Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh Not 'Lucid' Enough To Make Decision About Resignation, Attorney Says
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh continued to stay out of the spotlight Thursday, as federal agents raided her homes and several businesses.
Pugh was home at the time the FBI and IRS began their raid around 7 a.m. After the feds left, Pugh met with her legal team.
An earlier report said she may have been trying to get out of town, but attorney Steve Silverman spoke to WJZ outside her home Thursday and said the mayor is physically ill and emotionally saddened. He said she apologized for letting down the people of Baltimore with any appearance of wrongdoing.
However Silverman did not address whether Pugh would resign, only saying he was discussing her options with her.
According to Silverman, Pugh is not mentally or physically able to make any decisions.
"She just needs to be physically and mentally sound and lucid enough to make appropriate decisions," he said.
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Neighbors tell WJZ they haven't seen her in weeks. They believe she splits her time between two homes in Baltimore.
Michelle Hopkins is from Park Heights, where the Maryland Center for Adult Training was raided by FBI agents Thursday morning.
"Until you get regular people in there that's gonna do their job the right way, then that's when our city is gonna get it right.
They joined several city and state officials to call for her resignation.
"I'm glad she's gone, I hope she do go," said Penn North resident Marcus Alston.
"I think she should resign," said Libby Cole.
The city is now into the fourth week of Pugh on indefinite leave and silence is surrounding Baltimore's top offices. Pugh's aides have gone silent on status updates, declining to comment on her health this week- as questions linger on when, or if, she plans to return to work.
Meanwhile, dominos continue to fall inside Baltimore City Hall on Tuesday, as acting Mayor Jack Young stayed tight-lipped on his recent decision to place a seventh Pugh staffer on leave of absence.
"I'm committed to stabilizing the city and moving forward, and any changes I need to make, I will make them," Young said.
The move heightens questions still surrounding Mayor Pugh's lucrative Healthy Holly book deals with UMMS that coincided with her own indefinite leave as she battles pneumonia.
In an interview with WYPR on Tuesday, the acting mayor Jack Young said, "I haven't spoken to her in two and a half weeks. I haven't heard from her. I have no idea other than what I read in the paper,"
Two online petitions also pressure Pugh to step down, including one led by state Republican Party official Tony Campbell.
Young has not said whether he thinks Mayor Pugh should resign.
"It is embarrassing for the city of Baltimore, it's embarrassing we're on the national news for this whole episode I would call it," Young said Thursday.
The City Council passed new ethics laws Monday night, including one that deals with financial disclosures.
