Hide Transcript Show Transcript

QUESTION, HOW LONG CAN A MAYOR STAY ON LEAVE? IT IS WEEK FOUR OF MAYOR CATHERINE PUGH’S LEAVE. SHE ANNOUNCED SHE WAS TAKING IT APRIL ONE TO RECOVER FROM PNEUMONIA. SHE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION FOR HER BOOK DEALS THROUGH HER COMPANY HEALTHY HOLLY LLC. ADDRESSING OFTEN ASKED QUESTIONS, THE CITY SOLICITOR SAID THE CITY CHARTER IS SILENT ON THE ISSUE OF HOW LONG A MAYOR CAN TAKE LEAVE AND STILL HOLD THE JOB. >> I WILL BE CONSULTING WITH LEADERSHIP IN THE CITY AS THE CITY’S LAWYER TO THINK ABOUT WHAT OPTIONS THERE ARE. AS FARCE THE CHARTER IS CONCERNED. SILENT. JAYNE: THE ACTING MAYOR WAS QUOTED THAT HE WOULD HATE TO SEE THE MIRROR RETURN TO WORK. HE SAID THAT WOULD BE OUT OF CONTEXT. HE SAID HE WOULD HATE TO SEE THE REACTION WHEN SHE RETURNED. >> BECAUSE OF THE GROUNDSWELL ASKING HER TO RESIGN, IT WOULD BE DEVASTATING FOR HER. I WOULD NOT WANT TO SEE HER FEELINGS HURT. THAT IS TOUGH. SO I WILL LEAVE IT AT THAT. JAYNE: THE ACTING MAYOR HAS TERMINATED THREE AIDES. ALL THREE HAVE TIES TO A NONPROFIT FOUNDED BY THE MERE. THE REASONS WERE GIVEN. THE BOARD OF ESTIMATES DELAYED AWARDING A CONTRACT TO ASSOCIATED BLACK CHARITIES TO ADMINISTER FEDERAL AIDS FUNDING. THEY TOOK DONATIONS FROM BUSINESS PEOPLE AND SPENT MOST OF THE MONEY TO BUY HER BOOKS. YOUNG CITED AN ATTEMPT TO BE TRANSPARENT. >> ANYTHING THAT IS DEALING WITH WHAT THEY CALL THE HOLLY THING, WE WANT TO BRING IT, THAT IT BEFORE THE PUBLIC AREA THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO. >> A SPOKESPERSON SAID THE CHARITY HAS NOW COMMENT TONIGHT AS IT DOES NOT HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THE BOARD’S DECISION.

Advertisement 3 top Pugh aides receive termination letters Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Three top aides to Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh who were put on paid leave have received termination letters, and a charity again gets flagged while seeking city funding.Ex-Officio Mayor Jack Young confirmed Wednesday that Gary Brown Jr., Poetri Deal and Afra Vance-White are the three aides who received termination letters. No reason was given for their termination. They are at-will employees.The three were put on paid leave April 10 as part of a personnel matter.Brown, Vance-White and Deal were listed as board members of the nonprofit Maryland Center for Adult Training, which previously operated under a different name and was once chaired by Pugh.MCAT received more than $75,000 in city funding since 2016, and has another $20,000 pledged for this fiscal year.The Board of Estimates put on hold Wednesday a $14 million fee to Associated Black Charities to administer federal AIDS funding. ABC took donations from insurance firms and business people, then spent most of the money to buy Pugh's books.A spokesman for ABC told 11 News, "ABC has received no information from the city about the Board of Estimates' action and thus has no comment."Young said he's trying to be transparent and that he has no issue with the charity."Anything that is dealing with the Holly thing, we are going to vet it before the public, that's just what I want to do so everyone can see things are fair and square," Young said.Also Wednesday, Young clarified his comments on whether Pugh should return to City Hall. Young said comments he was quoted as making Tuesday that he would hate to see Pugh return to work were out of context. What he meant was he would hate to see the reaction, Young said Wednesday."Because of all the groundswell of asking her to resign, I mean, it would be devastating for her. I wouldn't want to see her feelings hurt. I mean that's tough. I will leave it at that," Young said.Pugh has been on leave since April 1 to recover from pneumonia. She is under investigation for her dealings through her company Healthy Holly LLC, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars for children's books that have limited public accounting.City Solicitor Andre Davis said Wednesday that the city charter is silent on issues related to the terms of a mayor's leave."The charter itself is utterly silent on how long a leave can last, the reasons for a leave. There's just nothing in the charter to address that," Davis said.Also Wednesday, a new citation has been issued against Pugh's house for having the wrong roof that doesn't comply with codes in an historic district.