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Politicsby Fern Shen3:00 pmAug 21, 20200

Michael Braverman is out as Baltimore housing commissioner

Alice Kennedy will serve as acting housing commissioner, a spokesman for Mayor Young said

Above: Housing Commissioner Michael Braverman with affordable housing advocates at a meeting in 2019. (Mark Reutter)

Michael Braverman, whose career in city government spans multiple roles over three decades, is out as city housing commissioner.

Alice Kennedy is Acting Housing Commissioner, James E. Bentley II, a spokesman for Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, said.

Bentley declined to discuss the reasons for the move, saying “we don’t discuss personnel matters.”

Another high-level housing official, deputy commissioner Reginald Scriber, left last month, sources tell The Brew. Scriber left in July. Bentley had no information on his departure.

Asked if any other high-level departures to disclose, Bentley said “Nothing else at this time.”

Braverman assumed the role of interim housing commissioner in 2016 after then-Mayor Catherine Pugh fired his embattled predecessor, Paul Graziano.

At the time, the city’s housing commissioner was charged with overseeing both the federal Housing Authority of Baltimore City and the city’s Department of Housing and Community Development.

The housing authority operated public housing units in the city, while the city side of the agency focuses on enforcing housing code violations and tearing down vacant properties.

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In June 2017, Pugh fulfilled a campaign promise to split the entity in two, making Braverman the director of the Department of Housing and Community Development.

The job is one of the highest paying in city government. Last year, Braverman collected $201,869, according to city records.

A lawyer admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1986, Braverman previously worked as a city prosecutor, director of code enforcement’s legal team and as deputy commissioner of permits and code enforcement.

Mark Reutter contributed to this story.


To reach the reporters: fern.shen@baltimorebrew.com or reuttermark@yahoo.com

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