Following director’s path, chief of staff at Baltimore DOT exits
Patrick Fleming is shown the door at a transportation department plagued by poor performance and heavy staff turnover
Above: DOT Director Veronica Perry testifies at a City Council budget hearing last June. To her right are Deputy Director Brandon Buckner and Chief of Staff Patrick Fleming. (DOT)
In the wake of the resignation of Baltimore Department of Transportation leader Veronica C. Perry, the agency’s chief of staff, Patrick A. Fleming, has left, sources tell The Brew.
His city email was listed yesterday as disabled.
Fleming’s career at DOT – and that of his mentor – is illustrative of the heavy turnover of top staff at the agency.
Both Fleming and Perry previously worked for DOT, he as senior legislative affairs director and she as transit bureau chief.
They left separately during the regime of Michelle Pourciau, who resigned in 2019 shortly before an inspector general report documented the toxic work environment under her leadership.
When Perry (then Veronica P. McBeth) was hired back as DOT director in 2025, which came after the abrupt resignation of Corren Johnson after 17 months as director, Perry appointed Fleming as her top aide.
Fleming was then director of emergency preparedness for Frederick County. He had earlier worked at the University of Maryland Center for Health and Homeland Security and for the Maryland State Department of Education.
Patrick Fleming is no longer DOT chief of staff. (LinkedIn)
Blown Deadlines
Fleming’s 16 months as COS coincided with the Scott administration’s growing frustration with the lack of progress in the department’s street resurfacing program, recently dubbed “Repave Baltimore,” and “Vision Zero Action Plan.”
In 2025, Perry and Mayor Brandon Scott announced plans to resurface 110 lane miles (a 50% increase over the previous year), step up sidewalk repairs, re-strip faded lane and crosswalk markings, and build curb ramps as part of a consent decree to meet the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
In all, $94 million in state Highway User Revenue (HUR) funding was allocated for capital projects. But within months it was clear that the program far behind schedule and, at year’s end, just 31% of the repaving goal had been reached, according to the Baltimore Banner.
There have been seven DOT directors, acting directors or interim directors in the last seven years.
The “Vision Zero Action Plan” is an effort to guide future infrastructure building to reduce and ultimately eliminate fatalities and serious injuries on roadways in Baltimore City.
“The completion of this action plan will mark the end of Toward Zero Baltimore and the beginning of Vision Zero Baltimore,” the agency promised. The plan is still in draft form.
Over the last seven years, there have been seven DOT directors, acting directors or interim directors – Pourciau, Frank Murphy, Steven Sharkey, Corren Johnson, Veobia Akilo, Perry and now Berke Attila, moved from General Services to become interim DOT director.
Repave Baltimore is promoted on the city website using the former name of DOT’s former director. (baltimorecity.gov)
“What the F-” Attitude
Other resignations and retirements are expected in the near future, three informed sources told The Brew.
“This entire department is imploding,” said one. “The city, the people are going to be the losers because they’re [DOT] not going to be able to keep up with grant deadlines and meeting basic benchmarks.”
Said another source, who also requested anonymity to avoid retaliation:
“There’s been a lot of directives put out about fixing [DOT], getting it out of its silos and the ‘what the f-‘ attitude of many divisions. It looks like the mayor’s office has finally decided to take the matter seriously.”
Fleming could not be reached for comment.
• Two top Baltimore officials resign from the Scott administration (8/19/26)
• DOT deputy director is sacked as agency copes with construction delays (6/24/25)