million dollars. Baltimore’s DPW director also sits on the Board of Estimates. Last month, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced a leadership change at the Department of Public Works. Jason Mitchell is the assistant city administrator for Oakland, California. He will take the reins of DPW next month. When Mr. Mitchell comes to town, we will invite him to appear here on Midday, so we can meet him and ask him about how he will approach addressing the agency’s many long-standing challenges.
Tom's next guest is addressing some of those agency challenges. Marco Merrick is the Acting Chief of Equity and Environmental Justice at the Department of Public Works. He says his work pursues the unfinished mission of the late Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., who was advocating for civil rights and worker equity when he was gunned down in Memphis, 53 years ago this past Sunday. Marco Merrick joins us on Zoom.