Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh is refusing to resign over a scandal surrounding children’s books she authored despite a unanimous call from the city council for her to step down
“The entire membership of the Baltimore City Council believes that it is not in the best interest of the City of Baltimore for you to continue to serve as Mayor,” the 14 council members wrote to Pugh on Monday. “We urge you to tender your resignation, effective immediately.”
Pugh’s troubles began last month when the Baltimore Sun reported that, while serving on the University of Maryland Medical System board of directors, Pugh arranged deals beginning in 2001 to sell 100,000 copies of her “Healthy Holly” series to the medical system at a total cost of $500,000. While the books teach children the importance of diet and exercise, there were no competitive bids for the deal, and Pugh resigned from the board last month.
Baltimore’s city charter doesn’t state how a mayor can be removed, meaning it could be impossible to evict Pugh from office without a conviction or guilty plea. Councilman Ryan Dorsey is among those urging the Maryland General Assembly to amend the state’s constitution or city charter to allow for a mechanism to remove Pugh. On Sunday, one of Pugh’s top aides stepped down because of the scandal.
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