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Baltimore City Council committee votes down Mayor Scott's pick for administrator

Baltimore City Council committee votes down Mayor Scott's pick for administrator
Baltimore City Council committee votes down Mayor Scott's pick for administrator 00:32

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City Council members voted against confirming acting City Administrator Faith Leach during a hearing on Thursday, according to WJZ's media partner the Baltimore Banner.

But the votes against confirming Leach was less about her ability to lead and more about the leadership of Mayor Brandon Scott, the Baltimore Banner reports.

Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton told Leach that she didn't understand the position of a city administrator, according to the Baltimore Banner.

Leach and fellow Rules and Legislative Oversight committee members Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer, Mark Conway and Eric Costello voted "no."

Leach will remain in the position of acting city administrator while Councilwoman Odette Ramos moves toward calling a new confirmation hearing before the entire council, according to Scott aide Marvin James.

Scott introduced a law when he was the president of the Baltimore City Council requiring the council to approve the mayor's pick for city administrator, the Baltimore Banner Reports.

The city administrator oversees the city's operations from recycling to payroll, according to the Baltimore Banner. 

Ramos pushed back against her peers during the meeting, informing them that members of the committee should be voting on Leach's leadership and not the confusion created by an office "that we're all still trying to navigate," the Baltimore Banner reports.

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