Michelle Taylor was confirmed as Baltimore’s new health commissioner by the City Council Monday, one of five officials approved by the group.

The council voted unanimously in favor of Taylor, who comes to Baltimore from Shelby County, Tennessee, where she oversaw a Memphis-area health department. Taylor holds a doctoral degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Taylor’s confirmation came and went with little discussion Monday. A more thorough grilling happened in advance during a hearing Thursday night before the City Council’s Committee on Legislative Investigations.

There, members of the committee questioned Taylor about her approach to the city’s opioid and behavioral health challenges. The new commissioner pledged to create a behavioral health division within the department and to reduce opioid overdose deaths by 40% by the year 2040.

Baltimore’s overdose deaths have outpaced all other major American cities, Baltimore Banner reporting has found. The rate has since begun to drop, but remains substantial.

Councilman Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, a Democrat who represents northwest Baltimore, questioned whether Taylor’s goal was aggressive enough, considering the inroads the city has made in reducing its homicide count. Taylor defended her approach, arguing homicide and overdose deaths are problems requiring different solutions.

Schleifer voted against Taylor in committee, citing her failure to follow through with an agreement to hold a series of public listening sessions ahead of her confirmation. The councilman voted in favor of Taylor on Monday.

Taylor began work in August on an acting basis and will be sworn in by Mayor Brandon Scott at a future date. Administration spokespersons have not responded to questions about Taylor’s salary. Her predecessor was paid $231,750.

On Monday, the council also approved a group of leaders to head the city’s Department of Public Works. The new leadership team includes several City Hall veterans: Matthew Garbark as director, Steve Sharkey as head of water and wastewater and Kendall Abu-Hakim to lead the division of solid waste.

Garbark previously led the department on an interim basis for about a year, and most recently served as the city’s infrastructure czar. Sharkey has worked for Baltimore since 2005 and has served as director of both the Department of Transportation and Department of General Services. Abu-Hakim has worked for the Department of Transportation and the Department of General Services.

The council approved all three appointments unanimously.

The Department of Public Works has been under intense scrutiny following two line-of-duty deaths in 2024 and the publication of several scathing reports by Inspector General Isabel Mercedes Cumming. Cumming found poor conditions at a number of Department of Public Works facilities, including broken air conditioning, inoperable water fountains, nonfunctioning ice machines, damaged locker rooms and basic necessities, such as toilet paper, kept under lock and key.

Khalil Zaied, the previous director of the Department of Public Works, was promoted in June to deputy mayor of operations.