Baltimore council shakeup: Conway removed from key public safety post

Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway will no longer lead the council’s influential Public Safety Committee, part of a restructuring City Council President Zeke Cohen announced Thursday.

Taking Conway’s place is Councilman John Bullock, a 10-year veteran of the City Council. Bullock previously headed the council’s Education, Youth, and Older Adults Committee, which will now be chaired by Councilman Mark Parker.

Conway, who was informed of the decision Thursday, called the changes retaliation for his outspokenness on the council. In May, Conway proposed a charter amendment that would have enshrined the inspector general’s access to city records, a stance he believes contributed to his reassignment.

“I have been incredibly effective as chair of public safety, so whether you like me or not look at the results of the committee,” he said.

Conway, who has represented North Baltimore neighborhoods since 2020, has increasingly found himself at odds with his fellow members, particularly as he embarked on an unsuccessful campaign for Congress this year.

Tensions repeatedly flared on the floor of the council chamber as Conway has suggested his colleagues are a “rubber stamp” and lack conviction.

“I ask you to have a backbone,” he said during a 2025 vote on the city budget.

“This is not a body of rubber stamps,” Cohen shot back.

Conway’s colleagues have publicly accused him of abusing his council position for his campaigns. Conway challenged longtime incumbent Rep.Kweisi Mfume for his Baltimore-based congressional seat in the June Democratic primary. Mfume won comfortably.

Conway has also repeatedly failed to build consensus around his agenda.

When Conway attempted to pull his inspector general amendment out of committee for a council vote, not a single member of the 15-person body backed him.

Councilman James Torrence, who has sparred frequently with Conway, took aim at the councilman’s criticisms of the group.

“We are not lazy,” he said at the time. “We want to be deliberative.”

Cohen, who has sole control over committee assignments as the leader of the council, did not directly address the clash with Conway in a statement issued Thursday.

“Baltimore deserves leadership committed to collaboration and focused on delivering results for the people we serve,” Cohen said. “Let’s keep winning together.”

Conway, then a freshman councilman, took the reins of the influential Public Safety Committee in late 2020 under the leadership of then Council President Nick Mosby during a wholesale reorganization. He kept the post when Cohen was elected to the citywide president post in 2024.

Past chairs of the committee have used it as a platform to propel their careers. Mayors Brandon Scott and Bernard C. “Jack” Young both chaired the panel.

As leader, Conway steered conversation to open air drug markets and the city’s overdose crisis. He demanded hearings on overdoses, running afoul of Scott, who pushed for the council to delay public discussions until after a lawsuit against manufacturers was settled.

In his announcement, Cohen touted Bullock’s legislative record as he announced him to chair the powerful committee. Bullock represents West Baltimore neighborhoods such as Harlem Park and Violetville.

“In this moment of record-breaking declines in violence, his commitment to community will serve him well as chair of our Public Safety Committee.

Baltimore Banner reporter Jasmine Vaughn-Hall contributed to this article.