During a brief, 10-minute-long meeting on Monday afternoon, a Baltimore City committee that previously rejected Mayor Brandon Scott’s nominee for city administrator Faith Leach confirmed her nomination.
The city’s Rules and Legislative Oversight Committee voted unanimously to approve Leach, who was promoted to acting city administrator for the Scott administration in January and previously worked as the deputy mayor of equity, health and human services for the city.
The tenor of the meeting was composed and relatively quiet which was a stark contrast to an otherwise explosive meeting that lasted more than two hours on March 9.
Baltimore City Council Member Sharon Green Middleton, who serves as council vice president, put forward the motion to nominate Leach.
Green Middleton said that over the weekend she had conversations with members of the Scott administration that she described as the most productive during his term so far due to “collaborations, building relationships, all things we need to do to keep our city moving.”
Green Middleton voted against confirming Leach last week.
Committee members sang praises of Leach’s competence during both meetings but some were critical of the city administrator’s position itself and a lack of communication from the Scott administration. Those concerns still remain.
“The culture of not providing great city services must change. The culture of the administration not working on a routine basis with the council must change,” said committee chair Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer. “Simply we need to get back to basics, otherwise we risk the continuing population decline we’ve seen over the years and all the negative ramifications.”
Leach accepted the confirmation.
“What you will see from me moving forward and from this administration is an administration that communicates… and that works for the betterment of this city in partnership with the members of this body,” she said.