Outgoing Department of Public Works Director Jason Mitchell said the job “began to compromise who” he was “as a man and as a professional" in a meeting after he submitted his resignation, according to an audio recording obtained exclusively by FOX45 News.
From a state take-over of a water treatment plant and inconsistent water billing to an E.coli water contamination crisis over the Labor Day weekend in 2022 and recycling pickup problems, the embattled department has been plagued with problems for months.
On Jan. 9, Mitchell submitted his letter of resignation, citing family health concerns for his decision, and said he would stay on the job through April 28. The resignation came hours after some members of the Baltimore City Council called on Mitchell to restore weekly recycling picking within eight weeks or resign.
Mayor Brandon Scott said he accepted Mitchell’s resignation “with deep regret” and thanked the leader for his service to Baltimore.
“Under his leadership, DPW has developed and implemented innovative plans to improve the services of which the people of Baltimore rely,” Mayor Scott said via statement. “While we will miss his contributions to the agency, we fully support his decision to prioritize his family at this time.”
After he submitted the resignation, Mitchell apparently held the meeting. Audio obtained by FOX45 News indicates Mitchell “felt free” after he submitted the resignation letter and he had enough with the agency.
“I’ve never woken up with such, over the last 18 months, with such a sigh of relief. That is what my conscious told me I needed. This agency, this city, began to compromise who I was as a man and as a professional,” Mitchell can be heard saying on the audio recording. “I woke up today and felt free. I don’t feel oppressed any longer. I don’t feel enslaved.”
Blair Adams, communications director for DPW, told FOX45 News via email the agency would not “engage with questions related to a non-consensual recording.”
“Dr. Mitchell is a valued public servant, and we continue to be grateful for his service to the City and this agency,” Adams continued in the statement.
John Dedie, a political analyst, said given the frustration from Mitchell evident from the recording, Mayor Brandon Scott should make a change now.
“If I was Mayor Scott after finding this out, you have to push up his date for leaving to like, today,” Dedie said. “You can’t have someone walking around the office grumbling.”
On Jan. 16, FOX45 News questioned Mitchell about his resignation and asked if the decision to leave the position had come at the request of Mayor Brandon Scott or was related to the pressure he was under from some members of the City Council.
“I’ve got some serious health issues with someone in my family that I need to attend to. They’re life and death and I think that’s the gist of it,” Mitchell said.
FOX45 News had an interview scheduled with Mitchell on Jan. 19 – which had been rescheduled already – but a spokesperson for DPW told FOX45 News on Jan. 18 the interview needed to be canceled, “due to unforeseen scheduling conflicts” and they would reach out to reschedule.