Michael Enright, the first deputy mayor of Baltimore, is a “force for progress” and will be the chief of staff in the O’Malley-Brown administration, governor-elect and Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley announced during a noontime news conference Thursday.
“There’s really no one else who could have done what Michael has done for our city these past seven years,” O’Malley told those gathered in a 23rd-floor conference room in Baltimore’s William Donald Schaefer Tower. “He’s been absolutely tireless.”
Enright, a 43-year-old resident of Baltimore City, said he came from a family in which public service was truly a calling.
“It is truly an honor and a humble experience to be asked to serve in this role, and I pledge to give it all my best and work as hard as I can,” Enright said. “We have a lot of learning and a lot of listening we’ve got to do over the next few weeks.”
Enright, as part of O’Malley’s city hall administration, constructed the CitiStat program to track the effectiveness of government departments from responding to residents’ requests to tracking overtime and other personnel costs.
Before that, he had circulated in Maryland’s Democratic circles for at least 15 years. Enright was an adviser on such issues as business, defense, the environment and transportation for Rep. Ben Cardin. He also worked as an executive assistant coordinating press affairs for Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., who is O’Malley’s father-in-law.
O’Malley’s decision to take Enright to Annapolis as part of his governor’s administration renewed speculation that the top minds who have helped solve some of Baltimore’s crime and education problems will now leave the city. That’s a funny thing, O’Malley said.
“I said to Michael Enright, ‘You know, it’s been seven years and this is the first time that they’ve ever acknowledged, one, that we have brains,’ ” O’Malley said, ” ‘or, two, that we might have some of the best and the brightest.’”
The Michael Enright File
» Age: 43
» Birthplace: Washington, D.C.
» Education: Gonzaga College High School; bachelor’s in English from Tulane University; master’s in public administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
