Khalil Zaied, the director of Baltimore’s Department of Public Works, will leave his role to serve as the deputy mayor of operations, city leaders announced Tuesday.

Zaied was sworn in as the 17th director of DPW in 2024. During the ceremony, Mayor Brandon Scott highlighted Zaied’s 25 years of experience with engineering and public works management.

He served Baltimore for about 18 years, including a role as deputy mayor of operations for a previous administration.

In his new role, Zaied will direct and oversee several agencies, including the Department of General Services, the Department of Transportation, the Board of Elections and the Parking Authority of Baltimore.

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Zaied as director of DPW

As director of DPW, Zaied faced several challenges, including addressing several scathing reports following the death of two employees.

The department was cited by Maryland Occupational Safety and Health in March for failing to protect employees during extreme heat after the death of Ronald Silver II. Silver was an employee who died from overheating in August 2024.

Zaeid committed to changing the culture at DPW after one of the investigations into Silver’s death found that a fear of retaliation at the department may have played a part in his death.

Following Silver’s death, Zaied developed heat illness plans and operating procedures for extreme heat to keep workers safe.

“We need to get [supervisors and managers] to understand, what you’ve done in the past is in the past. There is a new requirement [to abide by], there is new safety [requirements to check],” Zaied said.

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Changes at DPW

Zaied’s change in roles made room for promotions at DPW, according to the mayor’s office.

Scott said he will nominate Matthew Garbark to serve as the next director of DPW.

Garbark, the current interim deputy director at DPW, previously served as director of the Mayor’s Office of Infrastructure Development and interim director of DPW. He has worked for the city for about 10 years.

Alan Robinson will serve as deputy director of DPW, leaving his role as assistant city administrator for operations in the mayor’s office.

Scott will nominate Kendall Abu-Hakim as the bureau head for the Division of Solid Waste at DPW.

The mayor will also nominate Steve Sharkey to serve as the permanent bureau head for the Division of Water and Wastewater at DPW. He currently serves as the interim head.