The Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) has a new director, Khalil Zaied, sworn in by Mayor Brandon M. Scott in a ceremony at City Hall.
In addition to keeping neighborhoods and waterways clean, DPW hosts neighborhood clean-ups, keeps residents informed about the city’s water and wastewater treatment systems, and collaborates with other agencies to host school competitions and shredding events, and much more.
Zaied is the 17th Director of DPW, whose priorities will include improving infrastructure to better deliver essential services to Baltimore residents; cultural transformation to foster a more efficient and effective work environment; enhancing essential services, including delivering high quality drinking water; and more.
“Director Zaied is a tested public servant with a proven track record as a transformational municipal leader,” Scott said in a statement. “He is a leader with more than 25 years of engineering and public works management experience, much of it right here in Baltimore. I know that he will be dedicated to ensuring that the Department of Public Works is equipped to deliver essential services to Baltimore residents and will take this department into a new era with his leadership.”
Zaied joined DPW as acting director in March 2024, and spearheaded water billing upgrades for Baltimore City residents. He aims to implement facility upgrades throughout the agency and boasts extensive senior-level management experience in both the public and private sectors. The Baltimore City Council unanimously voted to confirm Zaied as Public Works Director on June 10, 2024.
“The path ahead undoubtedly is not an easy one, and the work required of all of us demands more than ever. I am fully dedicated to seeing us through,” Zaied said in a statement. “I pledge to work to ensure that all DPW employees have a voice and that their concerns are heard and addressed. The insights and experiences of our frontline workers are vital to our mission of serving the Baltimore area.”
Before joining the DPW, Zaied managed the Department of Public Works in Champaign, Illinois. He was also a nearly 20-year veteran of the Baltimore City government, having served as Deputy Mayor of Operations and Director of the Baltimore City Department of Transportation, among other roles.
In the private sector, Zaied spent five years as vice president for special projects with KCI Technologies, a Sparks, Maryland engineering firm, as well as serving as Deputy City Manager for Public Works and Transportation for El Paso, Texas.
Matthew Garbark is returning to DPW as Interim Deputy Director after serving as Director of the Mayor’s Office of Infrastructure Development (MOID) and previously working in DPW as Deputy Director.
