O'Malley Taking Two More from Baltimore
Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley (D) today tapped two more trusted aides from Baltimore City Hall for senior staff positions when he moves to Annapolis in January.
O'Malley, the Baltimore mayor, announced that Peggy J. Watson, a former city finance director, and Matthew D. Gallagher, director of the mayor's CitiStat program, would serve as deputy chiefs of staff.
Watson and Gallagher will report to Michael R. Enright, O'Malley's first deputy mayor in Baltimore whom O'Malley designated as his gubernatorial chief of staff nearly two weeks ago.
In a statement, Enright called Gallagher and Watson "two of the most competent and able administrators that I have ever had the pleasure to work with."
Aides said that O'Malley will reach beyond City Hall in upcoming announcements of additional staff and Cabinet picks. Several other members of his inner circle in Baltimore are expected to move with him to Annapolis, however.
O'Malley credited Watson, who served as Baltimore's finance director from 2000 to 2005, with building the city's reserve fund from $17.3 million in 1999 to more than $56 million in 2004.
Gallagher has directed CitiStat since 1999. The management initiative uses an array of statistics to chart progress and hold city agency heads accountable.
By John Wagner |
November 29, 2006; 11:54 AM ET
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Posted by: Anonymous | November 29, 2006 1:29 PM
City council president shelia dixon will step in as Mayor until the election in 2007, she has already said she will run for Mayor next year
Posted by: baltimore dude | November 29, 2006 1:33 PM
Who is the Governor going to hire from Montgomery County which has more registered voters than there are men, women and children on the entire Eastern Shore.
Posted by: Robin Ficker | November 29, 2006 4:07 PM
Robin- I suspect the answer lies more in who in Montgomery County is going to be willing to take that massive pay cut and move to annapolis. You know as well as I do that the people of montgomery county's eyes are focused on the federal government, and their own ambitions therin and making loads of money on its fringes. The county votes democrat every election and then promptly forgets about the state government to pursue other federal pursuits.
Seems in fact with the increase in % transiency in the county that this will get worse instead of better, hell I will be honset, I grew up in Bethesda and I don't even recognize the place anymore, remember when you could head out to the great and cheap downtown restaurants there, not fight traffic and park at a meter right outside. Or when those very same restaurants were full of families, and had a homey feel. Now its like Rodeo drive over there, all full of gold chains and cologne, with no sense of community at all.
By the way, Robin you were the only non-dem I voted for, Ike whatever his name just seems like too much of a crook for me, so you did get my vote.
Keep running! you are doing a public service by at least trying to keep people honest, even if your style is too frenetic and histrionic for most.
Posted by: DCDave | November 29, 2006 4:20 PM
Well shoot, Mr. Ficker, who is the Governor going to hire from the Eastern Shore who won't head up the Department of Agriculture and isn't a suburban transplant to Kent Island, Easton or Centerville?
Posted by: Anonymous | November 29, 2006 7:43 PM
I am pleasantly surprised to read the highly intelligent, cogent comments of such fellow bloggers as D.C. Dave. By the way, I proposed suspending parking fines after 6 p.m. in Bethesda on weekends so that people could concentrate on romance, birthdays or business deals rather than their meters.
Posted by: Robin Ficker | November 30, 2006 10:57 AM
Is he going to fire all the well qualified - and experienced - Republicans in these jobs currently for purely partisan reasons the same way Ehrlich did?
Posted by: Anonymous | November 30, 2006 12:09 PM
Robin,
Who has the Gov-elect hired from the Shore? Looks like everyone is from BCity so far. And why would you care if he hires someone from the shore? Best person for the job, right?
Posted by: Anonymous | December 4, 2006 7:57 AM
The comments to this entry are closed.
This is probably a stupid question, but who is going to be Baltimore's next mayor?