Baltimore CIO Jerome Mullen steps down

Baltimore city government once again has a new CIO.

L. Jerome Mullen, who was appointed to the city’s top IT job in 2014, was replaced on Tuesday. According to the Baltimore Sun, Mayor Catherine Pugh did not offer a reason, saying only that she accepted Mullen’s resignation. The Sun reported that Mullen’s salary was $163,200.
Evette Munro, who is listed as Deputy CIO, will take over the lead role at the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology (MOIT). The department oversees IT operations including the city’s website, email, 311 services and the OpenBaltimore data portal. Mullen talked about wanting to expand open data and WiFi in the city.

It’s the third time in five years that the CIO has stepped down.
Mullen started working with the city in 2011, before being tapped as director by then-Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake after the resignation of Chris Tonjes. He stepped down amid an investigation at the office. Tonjes maintained that he had an “unblemished record of public service,” and was not implicated. Last year, a former technology contractor pleaded guilty to theft in connection with the probe, functionally clearing Tonjes’s name.
In 2012, Rico Singleton resigned the post after an investigation found past abuses of power when he worked in New York state government.