Rawlings-Blake says Frank to stay on as deputy mayor 

Posted: 7:42 pm Tue, February 2, 2010
By Robbie Whelan
Daily Record Business Writer

Andrew B. Frank, a key official in the administration of Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon, and the mayor’s chief liaison to the real estate development community, will join the administration of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the incoming mayor’s office confirmed late Tuesday.

In a radio appearance Tuesday on WEAA-FM’s The Marc Steiner Show, Rawlings-Blake announced that Frank would be staying on.

“She spoke to him today and talked about what the roles would be. She’s been in communication with him for a few weeks ago, just working out the details,” said Ryan O’Doherty, Rawlings-Blake’s spokesman. “There’s going to be some changes and some tweaks. The point is that he’s going to be staying on and we’re assembling a good team in a very quick fashion.”

In an e-mail, Frank confirmed the announcement, but did not respond to  further questions about its details.

“I appreciate [Rawlings-Blake’s] confidence in my abilities to help advance her ambitious economic development agenda. I am excited about tackling challenges ahead,” he wrote.

Before being appointed to the Dixon administration, Frank was executive vice president of the Baltimore Development Corp., a quasi-public arm of city government that recommends the approval of millions of dollars in real estate deals each year.

Frank is still a member of the BDC’s board, and has typically served as the liaison between the agency and City Hall, delivering the BDC’s recommendations to the mayor and advising her on the details of projects before she signs off on them.

During his tenure he has overseen the award of the largest-ever tax increment bond issue, a $160 million infrastructure improvement package issued for developer Patrick Turner’s Westport Project, and while with the BDC oversaw the $100 million renovation of Southwest Baltimore’s Montgomery Ward building.

Frank’s appointment comes at a time when some City Council members have called for reforms in the BDC, especially those that would make the organization more transparent. Critics have pointed to no-bid contracts and closed-door meetings with private sector developers that have resulted in changes in city policy.

Dixon is scheduled to resign as mayor on Thursday after a plea deal reached last month in a criminal trial that arose from a wide-ranging investigation into her close ties with real estate developers.

Joseph R. Woolman, an attorney with J.R. Woolman LLC and a steering committee member of the Baltimore Development Workgroup, a pro-development organization, said Frank’s reappointment was a good thing for the business community.

“I think it’ll provide a smoother transition, since he understands development,” he said. “I don’t know what the incoming mayor is looking to do, actually, but I know that there was a lot of criticism of BDC. … If she’s looking to make things better, that’s great. But if she’s looking to make changes in BDC, having Andy on board might help. He’s been there, he understands how it works.”