Deputy Mayor Ted Carter has been temporarily suspended from his job following an internal HR investigation, The Brew has learned.

Email correspondence, confirmed by sources, discloses that Carter was suspended from his $214,000 position for 10 days, starting last Wednesday.

The action was taken following an investigation by the Department of Human Resources into staff complaints about his “management style” and allegedly “inappropriate behavior around women,” a source with knowledge of the matter told The Brew.

The investigation allegedly found violations of HR policy that resulted in the suspension.

Since Carter was hired by Mayor Brandon Scott last year as deputy mayor for community and economic development, “he has gone through five executive assistants and lost additional special assistants,” said another source.

Both asked not to be identified because they are not permitted to speak to the press.

Carter did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

There has been no official announcement by the mayor’s office. Asked about the suspension, Monica Lewis, Scott’s senior communications director, said the office “does not comment on personnel matters.”

On Carter’s city email account is the following autoreply: “I will be out of the office Wednesday, August 17th and returning Monday, August 29th with limited access to email.”

Providing contact information for two staff members, the message ends, “I will respond to your email upon my return.”

Staff Turnover

Carter is responsible for managing 14 agencies and a $1 billion budget.

He sits on the boards of the Baltimore Development Corporation, East Baltimore Development Inc. and Visit Baltimore and is a member of the Planning Commission.

According to a source who contacted The Brew  earlier this month, the HR investigation was “part of a set of disturbing issues which led to many mayoral staffers and agency heads working for Ted to either transfer out of the mayor’s office or leave city service altogether.”

Assessing Carter’s 16 months on the job, an elected official (who was not aware of the suspension) said there were “high hopes” for him at first.

”But he hasn’t moved the needle on anything. Agency performance is not great, not  at all. Permits remain a big mess for the development community.”

Before coming to Baltimore under the strong backing of City Administrator Chris Shorter, Carter was the chief economic development and business officer for Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

He previously served in the Clinton administration, for a while as deputy assistant secretary for management operations, and was the CEO of the National Capital Revitalization Corp. in Washington.

“He brings a wealth of experience and genuine commitment to social and economic equity,” Scott said when announcing his appointment in March 2021.

”I look forward to working closely with him as we build strategies for an inclusive, equitable economy in Baltimore.”