It is getting harder and harder to watch what’s happening in Baltimore without feeling a genuine sense of outrage. At a time when the Department of Public Works (DPW) is struggling to keep the city’s aging sewage system from collapsing, the Mayor’s brilliant plan is to fire 144 workers who actually do the heavy lifting. But don’t worry, he’s not cutting the budget everywhere. While 144 blue-collar roles are being axed, Scott is making room to hire 16 new “friends” for his own office.
Cutting the Muscle, Keeping the Fat
Stancil McNair, the union president who represents these DPW workers, hit the nail on the head when he called this move “distasteful.” Baltimore has been under a federal consent decree for 25 years because the sewage system is a disaster. We’ve already missed deadlines and begged the feds for more time. So, what’s the Mayor’s move? He’s cutting nearly 150 jobs.
The city tries to dress this up in fancy language, calling it a shift to “modern, specialized roles.” But anyone with eyes can see through that. It’s the definition of a scam: telling the public you’re “restructuring” for efficiency while actually gutting the frontline staff who fix the leaks just so you can afford more bureaucracy. As McNair rightly asked, when you take away the people who operate the system, what exactly is left of the operation?
A Mayor’s Office That Just Won’t Stop Growing
While the rest of the city is told to tighten its belt and deal with overflowing sewage, the Mayor’s office is expanding like it’s on steroids. With these 16 new roles, Scott’s personal staff will hit a record 134 people.
To put that in perspective: a decade ago, the Mayor’s office had 39 people. Today, Brandon Scott has more staffers than the Governor of Maryland and the mayors of Los Angeles or Philadelphia, cities that are massive compared to Baltimore. Even if the argument is that an assistant is the one pushing for more recruitment, it only proves the scam is deeper than we thought. If an assistant is building a “shadow government” of 16 new staffers while 144 essential workers are fired, it shows the Mayor has completely lost control of his priorities.
Whether it’s the Mayor or an unelected assistant pulling the strings, the result is the same: the people doing the hard work get fired, and the people sitting in air-conditioned offices get more help. It’s a massive payroll grab that prioritizes political loyalists over the people who actually keep the lights on and the water running.
The Real Brandon Scott
Brandon Scott is a “bad fit” for this city. While he’s firing utility workers, he’s been busy spending taxpayer money like it’s his personal inheritance. One of the biggest slaps in the face is his new city-issued $163,000 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It’s the most expensive vehicle assigned to any leader in Maryland, costing twice as much as the Governor’s SUV.
It doesn’t stop at cars. An Inspector General report recently exposed that his administration blew over $800,000 on food, flowers, and lavish parties. We’re talking $52,000 on high-end catering and drinks inside stadium skyboxes while the average resident struggles to pay their water bill. They even used public funds for staff birthday flowers and a mayoral baby shower. It’s the peak of hypocrisy, preaching equity to the cameras while living like royalty on the public’s dime.
Time to Face the Music
To make matters worse, Scott is currently fighting a legal battle to block the City’s Inspector General from investigating potential fraud within his own programs. He’s expanding his staff to record levels while trying to shut down the people meant to keep him honest.
The people of Baltimore deserve a Mayor who cares more about fixing the sewers than hiring more office buddies and buying luxury SUVs. When you fire 144 workers to hire 16 more friends, regardless of which assistant is asking for them, and you spend $800k on parties while the city’s infrastructure fails, you have lost the right to lead. The Mayor’s scam has gone on long enough. Brandon Scott needs to resign.
