City Council President Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake said Morris' financial troubles should have no bearing on his appointment to the administrative position. In an interview Friday on the Anthony McCarthy Show on radio station WEAA, she said Morris could still be effective in his new position. She also questioned whether Morris' financial issues became an issue only because he is African-American.
"He is a professional. ... Many of the top-level positions were created for individuals and not advertised. But we are living in a city where a brown person can't get that treatment. If a job is created for one of us, your credentials are questioned, your background is questioned, the process is questioned," she said.
Alonso "looked at his integrity, his drive, what he knew of his capabilities. You take a person with ambition, and not every person has a skyrocket to the stars without having bumps along the way," she said.
At school board headquarters on North Avenue, staff who spoke on the condition of anonymity said most attention focused on what might happen during the school board meeting, which the school Web site reported shortly before it began at 2:15 p.m.
School sources said they feared the Morris appointment could become a distraction for top school officials, who would be dealing with public concerns rather than academic issues and disrupt what they see as positive momentum for the school system over the past year.
Jill P. Carter, a city delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, said the appointment "smacks of cronyism" and that the city delegation is planning to meet to discuss what action it might take. Carter said the delegation might consider calling Alonso to Annapolis to explain the hiring.
"The question should be directed at the decision makers: Schools are closing and other staff is being laid off ... yet we can afford to create this new position for someone of questionable qualifications?" she said.
Del. Cheryl D. Glenn, a Baltimore Democrat and former city teachers union leader, said Alonso's appointment of Morris "has the appearance of impropriety bordering on an ethics situation.
"I don't know of anyone else who had an active position on the board while negotiating a job with the system," she said.
Glenn said she wants Alonso to explain to state lawmakers why the system needs another administrator who makes six figures. "We need to ask for the rationale behind this and demand accountability," she said. She urged Alonso to cut another six-figure administrative position if he insists on keeping his newly created one.
